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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, December 25, 2017
Current CWI system allows extension of Chanderpaul’s career, says Cameron By Rajiv Bisnauth CRICKET West Indies (CWI) President Dave Cameron says the region’s current cricketing structure has allowed the extension of the career of veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Chanderpaul has called time on his illustrious 22year international career January 2016, eight months after being axed from the Test squad, but continued his trade at the first class level. “As a result of the current system we were able to extend Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s career. He is now 43 years old and still contributing to our Cricket West Indies system. With the new system he is now able to play in the regional and go off to play county cricket and return to provide his great skills and support to the Guyana Jaguars and is no wonder they are the defending champions,” Cameron said during
his feature address at the Guyana Cricket Board annual awards ceremony last Wednesday evening. Chanderpaul, who played a record 164 Tests, was controversially axed by West Indies selectors following a run of low scores. The former West Indies captain 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. Meanwhile, under the new system being rolled out by the then West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), now CWI, and supported by the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), each territory has become a franchise. Each of these franchises will select 10 players who will be paid a retainer and who will earn increased match fees from an extended first class season. By the way, players who are on the fringe will be placed into a pool and each franchise will be able to select players from that pool to make up their full squad complement. With this new initiative, Cameron had indicated that
the region truly have a cricket industry where the game is now a formal occupation. “We have retained umpires as well, match referees, curators, coaches and administrators, so I urge all cricketers present, both male and female, to ensure you take part and get qualified that after you finish playing the game, there are other opportunities for you. We have the most players in any sport as professionals in this region, approximately 140 players are being paid as professional cricketers in this region today. In the just concluded Bangladesh Premier League, we had 22 players registered playing in that league, while at the same time the four-day tournament was running and at the same time we had a Test team in New Zealand; so cricket now is a formal occupation under this new system,” the Jamaican businessman pointed out.
Genius’ Narine dangerous at both ends of the pitch, claims Badree Top-ranked T20 spinner Samuel Badree has listed teammate Sunil Narine in a list of top five spinners in the world, but more surprisingly as also one of the most difficult batmen to bowl to. Badree, currently ranked as the fourth best T20 bowler in the world, listed a top five leg spinner list that included South Africa’s Imran Tahir, India’s Kuldeep Yadav, Australian Brad Hogg and sensational Afghan spinner Rashid Khan. “He is really good. He is so young, he has so much potential. No batsman in the world seems to have got the better of him as yet. It is early stages in his career, he will need to develop some more variety as batsmen get more familiar with him. But he has tremendous potential,” Badree told Espncricinfo. The 36-year-old, however, paused to give special commendation to Narine, despite the player not being
listed as a leg-spinner. “I must include Sunil Narine, although you said leg-spinner. He is a genius.” In recent years Narine has also carved out a spot as a batsman at the top of the order for several franchises
in the shortest format of the game, even getting the better of Badree in an IPL showdown last season. “In the West Indies, Chris Gayle obviously. David Warner has been really difficult to bowl at. This
might sound strange, but Sunil Narine had the better of me twice. He knows all my tricks. Aaron Finch is the right-hander that I find difficult,” the bowler said when asked for his list of most challenging batsmen.
Samuel Badree (left) claims Sunil Narine is good at both ends of the wicket