Dear Editor,
I was doing my best to stay away from the Chanderpaul fiasco. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was less than classic as a batsman but somehow despite the flaws in his batting stance and the lack of textbook stylishness, he was not prevented from being among the best in the world; his record speaks for itself. His fans are still reeling from the shock of his unceremonious exit from the West Indies Test team and have had to endure the negatives from the likes of Michael Holding, himself a West Indies superstar in his day.
Mr Holding’s point that Shiv was no longer good enough for West Indies cricket is not a debatable issue; I agree with him that the ‘Tiger’ might have gone past his best, even though he only had a failure of just 11 Test innings and 6 matches. It may be that axing him might be premature based on this rare slump, but the argument of the critics is not that he is still good enough, but that he was discarded in the most dishonourable manner. The WI Board and selectors repeatedly mete out unacceptable treatment to their legends, and it is hard to fathom Mr Holding’s statement of him not being good enough any more.
However Mr Holding is living true to form, for he it was who called for a ban on Test cricket in Guyana because of the rains. He was the one who opposed the captaincy selection of Carl Hooper; and he was the one who would not consider Shiv Chanderpaul as a West Indies great.
I hope that amends can be made and that Shivnarine Chanderpaul would be properly sent off by planning a Tendulkar type series in his honour.
Yours faithfully,
Ivan John
