Matters Cricket: Shrivnarine Chanderpaul, and my twitching sons
Fri, Apr 24, '15
by RAY FORD
A pleasant Test-match Friday to you all.
Two days ago, one Mr. Roger Sawh - a law student in Canada, paid tribute to his country-man - veteran West Indies middle-order batsman, Mr. Shrivnarine Chanderpaul. That tribute, kindled some fond memories of my own.
"Do not go," I advised my two sons, during the third nPower Test match at Old Trafford back in June 2007. Shrivnarine Chanderpaul was twitching more than usual, before close of play the evening, just like how one Gordon Greenidge, would begin to limp. Both idiosyncrasies, are never good omens, for opposing bowlers. But, my two sons too, were twitching as well - to go down to London. And, they did. Duly, 'the crab' completed yet another Test hundred, the following morning. And on their return, my two disobedient sons, were raked over the coals.
These days, the tide beneath the little left-hander, is beginning to ebb. And the Selector-in-Chief - his fellow country-man, might now want to send him a pontoon. Not throw him overboard. Because, the little man has served West Indies cricket well. He now deserves asylum. But he, like many of us, doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. And so, he's oblivious to the stage manager's beckoning - "come-come-come."
I first saw Shrivnarine Chanderpaul walk out to bat, in his second Test - the one against England at the Queen's Park Oval, in 1994. And in his walk to the crease, composure was written all over it. His stance then - a little two-eyed - was not at magnified as it is today. But, the tenacity was there, as it is today.
"With so resolute a start, how good will Chanderpaul be when stacked alongside the other eight debuting teens?" I asked, when asked to write Just How Will This Series Be Rated? for the June/September 1994 issue of the Red Stripe Caribbean Cricket Quarterly. My parting-shot then, was, "this lad though, isn't lacking in promise, and had displayed the composure and easiness of style, to get himself a lot of runs."
Little did I know then, that those Test runs would amass to 11,834 (and counting). The only difference, was that then, Shriv was in his ascension. These days, he's looking beneath him - as he should - for a meadow to land in. Oh 'Father-Time', how cruel thou art!
Life is more about staying afloat, than doing breast stokes. And, rebounding, each time we're put on the canvas, as opposed to floating like a butterfly. Cricket teaches us these lessons. And in that regard, Shrivnarine Chanderpaul, has been one of the game's best teachers.
In my scrapbook of memories, Chanderpaul is on a leaf or two. Bowled by one from Shane Warne that turned side-ways, as the clock struck high-noon at the SCG. And of that epic episode, Peter Roebuck's brilliant take, as chronicled in the December 4th, 2006 issue of The Sydney Morning Herald, is worth, a second-take:
"The West Indies seem sunk, as Chanderpaul joined Hooper. The next hour and a half, was as riveting as any in recent cricketing history." And I was there. Perched high in the scribblers' box, to scribble it all down.
"Chanders was wonderful," Roebuck goes on. " His footwork was swift and certain, as he darted down the pitch to drive Warne, or stepping back to pull or cut. And every time he seemed to pierce the field; to him batting is more a matter of runs than aesthetics."
"Warne made the mistake of entering into a contest with him, tossing the ball up, trying this and that, enjoying the scrap. Mark Taylor had to trot across to advise his leg spinner to return to his usual rhythms." But, all good things have to come to an end. And so, Roebuck, tolls the bell:
"Another hour of this pair (Chanderpaul and Hooper), and the game might really have begun. But Warne has the sense of timing, regularly found among champions. On the stroke of lunch, he produced a leg break that spun sharply through the little fellow's defences. Healy raised his hands in triumph. Warne sank to his knees and punched the air in delight. It was the end of Chanderpaul. It was also the end of the match."
I too was at Bourda in 2003 - at his home ground - when Chanderpaul, in T20-like fashion, etched himself in the record books, by nailing the third fastest Test century ( in terms of balls faced), onto his mast. It was done against the marauding Australians, spearheaded in attack, by the marauding Brett Lee, and the wiry Jason `Dizzy' Gillespie. Of that, on December 16, 2006, ESPN's Martin Williamston wrote:
"Shivnarine Chanderpaul 69 balls, West Indies v Australia, Georgetown, 2002-03:
A remarkable hundred from a man who is often more associated with stubborn defence. In front of his home crowd on the first day of the series, Chanderpaul unaccountably cut loose as the rest of his team caved in. He brought up his fifty with a six and his hundred with a crashing drive, taking a number of chances in between and gaining an extra five when a wild Brett Lee throw went for overthrows."
And so, after 21 years, 162 Test matches, 11,834 Test runs, and 30 Test centuries, the fat lady is beginning to clear her throat.
Will he be spared until Australia roll back into town, come this coming June? Only the Ayatollah knows. And to him, we beseech, "just give us all, one last ugly look."
