Darren Sammy quits Test cricket after losing captaincy

Darren Sammy

West Indies’ Darren Sammy has announced his retirement from Test cricket on Friday. The news came hours after Sammy lost his Test captaincy.

“Darren Sammy has formally notified the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) of his decision to retire from Test cricket,” a board statement declared.

“Sammy has also informed the Board of his decision to continue to make himself available for selection for the other formats of the game,” it added.

The 30-year-old Sammy was replaced by Denesh Ramdin as the West Indies Test captain. Sammy captained 30 out of the 38 Test matches that he played in his career. He scored 1032 runs and picked up 57 wickets as captain. The all rounder hopes to continue playing ODIs.

“Sammy, in his communication to the board thanked the directors, the selectors and team management for the confidence shown in him as a player and captain which he served as from October 2010 to May 2014,” WICB said.

“We thank Darren for his energetic and resolute leadership over the past four years and we continue to see his role as the Twenty20 captain as a critical one,” Dave Cameron, the board president said.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old newly elected Test captain, Ramdin said it was an honour to be selected as the Test captain of his team.

“It is an honour to be named as captain of the West Indies Test team. This is a huge opportunity and as a unit we are capable of representing the people of the West Indies,” Ramdin said.

“I am taking over from Darren who did a good job while he was at the helm. He is a very humble and hardworking cricketer and during his time at the helm we won six matches and he gave his all to the job,” he added.

Ramdin’s immediate task at hand would be to captain the three-Test home series against New Zealand in June 2014.

“I am a very calm individual and I will bring that level of calmness to the job and to the team as we look to move forward and build a winning Test team which will make the people of the West Indies proud,” Ramdin concluded.