Sarwan's early Christmas present

Ramnaresh Sarwan

It’s four days before Christmas and I think I’ve already got one of the best and most timely gifts possible.

My right ankle has clearly responded well to treatment and, after my recent frustrations at being injured and missing the tour to Zimbabwe and the ongoing one to South Africa, I’m slowly but surely getting back in the mix.

For the second straight week, I’ve been able to bat and run comfortably which is a great sign, with just weeks to go before the 2008 regional first-class series begins. I’ve had four training sessions with the Guyana squad and will continue to do so until December 23 when we take a short break for Christmas before resuming on December 28.

Given the heavy rains in recent days, our batting practice has been limited to the indoor concrete strip at the national gymnasium. I’m thrilled with the progress in my batting. During my knocks, my feet have been moving increasingly better and my mind is more at ease with each workout. I’ve also done some sprinting to further test my ankle and there was no problem. Now, I think it’s simply a matter of regaining match fitness and getting as much net practice as possible.

Though I’m obviously focused on my situation, I’ve been keeping a close watch on my team-mates over in South Africa. At the moment, they are up against it in their encounter with South Africa A. We only mustered 193 in our first innings of the four-day match and, as I write at tea-time on the third day, we are struggling at 134 for 6 in the second innings, facing a stiff task as the opposition posted 371. There’s still the rest of today and tomorrow to try and get through. The guys just have to keep fighting. This is what Test cricket is all about – character and challenges.

We definitely should have batted better, especially as we won the toss and decided to have first use of the pitch. I would assume therefore that it looked good for batting. I have to give a nod to Runako Morton who continues to impress on tour. While all the wickets were tumbling around him, he stroked a good fifty in the first innings. The other batsmen need to try and support him if we are to do well. Dwayne Bravo stood out in the bowling, capturing 6 for 51.

Like all West Indies fans, I was pleased with the Twenty20 international win against South Africa last Sunday. Fast bowler Jerome Taylor was outstanding for us as was Dale Steyn for South Africa. I know it was just 13-overs-a-side because of rain but as Chris Gayle noted “a victory is a victory”, particularly at the highest level of the game. He was right on the spot with that comment.

I hope that even though they are in some trouble in their current match, West Indies will take heart from what they achieved on the weekend and play confidently. South Africa is a dominant team and to have beaten them means a lot. It shows that on our day we are capable of being among the best in world cricket. We just have to be more consistent in our performances and I will be expecting to see that over the coming month.

At this point, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to thank the public for their support in 2007. I trust that fans will continue to back West Indies in 2008 as we strive for more success.