ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad (CMC) – Denesh Ramdin is well aware that he was dropped from the West Indies team principally because of his lack of prowess in front of the stumps, rather than behind. The Trinidad & Tobago wicketkeeper/batsman has, therefore, set himself a big target of between 600 and 700 runs during the WICB Regional first-class championship.
Two cheap dismissals against the Combined Campuses & Colleges did not help his cause, but Ramdin is working hard to regain his place in the West Indies team.
“I did not get much in this match, but I am still hopeful I will get to my target for the season,” he told reporters, following T&T’s two-wicket victory over the CCC.
“We still have plenty cricket to play. We are just at the start of the season, so I think the target is within my capabilities.”
Ramdin started the season with a purposeful 86 against Barbados to help T&T gain first innings points in a draw at Guaracara Park, but he was dismissed for three and a duck against the CCC.
The match however, was memorable for Ramdin, after he equalled the regional record for the most catches in an innings, previously jointly held by the unrelated Barbadian Brownes, Courtney and Patrick.
Ramdin also held two catches in the CCC second innings to end with a match haul of nine dismissals – three short of the World record of 12 dismissals in a match, held by New Zealander Peter McGlashan for Northern Districts.
“The best I have done before is five for the West Indies in Australia,” said Ramdin. “More importantly however, by holding those catches I was able to help my team win the match.”
He said: “I am keeping pretty good at the moment, and I want to improve on this as the series progresses.
“Keeping out there in the CCC match was not easy as the pitch was a bit unpredictable, so this makes me even happier with the fact that I held those nine catches in the match.”
T&T face England Lions in the third round of matches, starting on Friday at the Queen’s Park Oval in the T&T capital of Port of Spain.