The newly unveiled Marlon Samuels 2.0

Kingston in Jamaica for me is another word for heaven on earth. The cool breeze, the beaches, statues of Sir Garfield Sobers and other such stuff make it a place for paradise. The attitude of the local people is also something that makes the list for many. However, one aspect from the list is the general attitude of the residents. The life of the people in Jamaica is something of a mix between lazy and erratic.

A few miles west of the Caribbean Sea is Bridgetown, Barbados. However, the Tri-Series 2016 had seen the place go into shutdown mode. Growing up, Day-Night matches were a rarity in Barbados. However, it was all happening under the lights and the night sky. Johnson Charles made his way back to the haven of the dressing sheds. He had done his job, and he had done it to perfection really. He seemed disappointed, on the TV screen at least. Perhaps, it was his way of showing Phil Simmons what the latter wanted to see.

In walked Marlon Samuels. At the age of 35, he has seen much more in cricket than most Australian players on the field at the moment. The man who was going to bowl to him, Adam Zampa was in mere diapers when Samuels was making waved in first-class cricket. However, each time Samuels faces Australia, the back story reel sets off.

To sum it up, he has been a player who has had his best moments against Australia. And each time the best cricket team in the world eluded him, it almost seemed as though his competitive edge came back. Samuels had made his international debut in Melbourne, Australia at the turn of the century. As far as many are concerned, it is the best place for one to make their debut.

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As a 20-year old, Samuels showed such incredible poise and control while batting. What’s worse is that he made the likes of Brian Lara and other supremely technically sublime batsmen in the world look like bunnies. Moreover, he was not facing a mickey-mouse attack. On the contrary, he was facing the likes of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, and Brett Lee.

16-years later, he was facing a reincarnation of Shane Warne in the form of Adam Zampa. Of course, he had his fight with Warnie in the Big Bash some years ago. But, that didn’t seem to matter when he prodded Zampa in a defensive manner. His technique had a slight flavor from the past. It wasn’t the modern-day technique that required batsmen to smash and clobber the ball. Yet, it was classy, elegant, and more importantly, trademark Jamaican. The so-called ‘relaxed’ nature of the Jamaican people was the way Samuels was going to play.

In all his 16 years of cricket, Samuels has batted in the number 4 position. If one takes a quick peek into West Indies cricket history, they will certainly know that the number four position in the batting lineup has been occupied by some of the greats of West Indies cricket. Samuels is a country mile away from the wavelength of the likes of Sir Viv Richards and Everton Weekes, but he still owns the no. 4 spot.

All these thoughts surely must have raced across the mind of Samuels. The situation was also make or break. The WICB was in turmoil. Their best players were in England with the NatWest T20 blast. In a nutshell, it was a terrible situation.

The way Samuels batter, however, was something of a fairy-tale. He was playing the way pundits had expected. He was playing the way most fans wanted him to. Those present at the Kensington Oval were witnessing one of the quieter stars at work. Whether it was a front-foot pull to Faulkner or a cheeky leg-glance, the elegance was there for all to see.

He has recently broken into the 5000 ODI runs bracket. However, what’s more, is that he has been doing it the same way he has since his debut in 2000. One will also take notice that Samuels has improved quite a lot in the past few years. While stats show that Samuels has certainly been a great player over the last couple of years, things haven’t been the easiest for him in the past. But as mentioned earlier, it was never about numbers with Samuels. It has never been as well. And I hope that most have never judged him on the purrs of the pleasure he has generated for statisticians. He is and always has been beautiful to watch. And that is the bottom line.