Shamarh Brooks rose to fame from junior cricket after representing the West Indies Under-19 side in the 2006 junior World Cup. After making his first-class debut, his seniors noticed his tactical nous and he was elevated to the captain's position for the Barbados Under-19 team in 2007.
As a player, though, Brooks was not particularly impressive and the shield of a sharp and astute cricketing mind could only take him so far if he could not put the weight of runs or wickets behind him to back it up. He had the reputation of being a solid top-order batsman and a decent leg-break bowler who could turn the ball, but the all-rounder was certainly lacking a breakthrough performance of note.
