Marlon Samuels, who will be under pressure to perform in the upcoming series against India, had some good news. He was declared Cricketer of the year as well as ODI player of the year by WI Cricket board.
This has been a rollercoaster year for WI team in general. They won the WT20 (both men and women) and were also victorious in under-19 cricket World Cup. The award ceremony was held at Antigua, venue for the first Test match.
Samuels, who had several run-ins with the West Indies Cricket Board, proved to be an asset for the national side this year. The 35-year-old Jamaican scored 859 runs in 22 ODIs since 2015, including three centuries but his golden moment came in the World T20 final against England in April.
Samuels smashed an unbeaten 85 off 66 balls in West Indies’ chase of 156, which fetched him his second Man-of-the-Match award in a World T20 final.
Samuels had disappointing tours of Sri Lanka and Australia, would like to prove a point by scoring heavily against the Indians. The team will be relying on him to marshal the youngsters and perform to his potential to prove doubters wrong.
After the retirement of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Samuels is the most experienced batsman in the side and if WI wants to beat India then Samuels will have to play a big part in it.
WIPA/WICB award winners:
Under-19 Team of the Year: Guyana
Under-19 Player of the Year: Shimron Hetmyer
First-class Team of the Year: Guyana
PCL 50-over Player of the Year: Jason Mohammed
PCL Four-day Player of the Year: Veerasammy Permaul
Caribbean T20 Player of the Year: Dwayne Bravo
ODI Player of the Year: Marlon Samuels
Women’s ODI Player of the Year: Stafanie Taylor
Test Player of the Year: Darren Bravo
T20 Player of the Year: Chris Gayle
Women’s T20 Player of the Year: Stafanie Taylor
Emerging Player of the Year: Jomel Warrican
WICB Lifetime Achievement Award: Clarvis Joseph
WIPA Lifetime Achievement Award: Ralston Otto
Women’s Player of the Year: Stafanie Taylor
Cricketer of the Year: Marlon Samuels