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."