Newly appointed West Indies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan received the blessing of Canadian manager Mike Henry yesterday.

Sarwan, a frequent visitor to Toronto and friend of Bermuda coach Gus Logie, officially succeeded Brian Lara as Windies captain earlier this week.

The 26-year-old Guyanese batsman has appeared in 65 Tests so far, scoring 4,268 runs with a high score of 261 at an average of 38.80 runs per innings

He served as Lara’s understudy from 2003.

“Sarwan is a good young guy. He did captain the team on a few occasions when Lara wasn’t around and I think he did a wonderful job,” Henry said.

“I’m sure he learned a few things from Lara and so I think he will make a good captain. And I don’t think being appointed captain will effect his batting because he can handle the pressure.”

During the 2006 Americas Championships in Toronto Sarwan was present at Bermuda’s rain-hit match against the USA at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King’s City, Ontario where he was briefly reunited with former Windies coach Logie.

Logie also gave the new West Indies skipper his best wishes and called for all those involved in Windies cricket to throw their full support behind Sarwan.

“He has been the vice-captain for some time now and so it’s only natural progression. I wish him and the team all the best,” the Trinidadian said.

Logie has every bit of confidence in Sarwan’s ability moving forward and feels he was probably the most suitable candidate for the role.

“A choice had to be made by the selectors and now one has to support that and hopefully he (Sarwan) can prove them right,” Logie said.

Sarwan will now lead the West Indies on their upcoming tour of England.