Life of an odds-beater Daren Sammy

Battling against daunting odds has been the theme of Daren Sammy’s life in cricket.Coming from St Lucia to play international cricket when no one from that island had done so before, was the first indication of that ability to do the unexpected.And having made the step up, Sammy went further.First, he had a career of decent length, playing 38 Test matches, 126 One-Day Internationals and 68 T20 Internationals in that time.Not only did Sammy manage to play a fair number of matches for West Indies, he also became captain. He led the Men in Maroon on 128 occasions, including 30 times in Tests, 51 times in ODIs and 47 times in T20Is. His stewardship included a turbulent period in the time of the Dave Cameron administration. In fact, Sammy’s captaincy and playing career ended in that time. His calling out of Cameron’s board during arguably his finest moment, proved decisive.

West Indies had just pulled off a spectacular victory over England to win their second World Cup title — their second triumph with Sammy in charge - when the WI skipper used the post match ceremony to criticise Cameron’s board. It was a bold and career-threatening move for which Sammy paid the price.That drama happened in 2016. But a decade later, in 2026, Sammy is again a board employee - with more power and influence than he had as captain.Daren Sammy being the all-formats head coach and chief selector of the West Indies teams would have been a “Nancy story” ten years ago. But their is an element of survivability about Sammy that has to be admired.

Sammy went into the current T20 World Cup with losing records in all the formats last year. There were some spectacular lowlights, like by being bowled out by Australia for 27 in a Test match and losing a T20I series to Nepal.The Sammy sceptics have been given plenty of ammunition with which to attack his coach/selector/all-formats authority. And his public ally, Cricket West Indies president Dr Kishore Shallow has raised eyebrows with some of his statements in defence of the coach.“Daren continues to get unfair criticism because he is from a small island.” Remember that? Win this tournament, or even get to the final, and the ‘sack Sammy’ talk will go away. But if there is failure to reach the semis, tough coach Daren will have to grow an even thicker skin.