Time To Combine Our Efforts – Darren Sammy - Windies Cricket

SOMERSET, United Kingdom -  "With a new captain in Ramnaresh Sarwan and some new faces it is a great opportunity for everyone of us to combine our efforts and talents in making this a successful tour for the West Indies and the people of the Caribbean."

Those were the initial thoughts of West Indies all rounder Darren Sammy after he joined the squad in London on Wednesday morning for their two month tour of the United Kingdom.

"I am looking forward to being a contributor towards the success of the team," the 23 year old right arm fast medium bowler and middle order batsman said.

"It is always an honour to be on any West Indies team but being part of the Test squad is very special and a great privilege and I am looking to really set my standards high and make a mark in the international arena," said Sammy who played two One Day Internationals for the West Indies in 2004.

"I was not very surprised by my selection because I have been putting in some hard work over the past few years and I have been getting good results," said Sammy who plays in the regional first class tournaments for the Windward Islands and is the first player from the island of St Lucia to have represented the West Indies.

The eager Sammy said he was shattered earlier this year when he was selected to tour India but had to withdraw after suffering an injury.

"I was out in the wilderness for a few years after playing my last international game and it was one of the major disappointments of my career to get injured the day before we had to travel to India," said Sammy from his Somerset hotel room.

"It would have been a great opportunity to go out there and showcase my talent and hence it would have enhanced my chances to make the World Cup squad," Sammy reasoned.

"But this is Test cricket and it is where you get a true test of you character and you have to be physically, mentally and skillfully prepared to be successful," surmised Sammy who has one international wicket, Mushfiqur Rahman of Bangladesh.

"I have never played Test cricket so it ill be a challenge but it is a hurdle I'm prepared to jump over," said Sammy who has been playing league cricket in Lancashire for the past two weeks.

"I have been fortunate to be here for two weeks so far and I have been playing for Crompton Cricket Club and that has helped me to get acclimatized," explained Sammy who bowled but did not have a chance to bat in international cricket as yet.

"Since 2003 I have been playing in England annually so I think I am very familiar with the conditions here," he said.

"So far the pitches have played well because unlike previous years the batsmen have been getting a lot of runs in county cricket with two players scoring double centuries so far," Sammy said.

The West Indies face England in four Test matches, two 20/20 matches and three One Day Internationals starting May 17th.

The team will have its first practice session at Taunton on Thursday afternoon.

Full Test Squad:
Ramnaresh Sarwan - Captain
Daren Ganga - Vice Captain
Christopher Gayle
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Dwayne Bravo
Runako Morton
Sylvester Joseph
Devon Smith
Denesh Ramdin
Darren Sammy
Corey Collymore
Daren Powell
Jerome Taylor
Fidel Edwards
Ravi Rampaul

Team Operations Unit:
Mike Findlay - Manager
David Moore - Coach
Henderson Springer - Assistant Coach
Stephen Partridge - Physiotherapist
Richard Smith - Strength & Conditioning Coordinator
David Scott - Performance Enhancer