GCB nominates Chanderpaul for Sportsman-of-the-Year
Guyana Chronicle
January 28, 2004
THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has nominated Guyana and West Indies middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul as their Sportsman-of-the-Year for 2003.
According to the GCB submission to the National Sports Commission (NSC), Chanderpaul re-established himself in 2003 as the most consistent batsman for both Guyana and the West Indies.
Chanderpaul capped a productive year by providing the effective leadership that brought Guyana victory in the Red Stripe Bowl, the symbol of supremacy in regional limited-overs cricket.
International commitments limited his participation in the Carib Beer Competition to just two matches and in these he was able to score a century in each -- 145 against the Windwards at Albion and 100 against Jamaica in the semifinals at the same venue.
Chanderpaul was almost as prolific representing the West Indies at the Test Level. He played five (5) Tests during 2003, scoring three centuries.
In front of his home crowd at Bourda, he blasted an amazing century in just 69 balls against world champions Australia. It was the fastest century in a Test at Bourda and the third fastest ever in the history of Test cricket. It certainly ranks among the outstanding achievements in sports in 2003.
Then when Australia seemed set for a 4-0 series clean sweep, setting the West Indies a never before achieved target of 418, it was Chanderpaul, sharing at one stage a vital partnership with countryman, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who helped to anchor the innings for a sensational world record-breaking victory.
Unfortunately, he was to sustain injury during his heroic effort in Antigua and missed the One-Day International against Australia and the Sri Lankan tour of the West Indies.
He returned to the West Indies team for the tour of South Africa and reestablished himself as one of the most dependable batsmen in the international cricket with a century in the second Test. It was a demonstration of great courage, suffering again from injury and batting with a runner throughout the innings.
His performances during 2003 certainly did bring pride to Guyanese and kept aloft the Golden Arrowhead.
The GCB has also submitted nominations for Team-of-the-Year -- Guyana senior cricket team; Coach-of-the-Year -- Albert Smith; Junior Sportsman-of-the-Year -- Assad Fudadin; and Organisation-of-the-Year -- Guyana Cricket Board.
The panel consisting of journalists, and NSC members will meet on Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, starting at 10.00 hrs.