Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

"What was it someone once said about Sammy? That he was the sort of big-hearted, affable man they would gladly follow him into battle but they would not give much for their chances of survival? That remark sprang to mind at Pallakele on Saturday night as Sammy took it upon himself to bowl four overs of mundane medium pace while Sri Lanka eased their way past an inadequate West Indies total of 129 for 5, winning by nine wickets with nearly five overs to spare. His combined record in all formats produces a batting average of less than 20 and a bowling return in the mid-30s. In T20 cricket, he barely averages double figures with the bat. On West Indies' tour of England last summer, he was persistently asked whether he was worth his place in the side and he would respond heartily that he was captain, he was in the side, showing no sense of ill will towards his inquisitor. When he made a rip-roaring maiden Test hundred at Trent Bridge, there can hardly have been a person in the ground who was not cheered by what they had seen. But his presence in the West Indies side at No. 8 adds further vagueness to a side that since their opening match of the tournament has omitted three specialist batsmen - Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith and Darren Bravo - and yet even with this imbalance still managed to field a bits-and-pieces attack in which it was difficult to place much faith. Tactically, West Indies came adrift against Sri Lanka. A dry pitch had the capacity to turn in the opening match between England and New Zealand. By the end of the night, it was a perfect surface for Sri Lanka's spinners, but West Indies omitted Samuel Badree's legspin (he will surely return against New Zealand) and, as Mahele Jaywardene batted much as he pleased, overlooked the spin options of Gayle and Marlon Samuels."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-world-t ... 84764.html

Well, have to give credit to Sammy. But as i often believe that the captain is as good as team. It's about match winning contributions from Gayel, Samuels, Pollard,Narine, Rampaul, Badree etc etc during various stages of the tournament.

It can never be an easy job to captain a side made up of players from different Islands. Sammy also contributed to the victory by doing well in the final.In-fact, he has improved tactically as a captain too.

I understand, a few experts will say, a captain is as good as the team. If you look at a few examples like at a crucial point of time against England, he realised that slow moving Narine was in the wrong fielding position (long off), the bowling changes he made in the final, making sure that big man Gayle fields only in the slips, Sammy himself bowling that slower one with a plan of tempting Mathews to scoop over the short fine leg fielder in the final, shows that he made a difference.

More than anything else, under Sammy, West Indies are playing their cricket with the kind of spirit and enthusiasm that this poster saw maybe two decades ago, when they came from behind to beat Australia in their own backyard. Now that itself shows he has made a difference.

Sammy has certainly instilled some discpline into this windies side..also they are playing as a team, even Gayle dosent look as moody and sullen as he used to. All the players appear to be enjoying playing together and he has delivered a global tournament win!

The story has changed considerably over the past year and a half...the West Indies have plummeted to eighth in the Test rankings. Sammy's captaincy record reads thus:

"Sammy's tenure as Test captain began in Novemeber 2010 when West Indies drew a three-match series against the hosts Sri Lanka. He led West Indies to series victories twice over Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and New Zealand. But an overall record of 8 wins to 12 losses - including a spell of five defeats in their last six matches - might have hurt his cause."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... 43125.html

So, his victories were over teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and at home to NZ, and in recent times his personal performances with bat and ball in Test cricket have declined. That's why he's been replaced by Ramdin....

A new low for WI Cricket.

Sammy's now retired from Tests. Obviously knows he's not going to get a place in the team now.

dan08 wrote:Sammy's now retired from Tests. Obviously knows he's not going to get a place in the team now.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... 43351.html

"Darren Sammy has announced his retirement from Test cricket after losing the captaincy. His decision on Friday evening came just hours after the WICB announced that wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was replacing Sammy as captain of the Test side for the upcoming three-Test series against New Zealand beginning on June 8 in Jamaica. Sammy will remain T20 captain for the West Indies and has informed the board that he will continue to make himself available for selection in ODIs."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... #fcomments

"But the numbers never stacked up: as captain he averaged 22.43 with the bat and 39.61 with the ball (even when West Indies won six Tests on the run, the batting figure only touched 30 and the bowling number was inflated 55). Sammy, to his credit, knew this and often acknowledged the need to pull his weight. But he was neither a Test-class third seamer or a No. 6 or 7 batsman."

That was the problem...the Windies never had the strongest possible bowling attack for the four years he was captain.