Mr Mxyzptlk
Well-known member
I was in a nostalgic mood today, casting my mind back to various players from past days of cricket. It was a strange experience, because thinking back to players who were around just recently seems like a lifetime ago. It seems almost surreal to think of Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith opening the batting together. And as I skimmed through Cricinfo profiles, whoever came to mind, I landed on Dinanath Ramnarine.
As Richard alluded to in the Steve Smith thread, wristspin is an extremely difficult art to master, or even be decent at. The vast majority of wristspinners amount to nothing in no time at all. For a legspinner to be any good is rare, and for him to be Test class even more so. For West Indies, spin in general has been a barren department, but Ramnarine was special- a wristspinner with control and brains. Not only was he a good spinner, but probably as close to a world class bowler as any West Indian this side of Ian Bishop.
It's a real shame that politics and prejudice denied him what could have been an outstanding career. At 34, who knows, he may still have had 3-4 good years left in him. 45 wickets in 12 Tests and 2.37 economy. Certainly comparable with the majority of spinners around in his time and since.
I don't expect any conversation to come from this essay of an opening post. I just felt the need to show some appreciation for the man.
As Richard alluded to in the Steve Smith thread, wristspin is an extremely difficult art to master, or even be decent at. The vast majority of wristspinners amount to nothing in no time at all. For a legspinner to be any good is rare, and for him to be Test class even more so. For West Indies, spin in general has been a barren department, but Ramnarine was special- a wristspinner with control and brains. Not only was he a good spinner, but probably as close to a world class bowler as any West Indian this side of Ian Bishop.
It's a real shame that politics and prejudice denied him what could have been an outstanding career. At 34, who knows, he may still have had 3-4 good years left in him. 45 wickets in 12 Tests and 2.37 economy. Certainly comparable with the majority of spinners around in his time and since.
I don't expect any conversation to come from this essay of an opening post. I just felt the need to show some appreciation for the man.