FORMER West Indies Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan is set to try out for the Jamaica Scorpions franchise ahead of the 2015-16 regional professional cricket season.
Sarwan, the Guyanese-born middle-order batsman, is expected to be in Jamaica for fitness tests next Tuesday and Wednesday when contracted local members of the franchise will also undergo physical evaluations.
If selected as part of the squad, Sarwan, who is said to be registered to play for Kingston CC in the local 50-over club cricket competition scheduled to begin on September 6, will be paid on a game-by-game basis.
Courtney Francis, the chief executive officer of the Jamaica Cricket Association, confirmed that the 35-year-old is expected to participate in a two-day trial match slated for September 11 and 12.
“Sarwan was not in the draft selection, so the only option is ‘play for pay’. He made contact to play for the franchise and he was told he has to prove himself like everyone else. He has to come and do fitness tests and play in the trial matches,” Francis told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
The two non-Jamaican players contracted to represent the Scorpions are Guyana’s Trevon Griffiths and Barbados’s Kirk Edwards.
Sarwan, who has been dogged by fitness concerns throughout much of his senior career with the West Indies, made his Test debut against Pakistan at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados in May 2000.
The stylish right-hander played the last of his 87 Tests against India in Bridgetown in mid-2011. He averages 40.01 with the bat and has a top score of 291 against England in 2009, also in Bridgetown.
He has scored 15 Test centuries.
In 181 One Day International matches, Sarwan averages 42.67 and has scored five tons. His last ODI game came against India in the 2013 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy at Kennington Oval in London.
