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Last year Ramnaresh Sarwan
was a litigant of West Indies cricket. Today he is again a
representative of the region, having been recalled to the limited overs
team for the tour of Australia.
Sarwan's return follows an 18-month absence from the team, during which
he claimed to have been hurt "mentally and emotionally" by national
team's coaching regime.
In September it was revealed that Sarwan had won $161,000 in damages
from the WICB after his fitness was publicly denigrated by the board
when they dropped him from the list of centrally contracted players in
2010.
"I'm happy to be back in the team. Obviously I've been out for a while,
but it feels really good to be back representing West Indies," Sarwan
said. "I am hitting the ball pretty well. It's a matter of me trying to
get myself in and settle down and look to get big scores for the team."
The return of Sarwan to the national team had appeared unlikely last
year, when he turned out for Leicestershire rather than West Indies
during their tour of England early in the northern summer. At the time
Sarwan spoke of the low ebb he had reached prior to being dropped, and
the scant support he felt he had received.
"The coach said some negative stuff that hurt me mentally and emotionally," Sarwan told BBC Sport
in May last year. "Mentally I was broken down, not from the stress of
playing, it's just certain individuals have drained me mentally. It took
a toll on my confidence and the way I play. Everything went away.
"I'm away from all those problems, my mind is at ease and I have had
nothing to worry about, no coach to say any negative things. At one
point I didn't know which was my back foot and which was my front foot.
Now I'm much better, more precise with my movements, everything crystal
clear in my head.
"I never spoke about this because I was caught up in a shell and I used
to not come out of my house for up to three days. My dad was the one to
inspire me to start back playing."
Sarwan prospered in England, making 294 runs at 36.75 for Leicestershire
in limited overs matches and 941 at 40.91 in first-class competition,
though his recent run in the Caribbean domestic T20 have been less
promising - score of 8, 1, 2 and 7 in four matches for Guyana.
The serious facial injury suffered by Marlon Samuels while playing for
the Melbourne Renegades during the Big Bash League ruled him out of
selection for the tour, which includes five ODIs and one Twenty20,
opening the way for the left-hand batsman and right-arm off spin bowler
Narsingh Deonarine to be included.
Otherwise the squad is largely as expected, Darren Sammy leading a team
that will also feature Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach after
their BBL exploits down under this summer. The tourists will arrive in
Australia on January 26, and play a warm-up fixture against the Prime
Minister's XI in Canberra on January 29.
West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Tino Best,
Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Chris Gayle, Jason
Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Andre
Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Thomas
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
Feeds: Daniel Brettig
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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