Sarwan Was Good. Ought To Have Been Great

Quote:Ramnaresh Sarwan first forced himself into the consciousness of the wider Caribbean cricket community during a televised game in the 1996-97 regional Red Stripe Cup first-class competition. The game was against the Windward Islands and he made a half century. He was 16.

More significant than the runs he made that day was his demeanour at the crease. The young Guyanese batsman exhibited a level of poise that belied his age. He was compact, unhurried, untroubled, elegant. If you were unaware that he was a mere teenager, you'd be forgiven for thinking that here was a Test veteran showing his class at the first-class level.

Those who saw him then were convinced that the neat, unflurried batsman was going places. Nothing could prevent him. His love for the game and his huge talent were apparent; his ambition to reach the highest level, obvious. There used to be talk that he slept with his bat; an assertion he never denied when asked by a reporter.

Sarwan made his Test debut in the Barbados game of the 1999-2000 Pakistan visit. He made 84* in the first innings, 11* in the second. Watching the game in England on satellite television was Ted Dexter, or Lord Ted as he was called for his upright, stylish, and expansive methods.

Jet-lagged, the former England captain was half asleep when Sarwan made his way to the middle. "By the time he had made 10 runs, I was wide awake sitting on the edge of my chair hardly able to believe what I was seeing."