by Dexter Theodore
Long-suffering West Indian cricket fans finally got something to cheer about today! Debutant Darren Sammy produced a memorable spell of bowling on the third afternoon at Old Trafford to finish with the remarkable figures of 21.3-2-66-7! He was the first West Indian cricketer to capture seven or more wickets on debut since Alf Valentine snatched 8 for 104 on the same ground fifty-seven years ago.
Sammy was the most economical West Indian bowler in England's first innings, but not even his most ardent supporter could have anticipated the masterly performance which was to come! It is true that he and Bravo had distinguished themselves in the field from the start of the cricket match while their colleagues struggled, but Old Trafford's rock-hard surface was not expected to offer much assistance to a medium-pacer and Windies pacer Fidel Edwards and England's Steve Harmison with their 90 mph missiles were expected to take the lime light. In fact West Indian great, Michael Holding had, on the first day of the Test match, bitterly criticized Sammy's inclusion ahead of Jamaican speedster Darren Powell and the mercurial Marlon Samuels. During the course of the match English television cricket commentator, Nasser Hussain had described Sammy as a "bits-and-pieces cricketer". Would Sammy ever smear egg on those gurus' faces!
Sammy began by taking a stupendous one-handed catch on his follow-through to dismiss England's bemused captain, Michael Vaughn for 40. But it was not until later in the afternoon that he was to really weave his magic around the mesmerised English cricketers. Sammy, whose stock delivery is an off-cutter in the corridor of uncertainty outside a right-hander's off-stump, suddenly bowled one to Bell which touched down on off stump and straightened. Bell groped uncertainly at the delivery and snicked the ball to a delighted Ramdin behind the stumps!
That brought in wicket-keeper Matthew Prior, whose batting has been a revelation for England in the cricket series. Sammy was in no mood to take any prisoners, however! He greeted the English glove-man with another beauty on off-stump which held its own as Prior felt for it and he could do no more than get a feather on it and Ramdin did the rest. Darren Sammy, the twenty-three year old from the rural community of Micoud in Saint Lucia was on a hat-trick!
In to the wicket walked Plunkett. Windies acting cricket captain Ganga crowded the new batsman who waited nervously as Sammy ran in and bowled yet another pearler which kissed the pitched just outside the off stump and again straightened. Plunkett had to offer the bat, but he was not good enough to touch the ball which flew past his outside edge into Ramdin's gloves once more.
Sammy had been denied the hat trick on debut, but he was to have the last laugh when moments later, in the same over, he got rid of Plunkett, caught by who else but the effervescent Bravo. And Sammy wasn't done yet!
He completed his virtually single-handed demolition of England by snapping up the wickets of Harmison, Cook and Panesar in quick time on an afternoon that saw England collapse from 265 for 3 to 313 all out, leaving the West Indies a victory target of 455.
Sammy's exploits in England today, the 9th of June 2007, have already resulted in calls in his homeland Saint Lucia for the Beausejour Cricket Ground there to be renamed after him.
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