Tough luck Chanderpaul, well done Howard and company
Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARY
Caribbean Cricket
April 13, 2004
TEN YEARS ago when Brian Lara piled up 375 runs against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground to erase the world record for the highest individual innings in Test cricket for the first time, his partner for a time, the batsman at the other end when he took off his helmet and lifted it and his bat in celebration was Shivnarine Chanderpaul - the 19-year-old Guyanese playing in his first series.
Yesterday when Lara, again against England, again at the ARG, scored 400 not out to become the record holder for the second time, the batsman at the other end when he once again lifted his helmet and his bat in triumph was Ridley Jacobs.
Chanderpaul was not even in the team - even though, based on his performance since 1994 and compared with that of the other batsmen in the team, he should have been in it.
After playing in the first three matches of the series, Chanderpaul was missing from the line-up for the fourth and final Test match, and although he had scored only 101 runs in six innings with a top score of 50 and an average of 16.83, his absence had nothing to do with his poor performance.
Also, it should not have had anything to do with it - not when Lara's aggregate was 100 at an average of 16.66, not when Chris Gayle's was 113 at 18.83, not when Ramnaresh Sarwan's was 102 at 17.00, not when Ryan Hinds' was 92 at 23.00, not when Daren Ganga had scored only 11 and 11 in one Test, and not with Ricardo Powell as the sixth specialist batsman.
At 29, it also had nothing to do with age - even at this period when it appears, based on recent selections, that the selectors believe that younger is better.
The reason why Chanderpaul was absent at the ARG, why he missed the chance to bat on a batsman-friendly pitch for the first time in the series and probably the opportunity to have been Lara's partner for a while or to be there when he celebrated his historic achievement, was because of his own folly.
According to reports, after his poor performance at Kensington Oval in the third Test, Chanderpaul was asked if all was well as far as his health was concerned. He said he was feeling out of sorts, he was told to visit the West Indies Board doctor in Bridgetown, he said no, the team management insisted that he go, he again said no, and the management then sent him home to Guyana.
Although there are those close to Chanderpaul who believe that his problem was not that he was ill but that he was close to 'Uncle Les', who died suddenly recently, and that he had taken the death badly, based on the reports, his behaviour in Bridgetown was bad.
He deserved to have been sent home and hopefully he will have learnt a lesson - a lesson that hopefully will not be lost on others in the team or on those who are hoping to represent the West Indies.
In recent times, the West Indies players never miss an opportunity to remind the Board that they are professionals and that they should be treated as professionals.
If that is so, then the West Indies players should act like professionals, and like professionals in other sports, like employees in any business, they are obliged to follow instructions - to deal with those who their employers have employed to work with them.
West Indies cricketers are no different, they should be made to understand that they are no different, and remembering that what Chanderpaul did is nothing new in West Indies cricket, hopefully the reaction to his refusal to visit the doctor - the Board's doctor - is neither a knee-jerk reaction to the disappointing performances of the team in the first three Test matches nor a case of finding a scapegoat.
Hopefully, it is the start of a determined effort to make the West Indies a professional unit and therefore a better team.
As one who usually toes the line in a team in which so many do not and yet have never paid a price, Chanderpaul may well believe that the world is not level, and if he does, he is certainly right.
The fact is, however, something had to be done in an effort to get rid of an attitude that is hurting West Indies cricket and hats off to new manager, Tony Howard, and company.
Chanderpaul should have gone to the Board's doctor and then, if he wanted a second opinion, to a doctor or the doctor of his choice.