West Indies vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has enjoyed a dream series against Bangladesh. He was the top run-scorer (301 runs; avg 301.00) and held his own with the ball, finishing with 8 wickets at 13.12 -- enough to make him man-of-the-series.
As he prepares for the upcoming tour of England, Sarwan participated in an online chat with international journalists and discussed the decision to declare with a triple century on the cards; the captaincy issue and the team's prolonged inconsistency. Excerpts of that chat follow...
On the decision to declare the innings when he was just 39 runs short of a Test triple century...
There were no regrets. Obviously, the team came first and we were a bit worried about the weather. I have no regrets at all and, most importantly, we got the win.
I don't play my cricket mindful of milestones. I was more or less happy about the declaration. I have no regrets. First and foremost, the team comes first and we were worried about the weather. We got reports that the weather would not have been too good today so we did not want to take any chances.
Brian [Lara] sent a message and asked me if I wanted to go on to make 300 and I sent back a message saying that it does not matter, the team comes first.
How would you assess your performance for the first six months of the year and your development as a batsman, since your entry into Test cricket?
I think I have come a long way for the past six months in both versions of the game, in terms of being consistent. Since my entry into Test cricket, I have matured a lot and I understand my game a lot more in terms of the way I play.
I have been looking at tapes against England and Australia and that has helped me to find little flaws in my game and helped me to improve my game.
How are you going to resist the temptation of falling for the hook-shot trap with the English tour coming?
I'll try and get out of the way but that does not mean I am going to stop playing the shot. I will be more selective. In being more selective, I try to get out of the way more often.
As vice captain, you are a part of the selection committee that picked the final XI for the first Test. How do you justify that XI for the first Test? Were you in agreement to go with a four-prong attack? We all know that Lara was unhappy with the team…
I'm sorry, I was not a part of the selection committee.
Are you not a part of team selection in general? Or was it just that you weren't involved in picking the first Test XI? I recall information from Cricket Committee minutes that you play a role in selecting the final XI. Can you please clarify your involvement?
I am not in team selection meetings unless I am captain. When I was in South Africa, I was in selection meetings but, once the chairman [of selectors] is on tour, I am not involved. Generally speaking, I am not a part of the team selection panel.
Have you been approached by the selectors to captain the Test team to England? If you are asked, do you think you are ready for the job today? Would you say 'yes' or 'no' to that question today?
I have not been approached by the selectors. When the opportunity is right for me to captain the team it will happen.
Do you think the opportunity is right today? If not, why not?
I think I just need to gain more experience but, should the opportunity present itself, I would grab it with both hands.
The West Indies team will be leaving for England, this weekend. Given England's recent run of five wins in six test matches (including the West Indies), how do you think the team will do in England?
One of the things that we did not do against England in the Caribbean is put together partnerships, We did this against Bangladesh and I think that will be the key when we go there. It is also a great opportunity for us to win a series in England.
What was missing in the St. Lucia Test match, and was present in the Jamaica Test?
We had a better surface here. This surface was much different, it bounced a lot more here and it (St Lucia) was more conducive to the Bangladeshi players. The wicket here is totally different, it had a lot more bounce and pace and that makes them uncomfortable.
Do we have the pace attack to go head-to-head with England?
Of course. We many not have the experience but the young fast bowlers are maturing quickly, especially Fidel [Edwards] and Tino [Best].
The team has struggled recently with consistency. How does it impact on the team, given the demands of the West Indian public for tangible results?
Obviously we have not been playing well and everyone feels very disappointed when we do not do well but we're professionals and we have to lift our game and spirits and do well. We are very confident going to England and we're looking forward to the series. We should be optimistic because of the number of young player who will be touring for the first time and will be looking forward to making their mark in Test cricket and ODI cricket as well.
We are going to England with a very inexperienced bowling attack (at least for the ODI team announced). Do you think we should have a bowling coach to assist Gus Logie?
It will be a great opportunity for the young players to learn on the job and the conditions would be more conducive to fast bowling. I think it is up to the WICB [to decide on a bowling coach]. They would have to know if it is necessary. I don't think I am in a position to say whether it is for them to hire one or not. They would have to know what is best for the players.
Is Lara a good captain? Does he value criticism and welcome full team participation in the decision making process?
I think he tries to motivate everyone.
The issue of vice-captaincy .. You have held the job for a while now, How do you find it? What does it comprise?
It has given me more responsibility and actually I have gotten to know the players a lot better. I have gotten closer to them. Basically, I try and give Brian as much support as possible and the rest of players as well.
Do you think that a squad of the best 18-20 players touring together, training together for the next two to three years will be the best way to reduce the chopping and changing, and give the team a better chance of consistency in performance?
I think we need to do that as soon as possible. I agree with that fully.
Being vice-captain, you are a heartbeat away from the pressure job. What have you learnt from your captain, Lara, on how to do the job, as well as the pitfalls and perks of the job?
One of the things I have learnt over the years is that to be successful you have to be patient and believe in your players. You need to have their trust so that the players would be able to relate to me, and me to them. [It's] not just about cricket but any other thing.
There is always talk about the 'disunity' among the players, in the camp. How would you describe the relationship among the players, and between the captain and the players?
We try to support each other at all times and always look out for each other. We get on very well together.
There seems to be a testy relationship between Lara and the selectors. How does this affect the team mentally?
I don't have a clue what relationship they have. I am not in selection meetings as I said earlier so I don't think that whatever the relationship is, that it affects us.
On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate the overall performance of the WI team against Bangladesh? Would you give the team a passing grade?
I would say a '5' because we have not performed as consistently as we wanted to. I know we can do a lot better than that.
How would you rate our bowling/batting in the series against England and Bangladesh?
Our bowling was outstanding against England but we batted poorly. Against Bangladesh, we batted pretty well but we did not bowl that well though we were bowling on flat wickets. We have set ourselves standards and we want to achieve those and improve on them. The Bangladeshis scored too quickly.
What is your opinion of the relationship between the players and the press?
I think we have a decent relationship with the media. I think it would be good if they stop criticising us as much. That would help us. We are trying to improve our relationship through efforts like these.
What difference, if any, has the manager Tony Howard made to the team in his brief stint so far? If you were involved in the decision on whether to retain him, how would you vote?
He talks a lot more about cricket and he tries to get the younger players to understand how important the game is to the people of the Caribbean and how important we are to the people of the Caribbean.
Can you talk a bit about Pedro Collins' performance with the ball. He was the one shining light among the fast bowlers…
I thought he was outstanding knowing that we were one fast bowler short he stepped up big time and took the responsibility and that is great to see. We need to see more of this more often. We need to see more match winners.
The WI fielding in this serious was atrocious. It seems that we have regressed from series to series. What are the reasons for this? Is it something mental?
I have seen the guys catch in training and they seem very comfortable but maybe it is the pressure situation that makes them react in a different way. For some of the guys, it may be technical as well.
Look to the future for us....when you retire from International cricket, what would you most like to be remembered for?
As a great team player first and foremost. Obviously, I would like to achieve my personal goals. I want to get an average of over 45 in tests, over 40 in ODI and get over 20 test hundreds. I'd like to get 15-20 ODI centuries as well.
On the issue of discipline, do you think that the mannerism of the West Indies team is one that can sustain our cricketing heritage? How important is discipline to you?
Discipline is very important to me. As a child, my mother taught me that. I don't think that as a team we have a problem with discipline, I think it is more how people look at us. We definitely do not have a problem with discipline.