Tiger! Tiger! Burning Bright

Sep 24, 2022 Sports

– Clifford Narinesingh chronicles the life of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in latest masterpiece

By Rawle Toney

With top-selling autobiography novels on some of cricket’s prominent legends, famed regional author, Clifford Narinesingh, in his latest masterpiece, dives deep into life of one of Guyana’s most treasured sports icons, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Known to many only as ‘Shiv’, Chanderpaul will go down as one of the greatest West Indian players of his generation.

Entitled “Tiger! Tiger! Burning Bright”, published by Royards Publishing Company Limited of Trinidad and Tobago, Narinesingh took an Eagle’s eye look at Chanderpaul life and career.

The book, which was launched yesterday at the Herdmanston Lodge, can now be found in bookstores and on the Digital Canopi eBook platform.

Similarly, Narinesingh has published autobiographies on cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Sunil Gavaskar.

The Name Clifford Narinesingh has been synonymous with literature in the English-speaking Caribbean for decades. Many of his books are used in Primary and Secondary Schools across the region, even right in Guyana.

In Chapter 21 – Chanderpaul’s Retirement – Narinesingh touched on how Chanderpaul was treated by the then West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Many Guyanese took umbrage at how WICB forced the left-handed batsman and former West Indies Captain into retirement.

Clifford Narinesingh (L) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the launch of his autobiography on September 23.

“It seemed evident to the selectors that Shiv’s powers of concentration and consistency were declining with the failures experienced in the last two tour encounters with South Africa and England,” Narinesingh wrote.

He continued “it was surmised that age was the main factor which impeded his accustomed ability to stay the course and be the lynchpin in his team. To the selectors he seemed a shadow of the herculean image he had carved as a major sheet anchor in the team and, as (Tony) Cozier described him as the ‘defiant defender’. The prodigious years seemed at an end.”

The left-handed batsman scored 11,867 runs at an average of 51, with 30 centuries in an illustrious career of 164 Tests to end at the second place in the list of all-time West Indies run-scorers, behind legendary Brian Lara with 11,953 runs.

In the book – “Tiger! Tiger! Burning Bright” – Lara said it was shameful how the Guyanese batsman was treated, adding, “this has absolutely nothing to do with runs or numbers. It has to do with respect and Chanderpaul has earned the right to say goodbye in an acceptable way.”

Chanderpaul is only the second modern-day player, after Sachin Tendulkar, whose career stretched over two decades.

He scored 30 Test centuries and averaged 51.37 in the format, and held numerous records, including batting for more than 25 hours in a Test series between dismissals – he did it against India in 2002, when he faced 1050 consecutive deliveries without losing his wicket.

He also played 268 ODIs for 8778 runs at 41.60 (the last of which was during the 2011 World Cup), and 22 T20Is.

The Twin Island Republic-based publishing company said Narinesingh’s book on the Guyanese cricketer is part of their “ongoing efforts to produce material of relevance to our societies. Cricket is one of those.”

“Our recent field of concentration is Digital Transformation. While still very much existing in the production of physical books, our publishing company has seen the need to make available digital textbooks and eBooks. Through this vision, we have invested and embarked on the development of our own digital and eBook platform called DIGITAL CANOPI,” the company said.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News