Former West Indies batsman, Shivnarine ‘Tiger’ Chanderpaul will rejoin the Guyana Jaguars camp, this time taking on the role of interim Assistant Coach for the rest of the Cricket West Indies regional four-day championships.
With Jaguars head coach Esuan Crandon promoted to assistant coach of the West Indies senior side for the upcoming England Series and the International Cricket Council’s 50-over World Cup, Rayon Griffith moves up to Head Coach as the team prepares to face the Leeward Island Hurricanes at Providence from tomorrow.
Stabroek Sport caught up with the England Cricket Board Level Two certified coach at the Providence Stadium where the Jaguars were going through their training in preparation for the fifth round.
Commenting on his new appointment, Chanderpaul said he is definitely excited about the new role. “Being with the fellas for the last four years and being with the team for so long, I know the players well enough to know what’s happening and will try to help them as much as I can,” he said.
Chanderpaul, who played seven matches last season with the Jaguars and was part of the set up that saw them winning the title for the last four years, said. “They [Jaguars] have been doing well so far,” adding.. “We have a lot of senior players in the side so it is just to fine tune and get them ready for the game.”
Chanderpaul, who has 41 international centuries expressed his enthusiasm for working along with the batters while mentioned his anticipation of working along with Griffith, whom he described as a very hard worker.
“The aim is to work with the batters and I know `Griff’ [Griffith] is there and he has been doing a lot of work with them. Today, we spent a lot of time trying to work on the little problems they think they may have and being comfortable. You know batting is about feeling comfortable and feeling good,” the 44-year-old stated.
As far as his role in the side goes, Chanderpaul explained that he is there to contribute in whatever way he can with the batters, bowlers and fielders.
“With the experience over the years you can see things that the other guys can’t see and that is something you bring to the table when the guys need help, this is the time I can do that for them,” he declared.
According to the former West Indies captain, the batting order for the Jaguars have done well so far, scoring over 500 and 450 runs in individual innings.
“Scoring 500 runs is good enough for any match and you are hoping that they can come back and produce those scores for us. If we get those scores we are doing well and that is something we aim to do.”
Chanderpaul stated that he has completed a High Performance Coaching course which is equivalent to a Level Three and recently completed a stint in Trinidad and Tobago where he was working with a United States University.
He also recalled his extensive work with teams both in the West Indies and England.
