ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul has called time on his illustrious 22-year international career, eight months after being axed from the Test squad.

In an email to the West Indies Cricket Board, the 41-year-old indicated he would no longer be available for selection to the senior team.

Chanderpaul, who played a record 164 Tests, was controversially axed last May by West Indies selectors following a run of low scores but said at the time he was focused on regaining his place in the side.

WICB president Dave Cameron praised the Guyanese’s contribution to the game.

“The WICB acknowledges the invaluable contribution Shiv has made to the game globally and we wish him all the best,” Cameron said.

Chanderpaul amassed 11,867 runs at an average of 51 and lies second on the all-time West Indies list of run-scorers behind Brian Lara who scored 11,953 runs.

He struck 30 centuries and 66 half-centuries.

Chanderpaul also played 268 One-day Internationals garnering 8,778 runs at an average of 41, and also suited up for 22 Twenty20 Internationals.

He made his Test debut as a 19-year-old against England back in 1994 and proceeded to become a feature of West Indies’ batting over the next two decades.

Renowned for his unconventional batting stance and his ability to concentrate for long periods, Chanderpaul consistently scored runs for the regional side despite their fluctuating fortunes in Tests.

He was one of Wisden’s five Cricketers-of-the-Year in 2008, the same year he was voted the ICC Player of the Year.

The soft-spoken star also led West Indies in 14 Tests but quit in April 2006 after a year on the job.

Chanderpaul struck the last of his centuries in September 2014 against Bangladesh in the Caribbean but subsequently gathered only 91 runs in five innings on the tour of South Africa and 92 in six outings against England last year.

He was axed prior to the two-Test series against Australia last June with chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd pointing to Chanderpaul’s “rapid” decline in form as the reason for the selectors’ decision to look to the future.

West Indies’ fortunes have hardly improved since, losing six of their last seven Tests, with one match drawn.

Chanderpaul has turned out for Guyana Jaguars in the Regional First Class Championship this season, scoring 242 runs in four games at an average of 48 with two half-centuries.

He also recently contested the Regional Super50 in Trinidad and Tobago.