Cricket World® Player Of The Week - Xavier Marshall
Xavier Marshall hits a four during his Twenty20 International innings in Barbados.
©DigicelCricket.com/Brooks La Touche Photography
Young Jamaican opening batsman Xavier Marshall has been named as the Cricket World® Player Of The Week following a scintillating performance in the Twenty20 International against Australia in Barbados as well as a half-century in the final Test.
Having been set 98 to win in 11 over, Marshall smashed the first ball he faced from Brett Lee for six - the same bowler had hit him on the head twice earlier in the week during his innings of 85 at the same venue as West Indies fought gamely, in vain, to save the third Test.
He proceeded to hit two more huge sixes in his innings of 36 from 15 balls before being run out by Shane Watson but his innings set things up for his side, which went on to win by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.
First picked for the West Indies as long ago as January 2005, Marshall struggled before a long spell away from the international scene, and time away from the first-class scene before his re-emergence as an international player this season.
Two half-centuries in his first four innings back as a Test player have shown the world that the 22-year-old is a force to be reckoned with, and his performances against Australia have backed up his immense talent with innings of substance.
Other contenders for this week's award included team-mate Dwayne Bravo for his role in the same win and Tim Southee, for taking four wickets in New Zealand's 22-run win over England.
The Cricket World ® Player Of The Week is judged by the www.cricketworld.com Editorial Team, which takes into consideration matches played in the preceding week with the final decision made on Monday morning.
Users are welcome to discuss the award and put forward contenders for each week's award on our forum, to do so, click
here.
© Cricket World 2008
