Marlon Samuels is the man responsible for one of the laziest, most uncommitted performances by a professional cricketer I’ve witnessed.
While on duty for West Indies against England Lions in Northampton (the hometown seamer Jack Brooks was in the England side, the reason for my attendance in a working capacity) Samuels, fresh off a bank-balance inflating stint in the Indian Premier League, produced an effort which could’ve been bettered by a cardboard cutout.
His warm-up consisted of patting back a handful of extremely slow throwdowns without enough force even to reach the advertising boards from half a dozen yards away, and, er, that was it.
He then scratched his way to 32, which was quite an achievement given his feet didn’t move enough to even make new spike marks. He missed more than he hit and his commitment to application was conspicuous by its blatant absence.
But it wasn’t necessarily how he played which was the issue – given his colleagues struggled to adapt to the damp, seaming early season surface – but rather that he gave the impression he would’ve rather been anywhere but where his body actually had him stationed.
In the subsequent Test series, the Jamaican made light of such a lacklustre showing with a collection of excellent innings, the best of which was a sublime first-innings century at Trent Bridge. Not necessarily the definition of the ridiculous to the sublime but, as Billy Birmingham’s note-perfect Richie Benaud would state, “Pretty f****** close to it.”
There have been plenty of cricketers down the years with a personality split which manifested itself in their performances, but Samuels would have to somewhere near the top were such a list ever compiled.
Barely caring one day – the recent Test series in Australia was another case where his countrymen may as well have played with ten – and peeling off match-winning stints in finals the next.
Jekyll and Hyde eat your proverbial heart out and then some.
Samuels has played in a pair of World T20 finals, against Sri Lanka in 2012 and England the other day, and both times he has been the star of the show.
While Carlos Brathwaite applied the stunning coup de grace to the final in Kolkata on Sunday, it was Samuels who made sure his side had a sniff, after they threatened to make a right hash of chasing England’s under-par total.
Much is made of the ability to hit the ball out of the ground in the 20-over format, a la Brathwaite or Andre Russell, but a calm head and the nous to pace an innings is a highly valuable skill and one Samuels has down to a tee.
In Colombo four years, ago his 78 – constructed out of the potentially ruinous score of 32-2 at the halfway point of the innings – was a masterclass which contained a breathtaking assault on Lasith Malinga and propelled the West Indies to a score that netted them the trophy.
His innings at Eden Gardens may have lacked the same pockets of fireworks, but there was a similar recipe adhered to; stay in the game, bide your time, then press the accelerator.
There is more time than many would have you believe in such a short game and Samuels has certainly signed up to such an adage.
For a player capable of such moments, Samuels has a curiously underwhelming record. An average of fewer than 34 in Tests and a fraction over the same number in one-day internationals are nothing to really shout about.
They’re not dreadful by any means, but they seem somewhat unbecoming when you see the level he is capable of raising himself to on the biggest stage.
But that is just the way it is, and while myself or anybody else can pick holes in his cricketing resume, the man himself has two shiny gold medals on his mantelpiece. They are medals he has done more than most to earn.
And there are numerous cricketers who would love to be able to say that.
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