Shamarh Shaqad Joshua Brooks (born 1 October 1988) is a Barbadian international cricketer who plays international cricket for West Indies and plays domestic cricket for Barbados. He is a right-handed batsman who occasionally bowls leg-spin and mainly plays as a batsman.[1] He made his international debut for the West Indies in August 2019.[1]

Shamarh Brooks
Brooks batting during the first Test against Australia at Perth in December 2022
Personal information
Full name
Shamarh Shaqad Joshua Brooks
Born (1988-10-01) 1 October 1988 (age 36)
Saint Michael, Barbados
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeg-break
RoleTop-order batter
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 318)22 August 2019 v India
Last Test8 December 2022 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 207)8 January 2022 v Ireland
Last ODI9 June 2023 v UAE
T20I debut (cap 88)13 December 2021 v Pakistan
Last T20I19 October 2022 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2007–presentBarbados
2016–2017St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 13 29 99 77
Runs scored 553 842 4,659 2014
Batting average 23.04 30.07 29.86 29.61
100s/50s 1/3 1/4 7/27 1/12
Top score 111 101* 166 101*
Balls bowled 791 60
Wickets 7 4
Bowling average 78.14 10.50
5 wickets in innings 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 2/68 2/12
Catches/stumpings 12/0 14/0 91/0 38/0
Source: Cricinfo, 7 January 2024

Early and domestic career

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Brooks was seen as a cricket prodigy in his teenage years. He played for the West Indies under-19 cricket team in the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, made his first-class cricket debut for Barbados in 2007 and captained the West Indies in the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[2][3] He remained in the Barbados national team for several years, but never realized his full potential and after a particularly bad year in 2012, scoring just 76 runs at an average of 8.44, he was dropped from the national team.[3]

Brooks didn't play another first-class match until 2015,[4] but immediately upon his return he scored his maiden first-class century against the Windward Islands.[3][5] Over the next five years, he scored 3091 runs at an average of 38.63, including five centuries and 20 half-centuries.[3]

Brooks began to make steps towards Test cricket by captaining unofficial Test matches for the West Indies' second team, West Indies A, from 2016. This culminated in the West Indies A series against India A in England in 2018, where he scored 91 in the first match[6] and 121 not out in the second match to finish as the highest run-scorer for the series.[7][8]

Twenty20 franchise cricket

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Brooks played for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League, the top-level Twenty20 league in the West Indies, for two seasons in 2016 and 2017. He played 4 matches in each season, and across them both scored 119 runs at an average of 23.80 with a strike-rate of 120.20.[9][10]

International career

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In January 2019, Brooks was named in the West Indies' Test squad for their series against England as a reward for his first-class form,[11][12] but he did not play. He then captained West Indies A in another series against India A in July and August 2019. Initially he was only meant to captain the final of three unofficial Test matches, with Kraigg Brathwaite captaining the first two,[13][14] but after an injury to Brathwaite, he stepped in to captain the first two matches as well.[15] Brooks led from the front with half centuries in both of the first two matches,[16][17] He was then again named in the West Indies' Test squad, this time for their series against India.[18][19]

Brooks made his Test debut for the West Indies against India on 22 August 2019.[20] In November 2019, in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Brooks scored his first century in Test cricket, with 111 runs.[21]

In June 2020, Brooks was named in the West Indies' Test squad, for their series against England.[22] The Test series was originally scheduled to start in May 2020, but was moved back to July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]

In November 2021, Brooks was named in the West Indies' One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against Pakistan.[24] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut on 13 December 2021, for the West Indies against Pakistan.[25] In December 2021, he was named in the West Indies' ODI squad for their series against Ireland.[26] He made his ODI debut on 8 January 2022, for the West Indies against Ireland.[27]

On 4 June 2022, in the third and final match of the series against the Netherlands, Brooks scored his first century in ODI cricket, with 101 not out.[28]

In December 2022, Brooks replaced Nkrumah Bonner as a concussion substitute on day 3 of the first Test of West Indies tour of Australia.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Shamarh Brooks profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  2. ^ "Shamarh Brooks - Check Brooks's News, Career, Age, Rankings, Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Harris, David (15 August 2019). "Late bloomer". Barbados Today. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  4. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Shamarh Brooks". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Full Scorecard of Barbados vs Windward Islands, WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament, 2nd Innings - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  6. ^ "West Indies A vs India A: Ambris, Brooks help West Indies A take 250-run lead against India A". Times of India. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Shamarh Brooks' gritty ton helps West Indies A reach 301/9 against India A on Day 1 of 2nd unofficial Test". Firstpost. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  8. ^ "India A v West Indies A unofficial Test Series, 2018 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Caribbean Premier League, 2016 - St Kitts and Nevis Patriots Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Caribbean Premier League, 2017 - St Kitts and Nevis Patriots Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPncricinfo. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Darren Bravo returns to West Indies Test squad to face England". ESPNcricinfo. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Jamaican John Campbell called up for Test duty". Loop Jamaica. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. ^ Levy, Leighton (13 June 2019). "Test hopefuls to prove themselves against India 'A' next month". SportsMax. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Strong Windies A teams named". Barbados Today. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. ^ "West Indies Selectors Make Changes To 'A' Squad as Brathwaite, Dowrich Injured". Cricket Next. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Recent Match Report - West Indies A vs India A 1st unofficial Test 2019". ESPNcricinfo. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  17. ^ "India A vs West Indies A: Montcin Hodge, Shamarh Brooks strike fifties to take hosts to 243/5 on Day 1 of second unofficial Test". First Post. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Rahkeem Cornwall makes it to West Indies Test squad". ESPNcricinfo. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  19. ^ Bijoy (10 August 2019). "Uncapped Rahkeem Cornwall, Shamarh Brooks in Windies squad for India Test series". CricTracker. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  20. ^ "1st Test, ICC World Test Championship at North Sound, Aug 22-26 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Shamarh Brooks' maiden ton inflates lead to 90". CricBuzz. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul turn down call-ups for England tour". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Squad named for Sandals West Indies Tour of England". Cricket West Indies. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  24. ^ "CWI Selection Panel announces squads for six-match white ball tour of Pakistan". Cricket West Indies. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  25. ^ "1st T20I (N), Karachi, Dec 13 2021, West Indies tour of Pakistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  26. ^ "West Indies name squads to face Ireland and England in upcoming white-ball series". Cricket West Indies. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  27. ^ "1st ODI, Kingston, Jan 8 2022, Ireland tour of United States of America and West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Mayers, Brooks centuries set up 3-0 whitewash for West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  29. ^ "Watch: Nkrumah Bonner retires hurt after being hit on helmet, Shamarh Brooks comes as concussion substitute". Indian Express. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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