Sammy loses WI ODI captaincy … Smith earns recall

St Lucian Darren Sammy has been relieved of his position as captain of the West Indies Cricket Team for One Day Internationals (ODI) for the ICC Champions Trophy next month in England, while Devon Smith has earned a recall, after a two-year absence.{{more}}

Replaced by Dwayne Bravo, Sammy will, however, continue to lead the regional side in tests and Twenty20 internationals.

The records show that under Sammy, the West Indies won the World Twenty20, but has won only three ODI series over the last three years, with two of them against lowly rated Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

West Indies has won 19 and lost 30 ODIs under Sammy, who first captained them in April 2010. Sammy’s averages are 21.16 runs with the bat and 42. 4 runs with the ball in the ODI format.

He has taken 69 wickets in 92 ODIs and has scored 1,143 runs.

On the other hand, Bravo averages 23.82 with the bat and 30 with the ball.

Bravo has appeared in 137 ODIs, scoring 2,311 runs and capturing 160 wickets.

Bravo led the West Indies to a 3-0 whipping of Zimbabwe earlier this year, as Sammy was “rested”.

The left-handed Devon Smith from Grenada, who made his ODI debut in 2003, earned a recall on the back of a good season for the Windwards, who minted the regional Super50 series.

Smith, batting at the top of the order, had tournament-high 348 runs at an average of 58.00 from eight innings.

The 31-year-old Smith had one century, 110 not out, versus Guyana here at the Arnos Vale in round three of the tournament. He added three half-centuries to the good.

Smith has 42 ODIs under his belt, in which he averages 26.68 with the bat.

The full West Indies squad for the Champions Trophy reads: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Denesh Ramdin – Vice Captain, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Devon Smith.

The West Indies, who won the Champions Trophy in 2004, play their first match of the 2013 edition on June 7 against Pakistan at the Oval.

Drawn in Group B of the preliminary phase of the tournament, the West Indies meet India on June 11, also at the Oval, and South Africa at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales on June 14.

Australia won the last tournament held in 2009.(RT)