Mitchell Johnson backs beleaguered Marlon Samuels

The dire state that the West Indies find themselves in has as much to do with the team’s mental strength as with the team’s struggles off the field. One cricketer in particular who has been bearing the brunt of criticisms from probably all corners of the world is Marlon Samuels.

“HE didn’t do anything.” “No intensity whatsoever.” “Resembled an Egyptian mummy”.

These were some of the anecdotes used by the who’s who of cricket including Shane Warne, Ian Chappell, Tony Cozier, Fazeer Mohammed and Ian Healy. The habit of the Aussie clan to attack whosoever tries to penetrate their territory notwithstanding, Mitchell Johnson, the recently retired Aussie quick, has come to Samuels’ rescue.

Samuels has been accused to have a laid-back attitude, being the least concerned about the team’s issues, and having absolutely no intensity to help the team’s cause. As to what made them opine in this manner and whether his on-field behaviour really related to the accusations is still debatable.

“He really hasn’t offered the captain or anyone anything,” Warne said. “He’s just standing there with his hands in his pockets with lack of interest, no intensity whatsoever.”

This was said despite the fact that many of the players from both sides had their hands in their pockets to take advantage of the heat packs, specially designed to protect the fingers from chilly winds.

Samuels is misunderstood: Johnson

Johnson assured that Samuels was not the man everyone else was making him out to be. The two of them were face to face not so long ago, when Australia toured the West Indies back in May this year.

“I did speak to him after the Test series and … he’s a really, really nice guy to talk to,” Johnson told foxsports.com.au.

“I think he’s misunderstood. The perception of him is probably not the correct one. That’s not who he is.”

Samuels has also been accused of having no interest in what’s going on on the field even when his team his losing. Johnson, however, lauded the veteran Caribbean batsman, for his commitment to play Test cricket for the country in an age where freelance T20 giants such as Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo- only to name a few from Samuels’ own brethren- are travelling around the world and featuring in T20 leagues.

“He’s playing Test cricket and he wants to do that for his country,” Johnson said.

“He’s doing it when you’ve got your big guns playing for the money. It’s hard because you don’t blame them – you don’t know what their lifestyle’s like.”

The southpaw’s association with Samuels dates back to the U-19 days, as he said, “We played Under 19s cricket against each other in the World Cup.”

“He always gave off that attitude, looking from the outside (it seemed as though) he thought he was the man, he had that sort of swagger.”

Samuels faced flak from some of the West Indian experts too. Tony Cozier, the well-known West Indian commentator compared him to an Egyptian mummy, and called him motionless on the field.

While Fazeer Mohammed, another commentator, called his laid-back attitude as something not expected from the senior-most member of the team. He called on Samuels to be a bit more resolute and show the right attitude on the field.

Ian Chappell called him sloppy on the field, and called him guilty of being one of those guys who didn’t do anything, when they were supposed to pick the team up from the state it finds itself in.