Leicestershire Sign Sarwan For 2012

Leicestershire Sign Sarwan For 2012

Sarwan in action for the West Indies in their World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan in 2011.

©REUTERS/Andrew Biraj. Picture Supplied by Action Images

Leicestershire have signed West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan as their main overseas player for the 2012 season. The Guyanese right-hander will represent the Foxes in all cricket during the forthcoming season, including playing alongside Abdul Razzaq in their Friends Life t20 side.

The club had previously failed to reach an agreement with former Pakistani batsman Mohammad Yousuf to take on the vacant overseas position, but that deal fell through because of Yousuf’s reluctance to play limited-overs cricket, or any cricket during the month of Ramadan.

The deal with Sarwan – which still needs clearance from the Home Office and the WICB –appears to have put an end to any hopes the 31 year-old may have had of resurrecting his international career in the near future. 

He last played for the West Indies in a Test match against India in July 2011, but was left out of their squads for the subsequent tour of Bangladesh due to injury. Prior to this, his fitness had become an ever-increasing concern for the West Indies, with the selectors cutting him from their list of contracted players in 2010, saying that they were, "concerned about Sarwan's extremely indifferent attitude and sporadic approach towards fitness, particularly in recent years".

His lack of fitness also appears to have played a part in his recent omission from Guyana’s squad which competed in the Caribbean T20 – an omission that Sarwan reacted angrily to, resulting in the Guyana Cricket Board starting disciplinary proceedings against him – and it is something which Leicestershire would have been aware of before signing the talented South American.

Nonetheless, it would be unfair to overlook Sarwan’s achievements in the game, and it is worth mentioning that he is not the only player to have fallen out with the dysfunctional West Indies and Guyana Cricket Boards. 

Overall in his international career, he has scored almost 6000 Test runs at an average of over 40, and has been even more prolific in One-Day Internationals – hitting over 5500 runs at an average of over 43. Furthermore, he has shown his class in all conditions – including topping the Test batting averages on his tour of England in 2000 – as well as leading the West Indies briefly following Brian Lara’s retirement in 2007.

Leicestershire, chief executive Mike Siddall said, "We are delighted to have completed the signing of Ramnaresh Sarwan. He has an impressive Test record and his availability to play all forms of the game for us during the 2012 season is an added bonus. We wanted to sign an experienced overseas batsman and Ronnie certainly fits the bill."

The news will be a welcome boost for Foxes fans, who have seen an already-struggling Championship side further depleted this winter by the departures of James Taylor and Harry Gurney to Nottinghamshire, as well as the false hope of the signing and subsequent retirement of former Kent batsman Martin van Jaarsveld.

Sarwan will join his new team-mates on their pre-season tour of Barbados in mid-March before returning to the UK with them ahead of their opening first-class fixture against Glamorgan on April 5th.

© Cricket World 2012