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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Beating Australia was brilliant</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>DIGICEL Players' Diary</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Ramnarash Sarwan
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ramnarash Sarwan </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>I am delighted to be able to have this opportunity to share my thoughts directly with all of you. Forgive me if I am a bit lengthy in this first entry.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Firstly, I have to say how very happy and excited I am that we won our first game against Australia. It was brilliant for us to get off to such a fantastic start to the tournament. We gained a lot of confidence from that victory and we need to build on it. It's very important that we build on it for the upcoming games against India and England on October 26 and 28, respectively.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I am sure it was an entertaining game for the fans. We lost early wickets, but both Runako Morton and our captain Brian Lara played outstanding innings to get us to 234. It wasn't the easiest pitch to bat on and it was good to see the way Runako played as he was always positive and looking to score. We all know what Brian is capable of, so that he too produced a superb innings should not be a surprise to anyone. I hope Runako continues with his excellent form. He has been in and out of the team and it is always good to see someone grab their opportunities with both hands. I hope he goes on from strength to strength.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Although we won I still don't think we are batting well as a team as yet. We are still struggling to consistently get a decent total. We are finding it hard to get steady partnerships and ensuring that one of the top three batsmen bat through the innings. That's one area where we are falling down and we need to improve on.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On a personal note, I was disappointed with my own batting. I have been getting starts and haven't been able to carry on and I am looking to improve on that for the rest of games in this tournament.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It was unfortunate that Brian got injured and could not take the field, but it's always an honour to be leading the team. I enjoyed it. I got the full support of the rest of the guys and that was very helpful. We knew the first 20 overs were very important because we wanted to get in the first two power plays in for as little runs as possible. We also wanted to utilise the two spinners for as long as possible going into the 50th over. We were always conscious that the spinners were going to play a big part for us to win the game.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Australia were going at a run-a-ball with about eight overs to go and we wanted to get that run rate up to about eight or nine runs per over. I wanted to continue with the spinners, Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, as they were the best bowlers for that job at the time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>After Chris and Marlon executed the task brilliantly, Jerome
Taylor and Dwayne Bravo came in and they bowled in precise areas and varied their pace well. I thought the two big blows for Australia was when Wavell Hinds and Chris ran out Gilchrist, who was going well and when Dwayne Bravo flummoxed Michael Clarke with his superb slower ball.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dwayne showed great determina-tion after he went for 24 runs in his first four overs. He came back and performed stunningly in a high-pressure situation.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I really cannot find words to adequately describe Jerome's performance. For such a young player to show such ca
<SPAN class=Subheadline>DIGICEL Players' Diary</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Ramnarash Sarwan
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=185 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Ramnarash Sarwan </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>I am delighted to be able to have this opportunity to share my thoughts directly with all of you. Forgive me if I am a bit lengthy in this first entry.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Firstly, I have to say how very happy and excited I am that we won our first game against Australia. It was brilliant for us to get off to such a fantastic start to the tournament. We gained a lot of confidence from that victory and we need to build on it. It's very important that we build on it for the upcoming games against India and England on October 26 and 28, respectively.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I am sure it was an entertaining game for the fans. We lost early wickets, but both Runako Morton and our captain Brian Lara played outstanding innings to get us to 234. It wasn't the easiest pitch to bat on and it was good to see the way Runako played as he was always positive and looking to score. We all know what Brian is capable of, so that he too produced a superb innings should not be a surprise to anyone. I hope Runako continues with his excellent form. He has been in and out of the team and it is always good to see someone grab their opportunities with both hands. I hope he goes on from strength to strength.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Although we won I still don't think we are batting well as a team as yet. We are still struggling to consistently get a decent total. We are finding it hard to get steady partnerships and ensuring that one of the top three batsmen bat through the innings. That's one area where we are falling down and we need to improve on.<P class=StoryText align=justify>On a personal note, I was disappointed with my own batting. I have been getting starts and haven't been able to carry on and I am looking to improve on that for the rest of games in this tournament.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It was unfortunate that Brian got injured and could not take the field, but it's always an honour to be leading the team. I enjoyed it. I got the full support of the rest of the guys and that was very helpful. We knew the first 20 overs were very important because we wanted to get in the first two power plays in for as little runs as possible. We also wanted to utilise the two spinners for as long as possible going into the 50th over. We were always conscious that the spinners were going to play a big part for us to win the game.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Australia were going at a run-a-ball with about eight overs to go and we wanted to get that run rate up to about eight or nine runs per over. I wanted to continue with the spinners, Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, as they were the best bowlers for that job at the time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>After Chris and Marlon executed the task brilliantly, Jerome Taylor and Dwayne Bravo came in and they bowled in precise areas and varied their pace well. I thought the two big blows for Australia was when Wavell Hinds and Chris ran out Gilchrist, who was going well and when Dwayne Bravo flummoxed Michael Clarke with his superb slower ball.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dwayne showed great determina-tion after he went for 24 runs in his first four overs. He came back and performed stunningly in a high-pressure situation.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I really cannot find words to adequately describe Jerome's performance. For such a young player to show such ca