Biography of Marlon Nathaniel Samuels

Marlon Nathaniel Samuels (born February 5, 1981 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a West Indian cricketer.

Samuels made his Test debut in Australia in 2000, and his one day international debut against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in the same year.

He is primarily a batsman but his sense of balance and off-spin have claimed a number of useful wickets. He has struggled with a knee injury recently, being forced to fly home from the tour of Australia in late 2005.

Samuels scored his maiden, and so far only Test hundred at Kolkata against the Indians in 2002/03. His innings of 104 helped the West Indies to draw the 3rd Test and was made against the likes of Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

His first ODI ton came in the series which followed and turned out to be a series winning innings. With the series level at 3-3 going into the final match at Vijayawada on November 24th 2002, Samuels smacked 108 not out off just 75 balls. The West Indies finished with 315 and went on to win by 135 runs.

On October 9th 2005, Samuels scored his highest first class score with an innings of 257. It was made in a tour match against the Australians at the Gabba. His effort was a record score at the ground, beating Martin Love’s 250. Showing his allround abilities, he followed it up with 5 wickets in the next innings.

Against Pakistan at Multan in late 2006, Samuels scored his second ODI century. His unbeaten 100 led the West Indies in victory as they successfully chased the Pakistani total. He fell just short of another century a month later against the Indians in Chennai but his quickfire 98 helped his side chase down India’s 268.

Indian police have accused Samuels of giving out team information to a known bookie prior to the 1st ODI between the West Indies and India in Nagpur on January 21. It is claimed that they have taped telephone conversations between a bookmaker, Mukesh Kochchar, and Samuels.