Cricinfo - Players and Officials

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Full name Marlon Nathaniel Samuels
Born January 5, 1981, Kingston, Jamaica
Current age 27 years 133 days
Major teams West Indies, Jamaica
Playing role Batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Relations Brother - RG Samuels

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	29	53	4	1408	105	28.73	3172	44.38	2	9	194	5	13
ODIs	107	99	16	2513	108*	30.27	3323	75.62	2	18	252	42	29
T20Is	6	6	0	131	51	21.83	74	177.02	0	1	9	10	0
First-class	67	115	8	3724	257	34.80			6	22			39
List A	160	149	24	4032	108*	32.25			4	30			44
Twenty20	12	12	1	287	51	26.09	201	142.78	0	1	27	16	0

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
Tests	29	30	1596	889	7	2/49	2/66	127.00	3.34	228.0	0	0
ODIs	107	76	3079	2465	57	3/25	3/25	43.24	4.80	54.0	0	0
T20Is	6	4	72	128	2	1/24	1/24	64.00	10.66	36.0	0	0
First-class	67		4540	2290	37	5/87		61.89	3.02	122.7		1
List A	160		4827	3650	99	4/21	4/21	36.86	4.53	48.7	2	0
Twenty20	12	10	188	241	8	2/19	2/19	30.12	7.69	23.5	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, Dec 15-19, 2000 scorecard
Last Test	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 3-6, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Sri Lanka v West Indies at Nairobi (Gym), Oct 4, 2000 scorecard
Last ODI	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	England v West Indies at The Oval, Jun 28, 2007 scorecard
Last T20I	South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Jan 18, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1996/97
Last First-class	Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago at Kingston, Apr 24-26, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1999/00
Last List A	West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Bermuda v Jamaica at Coolidge, Jul 21, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago at Coolidge, Feb 24, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Marlon Samuels is a right-hander of immense ability, whose composed start to his Test career prompted unfair comparisons with Viv Richards. When Samuels flew into Australia for the third Test of the 2000-01 series, he was only 19 and had yet to represent his native Jamaica in a first-class match. His technique was near to faultless: perfectly balance, standing utterly still at the crease, moving smoothly into his strokes off either foot. His undistinguished offspin also claimed a couple of wickets, though his action would later be called into question. He exudes a bull-headed confidence - he used to skip his schoolwork on the basis that exams were irrelevant to future Test cricketers. That confidence, which often overflowed into perceived arrogance, almost got him sent home from India late in 2002 after he defied a team curfew - but he was kept on, and responded with his a disciplined maiden Test century in Kolkata. But he struggled with both form and injury, and was dropped after two poor home Tests against Sri Lanka in 2003. He made a comeback for the tour of Australia in 2005-06 but didn't contribute anything of substance in the two Tests he played. An 87 in the third Test against India in May raised hopes of a revival but runs continued to elude him in the ODI format. The drought continued in the 2006-07 season - he passed 15 only once in 12 games but, out of the blue came, the stunning unbeaten hundred against Pakistan in December 2006. In the next five games, leading to his selection to the World Cup, he compiled 216 runs with a match-winning 98, against India when West Indies chased down 268, being the standout knock. However, just before his selection, he was drawn into a major controversy after Nagpur police alleged that he passed on match-related information to an alleged bookie ahead of an ODI against India. He was included in the World Cup squad despite the ICC's investigations into the issue, where he only briefly shone, ending the tournament by running out Brian Lara in his last international innings. He lost his place for the England tour that followed but was given a lifeline when he was recalled following injury to the captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan. He was subsequently called up to their Twenty20 World Championship squad in South Africa in September.

There were signs of a growing maturity in his batsmanship, but the match-fixing allegations reared its head in 2008 when he was found guilty of "receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute." Samuels was subsequently banned for two years, at a time when West Indies desperately needed solidity in their middle-order.
Will Luke May 2008