A time of firsts

by VANEISA BAKSH

Shivnarine Chanderpaul said he intended to give Marlon Samuels a start when they came together with the score at 18 for three in the last One-Day International. His plan was to help Samuels emerge from the dry patch he had been suffering throughout the entire series, and he made it clear he felt that with the right support Samuels could go on to do well which would help to ease him out of the difficult period he had been facing.

It was a powerful act of mentoring because it provided the precise kind of nurturing that Samuels needed to get him out of the dismal bed he had made for himself.

Samuels had fallen out of favour with many West Indian fans after the "infamous" run-out
at Brian Lara's last international match, and so, when the investigations began into both his bowling action and his bookie acquaintances, there was little sympathy for him.

That he failed with the bat throughout the series only served to heighten his public disfavour. There were not many prepared to give him the time of day, and fewer were willing to acknowledge that he might benefit from support rather than excoriation at this point in his young cricket career.

But Chanderpaul lent his broad, workmanlike shoulders to his colleague and must have been pleased to see Samuels rise up. It might have been a first for Chanderpaul, of whom not much has been said by way of his mentoring capacity.

Perhaps his exquisite form has lent a measure of generosity to Chanderpaul, and it was right and fitting that he be named Man Of The Match, because truth be told, it was Chanderpaul who had won this One-Day series for the West Indies. Nobody can deny that there are few people who can face an equation of ten runs in two balls and make it equal a West Indies victory.

Chanderpaul did it. And though it has lifted regional spirits like nothing else to have won a series and pulled off a Test win in consecutive games, we shouldn't forget that there were no good reasons for the loss of the first Test, and the first One-Day should never have come down to that heart-wrenching finale.

Still, it had been many years since a Test win at Queen's Park Oval, in Trinidad, many years since one ground hosted three consecutive West Indies victories, and we should take some time out from the general dispiritedness about the game to enjoy these little firsts.

On a personal level, it was the first time I used my recently acquired membership of Queen's Park Cricket Club to go into the Member's Pavilion to watch international matches. It was not a simple exercise. Regardless of the supporting words that came from members already comfortably ensconced, I could not easily forget that they had been part of a discourse on gender discrimination that had gone on for a decade.

So while I was encouraged to hear their stories of how they had championed the cause of female membership, I couldn't help wondering how diligently they had pursued it. As I made my way through the precincts of the pavilion, where a few other women were visible, I got some glares that were so penetrating that they could be felt amidst the general hubbub.

Those I returned imperturbably, understanding that one day the whole thing would seem so ridiculous and far removed that even those with bad eyes could see its absurdity.

Sitting out front of the Pavilion on Saturday as the rain played mas with the match, I reflected on these trying times for West Indies cricket and hoped that one day, we too could look back and see them as a far and bygone era.

* This column is republished with permission from the Nation News in Barbados, where it first appeared.