Chanderpaul has done for the Caribbean what the Jamaicans did at the Olympics

Sep 12, 2008 Sports

– Says GCB Vice-President Alvin Johnson

By Sean Devers
Whenever you think of Shivnarine Chanderpaul you think of someone so consumed in what he is doing and so dedicated to being the best in his business that he is almost in his own world on a cricket pitch.

From the time he became Guyana’s youngest ever Test player in 1994 with a dogged debut half-century at Bourda against England, Chanderpaul, a little left-hander from Unity Village on the East Coast of Demerara, has shown the value of hard work, commitment and the concentration to bat for long periods.

The Guyanese, who now resides in Miami, this week, became the fifth player to win the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the 2008 Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai.

Chanderpaul’s desire to preserve his wicket at all cost makes him arguable the world’s most difficult batsman to dislodge.

This fantastic love of batting, regardless of the situation of the game, the nature of the pitch or the ferocity of the bowling attack has made the Guyanese left-hander a perfect example of how applying the basis, knowing your limitations and playing to your strengths can produce plenty of success as a batsman.

Some described his stance as crab-like and his attitude towards batting as selfish.
Chanderpaul has had to prop of a fragile West Indies batting line-up so many times, even with Brian Lara in the team.

However, since the retirement of the great Lara, Chanderpaul’s battles in the middle for the West Indies has been most of the time a ‘one man army’ especially since the aggressive Gayle or the flashy Sarwan have not shown the type of consistency expected at the highest level.

So is Chanderpaul selfish? Maybe…..but if more of the Caribbean batsmen develop his attitude to batting the West Indies should lose less Test matches and the region will produce more batsmen who can boast that they are officially the World’s Best Cricketer.

Vice-President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Alvin Johnson hit the nail on the head yesterday when he told Kaieteur Sport that “Chanderpaul’s main asset is that he bat like Chanderpaul. He has a single mindedness to going out there and not getting out.

He knows his limitations and plays accordingly. He has developed his own style and it is highly successful which is most important in judging him,” Johnson said.

Johnson says that while Chanderpaul is a fighter who stays at the crease for long periods, it must be remembered that his pugnacious century against the mighty Australians at Bourda in 2003, is the third fastest Test century which shows that the Tiger can also devour opposition bowlers when he feels like it.

“What gives his achievement more merit is the fact that in the last year or so his performances have been against the best teams in the world and he has been consistently outstanding in a team that has been struggling.

It must say something for his mental strength that he continues to chalk up the runs even as his teammates meekly surrender their wickets around him,” Johnson said.

Chanderpaul turned 34 last month and with still a few years left in him at the International level, he should end his career with more runs and centuries than every West Indian except Lara and while he might not possess the fluent batsmanship of some of the more illustrious West Indies batmen, he will easily be talked about as one of the world’s great batsmen since, after all, a successful batsman is one who score more than he fails and who consistently makes big scores.

Chanderpaul is fourth on the list of all-time West Indian run scorers in Tests. He is only 31 runs away from Sobers’ 8,032 and 539 from Viv Richards’ 8,540 while Lara’s world record 11,912 runs could be out of his reach.

No Guyanese has more than Chanderpaul’s 19 Test tons while Lara (34), Sobers (26) and Richards (24) are the only West Indians to have reached the three-figure mark in Tests on more occasions than Chanderpaul.

In the last three decades of regional First-Class cricket Chanderpaul (in 1996 against Jamaica at Sabina Park) has been the only batsman to score a triple century and he was not even dismissed in that innings.

His 8001 runs from 112 Tests at an Average of 49.8 with 19 centuries makes him an all-time great West Indian batsman while he has also contributed over 7,500 ODI runs although Test cricket is surly his priority as a batsman.

And despite his less than classical style, he is emulated by most young Caribbean batsmen because of the strength of his runs and level of success against the best in the world.

Johnson makes the point that people are attracted to success. “While he does not have the flair of Lara or Sarwan, Chanderpaul has substance and I remember when I was in Barbados recently for the under-19 series I was very surprised that most of the children I saw playing cricket there were not calling themselves Lara but Chanderpaul.

Every little boy wanted to be a Chanderpaul and I think that speaks volumes for the fact that Chanderpaul has already left his legacy among the future West Indies players. When people want to be you that is the biggest compliment you can ever get,” Johnson pointed out.

This is the first time that a West Indian has taken the award and Johnson says Chanderpaul’s success transcends Guyana’s borders and should make West Indian people all over the world proud.

“We at the Guyana Cricket Board are very proud that a Guyanese has ascended to the position of the world’s best cricketer. At the Beijing Olympics the Jamaicans made us all proud West Indians and Chanderpaul has done the same in cricket for Caribbean people at a time when our team is ranked number eight in the world,” Johnson disclosed.

Johnson says Chanderpaul’s achievements must be motivation for young players like (Xavier) Marshall and (Leon) Johnson who have the opportunity to rub shoulder with the former West Indies Skipper and learn from him.

“Chanderpaul’s rise to the top is nothing sudden. He has worked hard and performed magnificently. His extraordinary run of form which began with the tour to England when he made 446 runs in three Tests last year emphasizes his consistency and I guess just blew his competition for the award away,” Johnson added.

During the voting period, Chanderpaul played eight Test matches, scoring 819 runs at an average of 91.00, including three centuries and six fifties, all of which were against the top seven teams in the world. He also played 13 ODIs during that time, finishing top of the averages with 74.75 having scored 598 runs, a haul that included a century and five fifties.

He is currently ranked No. 1 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and is sixth in the rankings for ODI batsmen. Chanderpaul is presently involved in the English County championships playing for Durhan.

Chanderpaul opted to remain at home for the most part of his career and joined the County circuit for the first time last year and while not much is written about his early development playing on the East Coast and then DCC as a youth player who used a pillow as a chest guard before he moved on to the famous Georgetown Cricket Club and made his first-class debut in 1992, his uncle ‘Jango’ and his father Khemraj instilled in the then pencil thin; almost frail youth, the importance of not getting out.

He has been undefeated 30 times in Test cricket, a very high number for a top order batsman and when you watch his father work with Shiv’s 13-year-old son Brandon, at the GYO ground in the afternoons, you get a good idea of how his immense concentration at the crease and superb temperament was developed when he was his son’s age.

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