Hey, cricket is war, is it not?!! Maybe both Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs are misplaced. Perhaps they could have been in the Special Forces in Iraq, or maybe, in another life, were with the Gurkhas in the 2nd World War. It would not have mattered. Jacobs and Chanderpaul are fighters and will always go down battling.
At 11 hours 25 minutes local time, as they say in Guyana, and not 11:25 a.m, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, batting at No. 6, with the hopes of his team, country and region on his back, walked briskly to the crease with the West Indies already tottering at 47- 4, which soon became 53 - 5 with the loss of captain Brian Lara for a sprightly 26.
Perhaps that was ominous, since both Clive Lloyd and Larry Gomes, two past stalwarts of the Test match fight, both left-handers, both do-or-die batsmen, also made their reputations batting at No. 6.
At 13 hours 53 minutes (1:53 p.m. local time), having faced exactly 69 balls, and batting for 99 minutes, hitting 15 classical fours and two massive sixes, Chanderpaul had been dismissed for exactly 100 runs, the third fastest test hundred in cricket history, behind only those of, ironically, Jack Gregory, then captain of Australia (1921) and Viv Richards, then captain of the West Indies (1986).
Chanderpaul met the Australians' Exocet and Scud missiles with his own Patriot-type defensive device - bravado, carrying the battle to the Aussies, carving, driving, caressing, bludgeoning and classically manipulating the much vaunted Australian bowling attack, an attack which, surprisingly, included three fast bowlers and two spinners. At times in this innings, it was as if Chanderpaul was on an island by himself, so dominant was he for his seventh Test century.
In the meantime, another veteran Ridley Jacobs, had come to the crease seven minutes after Chanderpaul and through sheer doggedness, high-class determination, some unorthodox stroke-play, and recognizing the call beyond his duty, pulled groin muscle and all, had, by the close of the innings, batted for over two and a half hours for his 54 not out. With Chanderpaul, he had put on 131 runs for the sixth wicket.
Someone, an Englishman, of course, said some time ago that they would prefer to lose a battleship than lose a Test match. That battleship would probably had not been lost if both Chanderpaul and Jacobs had been Officers of the Deck. Both of these players epitomized the attitude that is necessary if the West Indies are to move from being No. 7 in the Test cricket world to being among the best. One could hardly have asked for a better effort from the two veterans, and they should have been inspirational to the much less experienced, younger men in the team. Only time will tell if that has actually transpired.
Few at Bourda, indeed few anywhere around the world seeing or hearing this game, would forget this courageous, brutal yet classical effort by Chanderpaul, who had to be carried off when he was eventually out LBW.
Many too would remember the unselfish, painful yet absolutely essential contribution of Ridley Jacobs, who batted with a runner for most of his innings.
If you wanted blood and guts, determination and productivity too, then these two certainly provided it. That is why this is called "Test Cricket". It should bring out the best of all players concerned.
Day 1 certainly belonged to both Chanderpaul and to a not-too-lesser extent, Jacobs, even though the Australians would not be too disappointed with the West Indies total of 237.