GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s unexplained absence on the second day of Guyana’s final round Carib Beer Series match against Windward Islands on Sunday, created quite a fuss.
Unbeaten on 78 overnight after Guyana had reached 312 for three on Saturday, the left-handed Chanderpaul was a no-show and match officials said no explanation had been offered for the player’s absence.
It was later revealed that Chanderpaul had left Guyana to attend the West Indies Players Association awards function in Trinidad. He returned home yesterday.
Neither Guyana manager Carl Moore nor coach Albert Smith could offer an explanation for Chanderpaul’s absence, a situation that left Windwards manager Lockhart Sebastien upset.
“This is not a curry goat match … this is a first-class encounter and things like this are allowed to happen and we wonder why West Indies cricket is in the state that it is in,” Sebastien said.
“Chanderpaul told Devon (Smith) yesterday (Saturday) that he was here just to take a knock but we assumed he was joking. If he knew he had to leave then he should not have played and given one of the other youngsters a chance.”
Coach Smith said he had not been aware that Chanderpaul had planned to ‘give up’ his wicket, adding that Chanderpaul had been a part of the selection of the final XI.
“He is our most dependable batsman and has done so much for West Indies cricket as a top-class batsman, but if he knew he was just using this game for some practice and would then leave the guys he should have at least informed me as the coach and maybe allowed one of the youngsters to play,” the long serving official said.
When the Windwards started their reply after lunch on Sunday, they refused to allow the Guyanese a substitute fielder.
A senior Guyana Cricket Board official said the Board would investigate why match officials were not informed about Chanderpaul’s absence by Guyana team officials.
