Dear Editor,
Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are undoubtedly two of the greatest Test batsmen of the latter half of the 1990s and the first decade and a half of the 21st century. A strong case can be made for their inclusion among the best ever Test batsmen.
Lara started playing in 1990 and ended in 2006. Chanderpaul started in 1994 and is likely to end his career in 2015. Both came very close to scoring 12000 runs, a feat accomplished by only Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Dravid and Sangakara.
They are completely different personalities with completely different styles, their left-handedness being their only common feature.
Lara generally batted at no 3. His 11953 runs were scored in 131 matches (232 innings) at a strike rate of 60.51. He averaged 52.88 with 34 centuries and 48 half centuries. His aggressiveness was reflected in1559 fours and 88 sixies. He holds the world record of 400 not out for the highest score. He was not out only six times. He was rated among the most attractive batsmen to watch, but not the most consistent.
Chanderpaul generally batted at no 5. His current total of 11867 runs was scored in 164 matches (280innings) at a strike rate of 43.81. He averages 51.37 with 30 centuries and 66 half centuries. His solidity is reflected perhaps in 1225 fours and 36 sixes and he has been not out 49 times. He is not considered a stylish batsman, in fact he is often described as awkward, but is one of the most difficult batsmen to dislodge. He is considered to be very consistent.
Both of these players, in cricket parlance, were long-serving , distinguished ‘servants’ of West Indies cricket, the one a great stylist, the other perhaps the most disciplined and patient of all West Indian cricketers.
Apart from the disappointment we all feel that both of these great West Indian players came so close, but did not cross the 12000 barrier, what does the timing of Chanderpaul’s retirement have to do with Lara having scored 86 runs more than he did. The discussion seems so puerile.
After the Grenada test I told the WICB that “One of the truly great batsmen of the modern era, Chanderpaul, at age 40 is either at or nearing the end,” and on or about May 6 I again suggested that they prepare for his exit with an offer of a special batting coach position because of his unique temperament.
Again on May 13, I warned that one of the decisions they must immediately direct their minds to was “Will Chanderpaul be replaced, and if so by whom?”
As is their wont the WICB kept postponing the making of such an important decision and now we have this unseemly spectacle.
It is an insult to both these great servants of West Indies cricket, neither of whom, I am certain, is the least concerned with who ends up with a handful of runs more than the other.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
