Who is advising Chanderpaul?
Dear Editor,
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was never the most articulate of players, an observation that I made during an exchange with him in Antigua in 1997 when the West indies entertained New Zealand. Nevertheless, he survived two decades of international cricket, talking instead with his willow, and prodiguously troubling the scribes as he wrote himself (despite a dodgy and crab-like stance) into the records, amassing 30 centuries and ending 49 Test innings undefeated at the wicket from a record 164 Test matches.
Like all mortals, though, Father Time has caught up with the old “tiger”, who it seems has not realised that his teeth are missing and that it isn’t the light around the ground that is fading, but a dimunition of his sight and reflexes; and that this is the reason for realising the paltry returns that he has been getting in his last 11 innings.
When you lack the insight to determine that your time has come, Father Time will simply embarrass you, and in Chanderpaul’s case, this may have become his wont. Make no mistake, his desire is admirable and stands as a beacon for the younger members of the West Indies set-up to emulate as they strive to recapture past glory. However, it seems that someone needs to take the aged “tiger” aside, fit him with some eyewear, perhaps a hearing aid to boot, and tell him that it is time!
There is certainly no harm in informing him, since he may just not want to accept that from himslf. Maybe, too, the fear of waking up and not having this to do (he has been playing all his adult life) and may not have the skills to hew out a career in the sport beyond being out there in the middle. That is what West Indies cricket can do for Shivnarine Chanderpaul at this stage of his life: Help him to adjust to life away from the middle and towards contributing to the region’s and the global game beyond the role of a player.
Richard Hugh Blackford
Coral Springs, Florida
richardhblackford@gmail.com