Daren and Sherwin

DURING THE long history of first-class cricket, there have been a number of brothers who represented their country, the West Indies and other Test nations. Quite recently, the Jan twins Asif and Imran represented Trinidad and Tobago, while in the past there were Larry and Sheldon Gomes, Jeff and Victor Stollmeyer as well as Brian and Charlie Davis. Regionally there are Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards (biological half-brothers) from Barbados, Robert and Marlon Samuels from Jamaica and the Guyanese pair of Mahendra and Vishal Nagamootoo. Other famous cricketing brothers that come to mind are the Waugh twins Steve and Mark, fellow Australians Ian and Greg Chappell, the English pair of Adam and Ben (now deceased) Hollioake, Andy and Grant Flower from Zimbabwe and, from South Africa, Peter and Gary Kirsten and Peter and Graeme Pollock. Now, it is the turn of the Ganga brothers — Daren and Sherwin — to join the list of superstar names.

The 25-year-old Daren, who led TT to the regional one-day title in October, was already an established member of the national team, despite his inconsistency for the West Indies senior squad. Sherwin, three years younger than the national captain, has only made his national senior debut this year, but his performances during the recent one-dayers showed that he could surely follow his brother into the WI fold. There are some similarities and some differences between the two. The former Naparima College students hail from Barrackpore and, with deep-set eyes and humble mannerisms, both are shy. They are a journalist’s dream, fluent in speech and articulate. They both began their local club careers with Clarke Road before moving to PowerGen, and both are top-order batsmen who can bowl off-spinners, and are academically inclined. Last November, Sherwin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business management from the School of Accounting and Management (SAM) in St Augustine.

When he was selected to the WI team for the calamitous tour of South Africa in 1998, Daren was forced to cancel his planned degree in industrial management at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in St Augustine, and is now pursuing a law degree via correspondence with a British university. Sherwin was a member of the Windies outfit for the inaugural Lombard-sponsored Under-15 World Challenge in England in 1996, while Daren was included in the WI team for the 1998 Under-20 Youth Cup in South Africa as one of seven replacements following a shocking over-age fiasco. Left-handed with the bat, Sherwin is a free-scoring strokemaker, a total opposite to the right-handed Daren, who is a known grafter of runs. “I played for Trinidad Under-15, I played for West Indies Under-15 in the World Cup,” is the way of Sherwin puts it. “I went through the ranks, Under-19 up until the senior team.”

Sherwin added, “I made my first season with the national (senior) team earlier this year. This (was) my first limited-overs tournament as well.”
Playing for TT in the last four matches of the 2004 Carib Beer Series (he made his debut against the Windward Islands at the Queen’s Park Oval), Sherwin tallied 211 runs at an average of 26.37 with two half-centuries — 64 against Jamaica and 56 versus Barbados. With the national team missing the likes of Brian Lara, Dwayne Bravo, Dave Mohammed, Mervyn Dillon, Ravi Rampaul, Tishan Maraj, Lendl Simmons and Amit Jaggernauth for a variety of reasons, the younger Ganga was an integral part of TT’s success during the one-day competition. In seven games, he accumulated 232 runs at a healthy average of 33.14 with two 50s against Barbados — 53 in the opening match at Enmore, Guyana, (with TT winning by three wickets) and 64 in the semi-final at Windward Club in St Phillip, Barbados, (with TT prevailing by 11 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method). He also captured ten wickets at an average of 24.7 with the best figures of 3/28 (in the opener).

Adjudged the best batsman and the best bowler of the Final Four (semis and final), he earned the Man of the Match awards three times — in the two fixtures against Barbados and the nail-biting two-wicket win over Jamaica at Bourda, Georgetown, (25 and 3/39). How did the debutant cope with the burdens of performing with a depleted, inexperienced squad in both Guyana and Barbados? “It was good, I played pretty well,” he responded. “A number of goals that I set, I achieved most of those, so, all and all, it was a good tournament.” What were the goals? “They were personal (goals) but basically I achieved them.” The slim-built Sherwin was quick to indicate that he played his natural style every time he entered the wicket to open the innings for TT. “In this tournament I tried to bat a bit more aggressive,” he remarked, “(I) tried to be a bit more positive in my batting and it worked for me.” Seen by many as simply a bits-and-pieces bowler, Sherwin’s off-spin was also crucial in TT’s bowling armoury.

“My bowling has come a long way,” he noted. “A lot of people were surprised that I was one of the strike bowlers on the team. “I worked on it back in England. I played professional cricket there for Gilford City and then for Cruisely Cricket Club in the Bolton League. I’ve been doing a lot of bowling of late. And it has been a good season for me.” What made the season even sweeter for him was the fact that he did not have any external pressures on his mind, namely academic pursuits. At SAM, he stressed, “I did it full-time. I didn’t have much time to prepare for cricket as well.” Parents Ramesh and Seerajie also saw the eldest of their three sons combine both books and sport — Sheldon, a Naps and UWI graduate, played for the national Under-19 team in 1993 and 1995. Sheldon, however, is keeping his focus on the short-term level for the time being. “I’m looking forward to preparing for the Carib (Beer Series) that is coming up early next year,” he stated, with a West Indies selection right on the horizon.