Dear Editor,
Many will wish to celebrate Guyanese and West Indian batting star Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s achievement for reaching the pinnacle of Test cricket by becoming the first Guyanese batsman to be ranked ICC number one in Test cricket. It is said that discipline and fighting sprit are the essential qualities in any sporting exercise if one is to come out on top, and Chanderpaul displays those traits.
Chanderpaul’s entry into Test cricket represents one of those great coincidences of history. A last-minute withdrawal by Carl Hooper due to injury from the second Test match, England versus the West Indies, at the evergreen Bourda, saw then West Indies coach Rohan Kanhai, captain Richie Richardson and the late Roy Fredricks, then a member of the West Indies selection panel, opting for Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the replacement rather than Phil Simmons. There was some resentment from some other selectors especially, Joey Carew, chairman of the selection panel, but the Chanderpaul selection prevailed, and as CLR James would argue it is “Cricket beyond the boundary.”
I was present at Bourda on that fateful Saturday morning in March 1994 when debutant Chanderpaul walked out on the lush Bourda outfield to thunderous applause to face Chris Lewis, a Guyanese-born English fast bowler. He never let those who stood for him down. He scored 63 and remained consistent throughout the Test series, with three other half centuries at a critical time of the West Indies innings. No one will ever forget the last Test match in St Johns, Antigua, when Chanderpaul batted through with Brian Lara as he broke the world batting record of Sir Garfield Sobers.
The recent series against Australia gave full evidence of the determination and strength of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. When the Australians rocked the West Indies, it was only the Guyanese Tiger that hunted the Kangaroos. It took a controversial LBW decision to eventually get him out in the last Test match. At present Chandrapaul follows Brian Lara and Vivian Richards with the third highest Test aggregate in the West Indies.
History has once again repeated itself with a Guyanese cricketer placing Guyana on the map of the world. Internationally, Guyana has now become synonymous with the name Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Hail the Tiger, now the world’s best.
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud.
