Ramdin believes spin magic will continue without ace Narine

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Ramdin believes spin magic will continue without ace Narine
BY SANJAY MYERS Observer staff reporter myerss@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, June 05, 2014   

NEWLY-APPOINTED West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin is confident of his team's bowling for the three-Test match series against New Zealand, despite the absence of ace spinner Sunil Narine.

The off-spinner missed out on being a part of the regional squad because he was not able to make the June 1 training camp deadline set by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). in

Under contractual obligations with Indian Premier League's (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders, Narine chose to play for his franchise team in the final of that Twenty20 tournament.

"We are disappointed but we still have two world-class spinners in (left-arm finger spinner) Sulieman Benn and (off-spinner) Shane Shillingford," Ramdin told reporters shortly after the West Indies cricketers arrived in Jamaica for the first Test which is to commence at Sabina Park on Sunday.

"Any team that has Narine in the line-up would be amazing but we have to use what we have and hopefully we will overcome the New Zealanders."

Ramdin said the regional team, which lost 0-2 in three Tests away to New Zealand last year, will be boosted by the return from injury of pacers Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor.

Marquee left-hander Christopher Gayle, struggling with a back ailment, is expected to feature in his hundredth Test for the

West Indies.

"We had a week [of practice] in Barbados, we had practice matches and the batters got something out of it. Hopefully the next two to three days we have here, the practice in the nets should be sufficient going into the first Test.

"Young Kemar Roach is back and Jerome Taylor is bowling well and we have Shannon Gabriel. In the spinning department we have Sulieman Benn and Shane Shillingford and so far everything is good," said the 29-year-old Ramdin.

Given how well Shillingford did in New Zealand, the visitors' seeming weakness against good slow bowling and the spinner-friendly nature of Sabina Park, the West Indies skipper hinted that both front-line spinners could feature in the starting XI.

"It's always good to have two spinners in the squad. We'll go there and see the pitch if it's suitable for that. I believe two spinners on that [Sabina Park] track will do well for us," Ramdin said

The second Test match is set to be played at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad & Tobago from June 16-20, while the third was recently shifted from the National Stadium in Guyana to the Kensington Oval in Barbados, and will run from June 26-30.

Squad — Denesh Ramdin (capt), Christopher Gayle, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach, Shane Shillingford, Shannon Gabriel, Kraigg Brathwaite, Marlon Samuels, Jason Holder.

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TT brace for Ramdin’s historic moment
Thursday, June 5 2014

CRICKET fans in Trinidad and Tobago are waiting with bated breath for June 16 when Trinidad and Tobago’s Denesh Ramdin leads the West Indies cricket team against the visiting New Zealanders for the first time as captain in front of his adoring home crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain.

It will indeed be a moment to savour for the 29-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman from Preysal, central Trinidad who was only last month appointed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to replace St Lucian Darren Sammy.

Ramdin, whose leadership qualities were long recognised by the TT Cricket Board (TTCB) and who was afforded every opportunity to develop same over the years will start his challenging assignment on June 8 in the First Test against the Kiwis at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

Apart from joining in the celebration of Ramdin’s historic achievement, of particular local interest will be the performance of other TT cricketers who have been named on the squad for the short Three-Test Home Series, sponsored by Digicel, the Irish-owned telecommunications provider.

For the First Test, joining Ramdin are joined by his compatriots Darren Bravo, an exciting left handed-batsman in the mould of Brian Lara, and fast bowler Shannon Gabriel. Also expected to make the team but was omitted because of his late arrival for a pre-Test training camp was “mystery” spinner Sunil Narine.

But also in contention for Second Test selection will be brilliant allrounder Dwayne Bravo, the captain of the regional One-Day International (ODI) team.

The Kiwis have been bolstered by the arrival in the West Indies of their “heavy hitters” including captain Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson, a right-handed batsman who plays for Yorkshire in the English County Championships.

Also expected to feature prominently if New Zealand are to live up to their reputation as worthy opponents is the trio of Ross Taylor, who plays for TT’s Red Steel in the Caribbean Premier League T20; Corey Anderson and Tim Southee, all experienced cricketers.

Interestingly skipper McCullum’s run in the IPL ended last Saturday when the Chennai Super Kings lost to Kings XI Punjab in the semi-final of the tournament.

But in contrast to the WICB position on Narine, who decided to stay with his franchise team Kolkota Knight Riders — eventual winners of Sunday’s final — the WICB has stood firm on its June 1 deadline to join the WI team while McCullum was given permission to miss the New Zealand’s final warm-up before the First Test.

The TT Cricket Board has also announced that tickets for the Second Test between West Indies and New Zealand slated for June 16 to 20 priced at $50 each have already gone on sale at the box office at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain.