This week on ‘What the People Say’ persons share their views on the West Indies cricket team and about Shivnarine Chanderpaul not being selected to play in the one-day game against Pakistan at the Providence Stadium.
Lallbahadur Ramaiah, cane-harvester,
`I don’t know the reason for them leaving out Chanderpaul from the game but the West Indies Cricket Board said they are picking a young side.
But the young players don’t have the experience. For instance if you are working at the [sugar] estate and you join a gang you have to work with the older people because they have the experience even though they may be slow. My point is that they should have played persons like Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle so that they can help the younger ones. Right now Gayle is making a lot of runs in India.’
Vickey Persaud, self-employed,
‘I like the team that the West Indies have there right now; they have a nice young side. I am planning to go and see the match at the stadium. To me Shivnarine Chanderpaul is too slow and if he is left out of this test match the team would still do well. They just need a little more training. They played really well at the one-day game on Thursday and I think
it was a good win.’
Raymond Ally, fisherman,
‘Chanderpaul is an important player in the West Indies team and a lot of people enjoy the game more when he is a part of it. I really think that he should be included in the test match against Pakistan. How could they bring cricket in this country and not let him play? The game would not be the same without him in it and a lot of his fans would be disappointed.’
Shiv Persaud, businessman,
‘To me if Chanderpaul is in the game or not it is the same thing; West Indies is nowhere. I don’t have any confidence in the team. Even if Chanderpaul plays in the test match and he makes a lot of runs the game would still draw because there is no team effort. I feel that the win in the one-day game on Thursday was a fluke. To me they don’t have better players to select from… The players may have the
talent but they do not have proper trainers. They have good coaches up to the under-19 stage but when they reach a certain stage they do not perform so well at all. So far Davendra Bishoo is doing well and I just hope he gets the right training to continue his good performance.’
Dan Mc Bean, cane-harvester,
‘I feel that they wrong-deal Chanderpaul because he contributed a lot towards West Indies cricket and he made the supporters happy in many homes. To me he should have had the opportunity to at least play in the last one-day international in Guyana at the stadium. I didn’t hear anything about him playing in the test match but I would be glad if he is selected to play. I was happy that although he didn’t play in the one-day game they still won but it would have been more exciting for Guyanese if he had played.’
Randy Bagot, student/cricketer,
‘I am so sorry that they left Chanderpaul out of the last game and I hope they put him to play in the test match at the stadium. I knew him since 2009 when I went to play cricket in Georgetown and he encouraged me and motivated me a lot to be a good player. I always look up to him and try to follow his example. He taught me most of the things that I know. If he is selected to play in the test match, I am sure that he would make the most runs. He is a Guyanese and if he plays on his home ground people would enjoy the game more.’
Victoria Rawlins, vendor,
‘I think that the West Indies cricket is improving a lot and everyone – the batsmen and bowlers – is playing a good part. I would like to congratulate the players for winning the last game at the stadium. If they continue that way for the test match I think they would certainly do well. In fact, I think they tried their best throughout the series.
Chanderpaul, to me is the main player in the team and I would like them to bring him
back for the test match because he is a test match player… he could hold a good wicket.’
Tyrone Hooper, snacks vendor,
`Just as how the body has to get a backbone, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been the backbone of West Indies cricket for many years. He is even an ex-captain. He knows a lot about cricket and they cannot leave him out of the game and bring a set of ‘green’ youngsters. Chanderpaul takes cricket as a job; the others take it as just a sport.’
Michael Hackett, UG lecturer,
‘I hardly look at cricket these days because I am busy with university work. But from what I know of Chanderpaul, he started off well and then he lost fitness. He gained too much weight and appears to be out of form. I feel that he
became too self-satisfied too fast instead of striving to maintain good standards.’
Latchman Chaturi, supervisor,
‘I feel Chanderpaul should be selected because he is one of the senior players in the team. He is also one of the West Indies batsmen to make 9,000 runs to his name. He has a healthy average and he should be selected. This is his home ground and it would be a huge disappointment to his Guyanese fans if he doesn’t get to play. I also hope that he would be selected for the India tour next month.’
