Sammy appointed West Indies Captain

St. Lucian Darren Sammy is the new Captain of the West Indies Cricket Team.

The West Indies Cricket Board announced on Sunday that the 26-year-old all-rounder will take over from Jamaican Chris Gayle and lead the side until the end of next year’s home series.{{more}}

Sammy, the first St. Lucian to don the West Indies colours, has appeared in eight Tests, 43 One-Day Internationals and 19 Twenty/20 Internationals.

His eight tests have yielded 291 runs with the bat at an average of 19.40. With the ball, Sammy, a medium fast bowler, has captured 27 wickets at 27.74 runs apiece.

In his 43 ODI’s, the new West Indies captain has gathered 508 runs at an average of 24.19. His wickets in ODI’s number 31 at 43.06 each.

In cricket’s shortest form, Sammy has scored 140 runs at 15.55 runs per innings and has taken 24 wickets at 14.95 per wicket.

WICB in a press statement, stated that Sammy, sharing his views on his appointment, said: “Being appointed West Indies captain is an honour and distinction which I will treat with the highest regard and dignity.

“I believe my captaincy of the Windward Islands, a young team which I have been moulding into playing consistently competitive cricket, will stand me in good stead as West Indies captain as we work on building a team for the future.

“I have always given my all when I prepare and play for the West Indies and nothing will change now. I know this will be a difficult challenge and I will take the torch from Chris and hold it high as we forge ahead,” said Sammy.

Gayle, 31, took the captaincy when Ramnaresh Sarwan succumbed to a serious shoulder injury on a tour of England in the summer of 2007.

In that time, Gayle has led West Indies to three wins in 20 Tests as captain, and they sit seventh on the ICC Test rankings list and eighth in the ODI rankings.

Sammy will lead a 15- member team to Sri Lanka from next month. The full team reads: Darren Sammy (Captain ), Brendan Nash (Vice-captain), Chris Gayle, Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh Jr, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Nelon Pascal, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith and Devon Thomas.

There, the West Indies will engage the Sri Lankans in three Tests and five ODI’s. (RT)