Tony Becca
Whenever West Indians talk about the great batsmen in the history of West Indies cricket, it always comes down to champions like George Headley, Gary Sobers, Sir Viv Richards and Brian Lara, with a few others behind them, including the exciting Everton Weekes and the dashing Rohan Kanhai.
Seldom, if ever, but for his mother and father and probably his wife Amy, has Shivnarine Chanderpaul been mentioned in such company and for one simple reason.
To many, greatness is average runs per innings and nothing else. To a few, greatness is class - style and elegance and when it comes to averages and to class, Chanderpaul is no Headley, no Sobers, no Richards, no Lara and no Weekes, no Frank Worrell, no Kanhai and certainly no Lawrence Rowe.
Ugly two-eyed stance
In his own way, however, in spite of a batting average of 48.59 and an ugly two-eyed stance, Chanderpaul is a wonderful batsman, one who deserves to be called great and one who, in time, will be or should be numbered among the great West Indies batsmen - not only in the company of batsmen like Weekes and Kanhai, but also in the company of the truly great of Headley, Sobers, Richards and Lara.
When it comes to elegance, to stroke play, Chanderpaul, or "Tiger" as he is affectionately called, does not compare with batsmen like Worrell, his mentor Kanhai and Rowe.
Scoring runs, however, and batting long, is his business and when it comes to doing that, to batting as if he wants to do so forever, he is good as any one of them and better, for example, than one like Rowe despite the artist's fairytale entry - his world record performance of 214 and 100 not out against New Zealand in his first Test, and his magnificent 302 versus England.
Starting as a 19-year-old, Chanderpaul scored 62 against England at Bourda and since then, up to last Tuesday's match-saving innings against Australia, he has scored 7,872 runs with 19 centuries and 47 fifties.
To the connoisseurs of cricket, no man should be rated, should be called great unless he averages over 50, over a long career at that and that is why Worrell, with an average of 49.48, and Kanhai, with an average of 47.53, are not, despite their obvious class, despite their many great deeds and despite their large following, bracketed in such company.
And apart from his ungainly stance, that, up to now, is Chanderpaul's problem.
Although he has some time to improve his average - to take it where he can at least be in the argument, in the discussion, like two of the greatest West Indies batsmen of all time, he may be destined to end up on the outskirts of greatness.
Carrying the west indies
To me, however, but for a stumble here and there, he deserves like Worrell and Kanhai, and when it comes to runs scored, probably more so than both of them, to be numbered among the great batsmen of West Indies cricket, especially so based on his performances over the last four years when, like Headley of distant memory, like Lara of recent memory, he virtually, on so many occasions, carried the West Indies single-handedly.
At Lord's in 2004 against England, Chanderpaul batted undefeated throughout the West Indies first and second innings scoring 128 not out and 97 not out. At Kensington Oval in 2005 against Pakistan, Chanderpaul, after scoring 92 before he was eighth out in the West Indies first innings, returned and batted to the end of the West Indies second innings while scoring 153 not out. At Old Trafford in 2007 against England, in a series in which he scored 446 runs at an average of 148.66, Chanderpaul batted throughout the West Indies second innings while scoring 116 not out. In the following Test match at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, Chanderpaul scored 70 before he was last man out in the first innings and returned in the second innings to bat to the end of the innings while scoring 136 not out. And recently, against South Africa, in Cape Town, in a three-match series in which he scored 247 runs at an average of 82.33, Chanderpaul batted throughout the two innings, while scoring 65 not out and 70 not out.
And that is not all. After coming up with 86 not out while joining Ramnaresh Sarwan in a fourth-wicket partnership of 157 that led the West Indies to victory over Sri Lanka a few weeks ago, Chanderpaul, just over a week ago at Sabina Park, scored 118 before he was last man out against Australia, and just a few days ago, the little man from Guyana was at it again - this time rescuing the West Indies with two superb innings when he batted, again undefeated, through both innings of the Test match with scores of 107 not out and 77 not out.
Special breed of players
West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul hits the ball against Australia during the Tri-Series Cricket Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, September 12, 2006. - REUTERS
All those incredible performances have come in different climates, in different conditions, on various kinds of pitches, and against all kinds of bowlers - tall, medium height and short who bowl all kinds of things from fast, really fast, swing and cut to spin and biting spin at that.
To many, Chanderpaul is a slow, unattractive batsman. Apart from the fact that that is far from the truth, however, apart from the fact that he has, on a number of occasions paraded a wonderful repertoire of strokes, apart from the fact that his regular style is tailored to meet the West Indies needs, those who were in Guyana at Bourda in 2003 know better.
On that day, the West Indies were reeling at 47 for four against Australia, Chanderpaul walked to the wicket like a man on a mission and after a short time, 108 minutes later, he was back in the pavilion after facing 72 deliveries, his century, 100 runs with 15 fours and two sixes, coming off 69 deliveries, the fourth fastest of all time.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is a special breed. In fact, Chanderpaul is a rare breed.
