Stay focused! - Logie wants consistency from 'Sammy'

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer staff reporter walker@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

JAMAICA'S cricket coach and former West Indies coach Gus Logie remained cautious on the omission of talented batsman Marlon Samuels from the West Indies team for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup later this month.

"No, I don't want to go down that road. We're just focusing on what we have right now," the Trinidad and Tobago native told the Observer yesterday before the team departed for a three-match tour of the Eastern Caribbean.

"The players know very well that certain thing are out of their hands and we're just going to control what we can control and all we ask Marlon to continue to do is keep his feet on the ground and continue to produce those big scores," Logie added.

Samuels, who turned 30 on February 5, made his return to international cricket after a two-year ban and has shown good form in both the Twenty/20 and four-day versions of the game.

The ICC World Cup bowls off on Saturday, February 19, and Samuels -- whose ban was lifted on May 2010 -- have had some good scores in the CaribbeanT20 competition in January.

The Jamaican stylist was the backbone of the team's quest for victory but which ended at the semi-final stage against champions Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Samuels averaged 63 following scores of 42, 80 not out, 45 not out, 53, 14 and 19 in the competition.

He made 42 from 48 balls as Jamaica opened the campaign with a 50-run win over Guyana. He then smashed 80 from 54 balls, inclusive of five fours and five sixes, as Jamaica lost to the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by seven wickets.

The former Kingston College student hit 45 from 21 balls with four fours and three sixes as Jamaica beat visiting English county side Somerset by 61 runs.

Samuels followed that up with 53 from 39 balls in another losing effort against the Windward Islands; 14 in the semi-final against T&T and 19 as Jamaica claimed third place with a nine-run win against the Windward Islands.

The West Indies team was named in January and Samuels was not included, hence his return to the West Indies fold has been delayed.

Samuels is quoted as saying he is not ready for a return to West Indies cricket and just wants to play some more.

And play some more he did. The Guyana game was his first four-day match after a two-year ban for inappropriate links to an Indian bookmaker.

Samuels announced himself to the West Indies selectors with a timely reminder of his talent with a masterful 250 not out at the weekend.

The 30-year-old right-hander reeled off a superb double hundred at Alpart Sports Club as the hosts piled up an impressive 391 for four declared in their second innings, after trailing by 33 on first innings. Jamaica were bundled out for a paltry 150 in their first innings.

Samuels raised his second regional first-class century and his seventh first-class ton overall, hitting 22 fours and seven sixes, in an innings that required 320 balls and lasted seven hours and 11 minutes.

Samuels made his Test debut in Australia in 2000 as a 19-year-old who was yet to represent Jamaica at the senior level. He later scored his first Test ton (104) against India in 2002 in the drawn third Test.

His first One-Day International (ODI) ton came in the series which followed and turned out to be a series-winning innings. With the series level at 3-3 entering the final match at Vijayawada on November 24, 2002, he hit 108 not out off just 75 balls as the West Indies finished with 315 and went on to win by 135 runs.

On October 9, 2005, Samuels scored his highest first-class score -- an innings of 257 in a tour match against the Australians at the 'Gabba'.

His promising career was then halted after Indian police accused him of giving out team information to a well-known bookie prior to the first ODI between the West Indies and India in Nagpur on January 21, 2007.

It is claimed that they have taped telephone conversations between a bookmaker, Mukesh Kochchar and Samuels. The transcript was later released by the police.

After a hearing into the matter, the ruling ICC enforced a mandatory ban on the 27-year-old, backdated from May 9, 2008.

He was subsequently found guilty of breaking rules designed to stop players betting on matches. Samuels has always maintained his innocence.

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Stay focused! - Logie wants consistency from 'Sammy'