ONCE rightly regarded as the West Indies’ next run-scoring wicket-keeper, and even spoken of as a potential captain, Denesh Ramdin is fighting for form and his place in the team.
Six weeks away from the first World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean, his struggles in both departments and the dearth of realistic alternatives are major causes for concern.
He committed more errors than is acceptable during the series in Pakistan late last year and has again lapsed in the present Pepsi Cup against India while he has been repeatedly out to indiscreet shots.
It is a frustrating decline for a cricketer of genuine promise.
In West Indies’ age-group teams at the under-15 World Cup in England and the under-19 version in Bangladesh, when he was captain, Ramdin was so impressive he went straight into the senior team, aged 20, once Ridley Jacobs departed after six solid years in the position.He was outstanding with both gloves and bat in his initial series with the strike-hit team in Sri Lanka in 2005 and again in three Tests in Australia later that year but his standards have markedly fallen since.
The selectors alternated him with the diminutive Jamaican, Carlton Baugh, in the last six ODI series but neither has seized the opportunity to claim the position as exclusively theirs.
The only other practical option is the West Indies ‘A’ team keeper, Patrick Browne of Barbados. But he has been short of runs in the current domestic season and out of the Barbados team in the current Carib Beer Cup match against Jamaica.
Jeffrey Dujon, the most capped West Indies keeper with 81 Tests and — ODIs between 1981 and 1991, believes Ramdin might have slipped into a “comfort zone” after his early successes.
“I sense that he hasn’t appreciated the intensity needed at the highest level,” Dujon, who followed Ramdin in series in the West Indies, India and Pakistan as television commentator over the past ninth months, said.
“He’s got to take his work ethic to another plane,” he added. “He’s got to pay serious attention to his mobility. For someone of his physical build, his foot speed is sluggish. He’s trusting his hands more than he should.”
Dujon revealed he had spoken on the matter with assistant coach David Moore, himself a former New South Wales wicket-keeper in Australian state cricket.
“He accepted my comments and told me he was working with Ramdin to iron out the problems,” he said. “What he needs is a set programme to be strictly followed.”
Dujon also had doubts about Ramdin’s fitness.
“As the game wears on, I notice he’s not staying down long enough, a sure sign of weariness that leads to elementary mistakes,” he explained. What bothers Dujon is that, on all the early evidence, Ramdin possesses the ability to maintain the legacy of West Indian wicket-keeper/batsmen such as
Gerry Alexander, the Murrays (Deryck and David), himself and Jacobs over the past 40 years.
Ramdin’s story is symptomatic of so many young West Indians of recent times who have made an immediate impression at Test level only to just as quickly deteriorate.
It might well be that it all comes too easily, too early and they take success for granted. Ramdin turns 22 next month, so there is plenty of time left for him to get back the groove again. It is up to him.
The final match in the Pepsi Cup here tomorrow would be a timely starting point.
An unblemished day behind the stumps and some valuable runs would do wonders for his confidence and settle a place in the World Cup squad that remains open.
