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Darren Sammy named in Windies ODI squad

Darren Sammy, the West Indian allrounder, was the only uncapped player to be named in the 15-man one-day squad to play England and New Zealand in the Natwest Series, which starts on June 24.

Wisden Cricinfo staff
21-May-2004


Tino Best: heading for England © Getty Images
Darren Sammy, the West Indian allrounder, was the only uncapped player to be named in the 15-man one-day squad to play England and New Zealand in the Natwest Series, which starts on June 24.
Sammy, 20, was selected ahead of the more experienced Ryan Hinds after a successful domestic Carib Beer series in 2004. He was the fourth highest scorer for Windward Islands with 261 runs at 26.1, and his total of 22 wickets in the competition was the second highest for the sub-regional team. Should he play, Sammy will become the first player from St Lucia to represent the senior West Indies side, though he was a member of the Young West Indies team that reached the semi-finals of the ICC Youth World Cup in New Zealand in 2001. The selectors choice of Sammy over Hinds will have been influenced by Sammy's experience of English conditions. He played for Barnes Cricket Club in the Middlesex Premier Cricket League last season, averaging 29.50 with the bat and 25.35 with the ball. He scored his runs at a strike rate over 90, and took 17 wickets in his 10 matches for the side.
Neither Merv Dillon nor Corey Collymore has been named in the squad, having made little impression in the one-dayers against England in the Caribbean earlier this month. Dillon took only three wickets at an average of over 69 in the series, while Collymore failed to take a single scalp. Sylvester Joseph, who played against England and Bangladesh, has also been left out.
Fidel Edwards and Tino Best, both 22, will lead the West Indies attack in the triangular series. Best recently battered Bangladesh into submission with his aggressive fast bowling, while Edwards has taken 12 wickets at 10.41 in the four one-dayers he has played in, though these were against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Ravi Rampaul and Ian Bradshaw will play the role of back-up seamers. West Indies will arrive with a young and fairly inexperienced one-day side, 11 of whom are under the age of 25.
West Indies squad for NatWest Series
Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Devon Smith, Ricardo Powell, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (wk), Ian Bradshaw, Darren Sammy, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul.