?Dropped as both Test and one-day captain in the space of 12 months, Darren Sammy decided to drop his own long-distance bombshell on West Indies cricket last night.
Just a few hours after being replaced as Test captain by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Sammy retired from Test cricket. He is in India, representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).
The popular St Lucian was been made a surprise captain in October 2010, but had come under immense criticism for his role as skipper of the Test team recently, though remaining extremely popular among fans of the shorter versions of the game.
He was dumped as Test captain hours before last night’s retirement, and replaced by Denesh Ramdin, who was elevated from vice-captain to the helm of the Test squad.
President of the WICB, Dave Cameron, had said earlier yesterday that the decision to replace Sammy was one they thought necessary as they looked to re-establish the men in maroon in the five-day format of the sport.
Cameron also said the WICB was refocusing its attention on getting maximum performance for each format of the game.