Miscellaneous

Ramnarine on the comeback trail

A forgotten man of West Indies cricket is back and ready to regain his place in the regional team

Haydn Gill
04-Nov-1999
A forgotten man of West Indies cricket is back and ready to regain his place in the regional team.
Dinanath Ramnarine, the 24-year-old Trinidadian leg-spinner who made an encouraging Test debut against England in the Caribbean last year, has been in the wilderness since returning home with a damaged right shoulder just prior to the first Test against South Africa last November.
He underwent a successful operation in New York the following month, but was in no condition play in the Busta Cup or against Australia this year.
After months of recuperation he made his return to the Trinidad and Tobago team in the Red Stripe Bowl last weekend and immediately declared himself in near top shape in spite of figures that might suggest otherwise.
The shoulder is improving considerably. Its getting better and better every day, Ramnarine told NATIONSPORT in Anguilla this week.
When you come out of an injury you feel a little reluctant in doing things, but at the moment, Im feeling great.
The scorebook here last weekend might not have indicated that he was anywhere close to the form that earned him a Test call-up.
In both matches, he was roughly treated and proved expensive on a Ronald Webster Park pitch that favoured batsmen.
On Saturday against the Leeward Islands, he took three wickets, but his ten overs cost him 61 runs and the following day against Barbados when he delivered his ten successive overs at the end of the innings, he took two for 67.
Yet, the former Trinidad and Tobago youth team captain and record-breaker was satisfied and so too was Brian Lara.
"The captain was very impressed. He thought I was spinning the ball a lot and getting a lot of bounce," Ramnarine said.
"It was a difficult pitch to bowl on but I dont want to make any excuses. The Leewards and Barbados played well."
Ramnarine's road to recovery featured extensive training that included exercises to strengthen his shoulder.
A course with Australian spin doctor Terry Jenner, however, was just as important.
"It was very fruitful. I learnt a lot of things from him and I must thank the WICB for bringing in a person like him," he said."He helped me tremendously with things like spinning the ball more."