Former Guyana captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul has issued a statement claiming that he is fully committed to playing for Guyana regardless of who is the captain.
The statement was issued to the Guyana and West Indies Cricket Boards through the left-hander’s manager/agent Chris Thakoorpersad.
“Shivnarine Chanderpaul is firmly committed to playing for the Guyana/West Indies irrespective of who is the captain, as is being so erroneously reported in the local press,” the release stated.
The release explained that Chanderpaul had been experiencing a sinus problem which has forced him to miss Guyana’s first game of the lucrative 2008 Stanford Twenty20 cricket tournament.
It also caused the left-hander to miss last night’s National Sports Commission awards ceremony, when the batsman, who had an outstanding year with the bat for the West Indies in series against England and South Africa, was due to receive the Sportsman-of-the-Year award.
The honour of receiving the player’s trophy, the release stated, went to Chanderpaul’s son Brandon.
According to the release, “Chanderpaul complained about some severe breathing problems while on the recent tour of South Africa and, after several tests, discovered that he had a severe sinus problem which might require surgery,” the release stated.
Giving an update on the batsman’s condition, Thakoorpersad stated in the release that “after a thorough examination was done by the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist in Florida, it was felt that surgery was not required and that treatment with medication would assist him.”
Thakoorpersad added that Chanderpaul was optimistic of a quick recovery which would allow him to travel to Antigua to join the other members of the Guyana team.
Chanderpaul, the release stated, had retained the services of an allergist and while treatment would require some tests, visits to the allergist would be arranged around his work schedule.
“The doctors are of the opinion that he would be ready to resume training shortly and feel that he would be ready for the next Stanford Twenty20 round,” the release added.
According to Thakoorpersad, Chanderpaul was eager to overcome this medical condition as soon as possible in his effort to resume his duties for both Guyana and the West Indies.
Last week, chairman of the national cricket selectors, Claude Raphael had told the media that Chanderpaul had informed them of his unavailability.
“Shiv contacted us to say that he has a sinus problem and will not be available for the first game since he will be going to the USA for medical attention,” Raphael told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
The Guyana Cricket Board selectors chose Royston Crandon to replace Chanderpaul and coach Albert Smith said that Chanderpaul’s late withdrawal had affected the team somewhat.
“His last minute withdrawal has affected us a bit in terms of team plans and strategy but the guys are all experienced players and we have a good leader so I don’t think it will be too much of a problem,” Smith told CMC.
An opinion piece in this newspaper on Thursday noted that this was the second occasion that Chanderpaul had pulled out of representing Guyana following a tour with the West Indies team and had advised Chanderpaul that he needed to guard against developing a reputation of being (a) reluctant to play under Sarwan or (b) being too big to play for his country.
