On Shivnarine Chanderpaul (first of three parts). I have a confession to make. It’s this. You know, I’m still to meet with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Still to speak with him face to face, man to man-if you wish, elder brother to younger, master to student, or the other way round. For I’m finding with uncanny reality these days, and with an increasing truth, that the older I get the more of a student do I become. Believe me, therefore, that I’ll make it a point to see and speak with our young master as soon as I can, and then give you a more first-hand, a more discrete (yes, spelt -ETE) account of what I see. The one thing I do love and appreciate about this young man is this: on/in the field of play, Shivnarine Chanderpaul is a very focused individual. I would say "maximally focused." Alvin Kallicharran was like that. The first time I saw Kalli at the wicket, he was only 14, but he batted like a man. You have the ball, he was saying, with genuine respect, but also with boundless confidence. You have the ball: I have the bat. And I don’t know if you wish me to remind you, Sir, but the bat is master of the ball...
I can think of none other among my countrymen-that is of Guyana, not of the Caribbean-except "Big John", who spoke aloud with such silence, and yet with such confidence. Trim, of course, had the ball. His, therefore, was the exception to the rule. For John Trim it was the ball that was master, but the Berbice, Guyana and West Indies fast man was never given the break by the lords of cricket that he should have been. Yet he has proved himself, hasn’t he, as I have showed in these columns? As far as Test figures are concerned, that is, looking strictly at bowling averages and strike rates, Big John Trim remains the finest fast bowler that Caribbean has so far unearthed. Amazing, isn’t it? All three-Shiv, Big John, Kalli-were very tense people, though I have seen Kalli laugh as only we in the West Indies can laugh.
Not when he’s on that field of play, though. As soon as Alvin Kallicharran steps onto a cricket field, it’s cricket-serious. Lovely, yes, but more lively cricket-until the Umpires remove the bails, and call time. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, as I pointed out last week, was born on August 18, 1974.
My information was gleaned from Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. But I’ve seen Wisden’s give wrong dates of birth (which is forgivable) and wrong averages (which is unforgivable) about us in the West Indies. Accepting this for what it’s worth, it means that Shiv is a couple of months short of his 28th birthday. The West Indies skipper, Carl Hooper, was born in December ‘66, and double World Record holder, Singular, in May ‘69. The cognoscenti would have us believe that a world batsman reaches his peak when he’s 30, and maintains that level of performance for as long as five years, once he paces himself, lives a clean life, and retains his physical fitness.
The conquering Don, and the all but conquering Gary and Rohan, were notable exceptions in my time, exploding that theory. Bradman at 48 was still a world beater, and you must check Sobers’ and Kanhai’s performances in English County cricket. One of these days I’ll get my young men to do this.
The point I want to make now is simply this: Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Hooper and Singulara apart, is easily the most senior player in the West Indies cricket line-up today.