Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s Test career ended in ignominious fashion. After a lean patch of form, the West Indies stalwart (and never has the word received an apter application) was dumped ahead of the ongoing series against Australia. Just 87 short of Brian Lara’s record for most Test runs by a West Indian batsman, Chanderpaul’s career was brought to an end. Some would say that at 40, his form was unlikely to improve enough to make him a force in world cricket. However, at the time of what seems like his enforced retirement, he stands 12th in the ICC Test batting rankings; Marlon Samuels is the next highest West Indian in 28th place.
Clearly the West Indies needed to put a contingency plan in place for when Chanderpaul would no longer be there. Clearly they needed to expose young players to Test cricket. But the question remains, as the formerly great cricketing power slips to another dismal defeat thanks in no small part to the flakiness and inexperience of their top and middle order, did Clive Lloyd and co. pull the plug too soon on Chanderpaul’s career?
There are some among Chanderpaul’s supporters who bemoan the lack of respect shown by the WICB in their timing. Could their hero, and the man who has dedicated the best part of his life to the service of West Indian cricket, not have been afforded this tour as a fond farewell?
This cannot, and should not, be a reason for retaining a long-standing player in a Test side. Sachin Tendulkar, fine player though he was, was indulged for too long in the Indian side; there were better players he was keeping out of the team. The same cannot necessarily be said of Chanderpaul: West Indian batting has a dearth of talent due to poor domestic pitches and the best players being taken by the IPL. Chanderpaul may still be in the West Indies’ best XI.
Admittedly, his run of form has been extremely disappointing. In his final six Tests, he averaged 16.64. However, this dip against two of the best sides in world cricket (South Africa and England) needs to be taken in context: he averaged a colossal 121.4 in his six previous Tests, and has more Test centuries than any other West Indian bar Lara. He has over twice as many Test caps as the entire top six that faced Australia at Sabina Park combined.
That is not to say that Chanderpaul’s past glories should keep him in the team over a player who deserves it more; merely, that his vast experience could still be a useful thing to have in a team that appears to be desperately crying out for a head as level as Shiv’s. Also that a player enduring a tough run of form might be worth persevering with given his many known qualities as a batsman and cricketer.
Clive Lloyd’s answer to the dismal first innings performance at the Roseau Test, in which the Windies lost their first six wickets for 91, is that the team is in a rebuilding phase. The West Indies lost their first six at Sabina Park for 119. The Australians are dominating their top and middle order, who have barely any experience of facing quality bowling in domestic cricket. They are now facing World Cup winners in the form of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. That is no way to enter Test cricket as a young player, especially with the bright lights of the IPL shining in the distance as an alternative. There are teams in rebuilding phases, and there are teams still struggling to emerge from under the rubble; the West Indies is the latter.
While no-one should be simply given a Test cap because of past service, the treatment of Chanderpaul raises a wider point about the under-fire WICB that is relevant to the question in hand. When Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and countless others of the Caribbean’s brightest and best have largely abandoned the Test side in favour of IPL millions and T20 franchise deals, Chanderpaul has been an ever-present force, the beating heart of the West Indies. He has had six months of poor form and is gone, after over 20 years of stellar service.
What sort of message does that send to talented young cricketers deciding whether to pursue a Test or T20 career? Not only would they have to forego the best financial deals, the bigger audiences, the chance at stardom, the chance to play with and against the best players in the world – they would also be working for the WICB, who show no loyalty even to their most faithful servants. This is not about giving Chanderpaul a farewell tour, but about sticking with him through a lean spell.
Chanderpaul went without a fanfare. The enforced end of Kevin Pietersen’s career is still sending aftershocks through English cricket. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara received standing ovations and guards of honour. Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement seemed at times the cause of national and international mourning. Even the understated Jacques Kallis had twitter tributes pouring in under the banner of #KingKallis.
#ThankYouSachin was a worldwide phenomenon, while #ThankYouShiv consisted of a few meagre tweets, two or three of which simply bemoaned the lack of a proper tribute to a batsman whose unorthodox, defensive style won him few fans, but many admirers.
Chanderpaul will be forgotten. He will be forgotten faster than Kallis, than Lara, than Sachin. That does not mean he will not be missed. He is missed every time the West Indies collapse to defeat when they needed one person to anchor the innings. He is missed whenever the new aggressive positive or whatever brand of cricket erodes the values of patience and resilience.
In time, as Philip Larkin might say, the curtain edges will grow light. One day, the WICB will rebuild their credibility; it will be the first step towards rebuilding their team, and honouring the legacy of West Indies cricket of which Chanderpaul is a part. But how long will that take? And how many promising young batsmen will look to forge careers abroad, put off the pursuit of what should be cricket’s highest honour by the ineptitude of the board?
Shivnarine Chanderpaul averages 49.38 in his last 12 Tests. He is willing and able to give every nerve and sinew to serve West Indies cricket as he has done since his debut, in Test number 1254 (we are now on 2166), when he played against the likes of Michael Atherton, Jack Russell, Angus Fraser and Alan Iggleseden and with Desmond Haynes. His experience and patience are skills that the side still desperately need; not only were Clive Lloyd and Phil Simmons wrong to drop Shivnarine Chanderpaul, but they should seriously consider recalling him for the West Indies’ next Test match.
