Dear Editor,
We have all read about the omission of Shiv Chanderpaul from the West Indies team to play against Australia in the Test matches to be held in Dominica and Jamaica. This iconic cricketer, who has done so much for West Indies cricket during the past two decades, has been told that he does not fit in with present arrangements. He was also subjected to ill-considered comments by a former West Indian player to the effect that he is not good enough to secure a place in the current West Indies team. Such is the assessment of the ability of a cricketer who, during the past decade or more, has been consistently ranked by the ICC among the top 10 batsmen in the world and who, during the same period, was the only West Indian player, apart from Brian Lara, to compile an average of over 50 in Test cricket. Clearly, the assessment of Chanderpaul’s abiility, quoted earlier, is misleading, but this is the flawed logic and misguided thinking that are used to justify his exclusion from the team, like an old pair of boots that is no longer needed. No one likes to be told, even privately, that his or her services are no longer required, but it is much worse to hear it said publicly and on the basis of questionable evidence.
In excluding Chanderpaul from the team, the selectors have argued that sentiment should not be allowed to get in the way. But sentiment is very important. Life is not merely a matter of winning a Test match or even a series. More importantly, it is about human dignity and respect for others. The selectors seem unmindful of the public humiliation they have heaped upon a truly great cricketer, and are also insensitive to the outrage they have caused in many quarters about the way the whole matter was handled. I understand that, despite the intervention of the President and other members of the WICB, the selectors held firm to their decision to omit Chanderpaul. If this is indeed the case, the question arises, who is ultimately responsible for West Indies cricket? Is it the Board, which seems to understand the wider implications of Chanderpaul’s exclusion, or the selectors, who have acted so recklessly and unceremoniously in putting an end to Chanderpaul’s career? If this is the example we wish to set as a society by prematurely discarding people coming to the end of their career, then it is highly unbecoming of us. It is to Brian Lara’s credit that he has been so openly critical of the selectors’ decision to omit Chanderpaul from the team, and argued instead for him to be given a farewell series, even though his own record could possibly have been surpassed by Chanderpaul, had he been selected to play in the two Tests against Australia. It does not matter whether he would have scored a hundred or zero, as Lara has pointed out. Considerations of human decency and respect for Chanderpaul’s achievements and his contribution to West Indies criicket should have dictated his inclusion in the West Indies team. But, the selectors are apparently not motivated by such ideals.
It is a sad day for West Indies cricket and an unforgivable insult to a great cricketer which amounts to a public humiliation that has echoed throughout the cricketing world which holds Chanderpaul in the highest regard. There is some talk about the WICB arranging a suitable event some time in the future to acknowledge Chander-paul’s contribution to West Indies cricket, but what better honour could have been accorded him than to select him for the present series against Australia and arrange an appropriate farewell at the end of the second Test to be played at Sabina Park in Jamaica. Would this have stood in the way of the declared objective of the selectors of grooming a young team for the future? Hardly.
My advice to Chanderpaul? He should hang up his Test cap, but not his CPL hat, and walk off proudly into the sunset, confident in his own accomplishments which are recognised around the world. He is a legend in his time and the region may never again see the likes of him. He should accept, with his usual humility, the honours that the Guyana Cricket Board is bound to heap upon him, and should be magnanimous by overlooking the action of those who so publicly dishonoured him. Above all, he should teach his son, Tagenarine, the finer points of the game. If he becomes half as good as his father, he will be a shining star in a future West Indies team. Then, Chanderpaul should sit back and watch his fame and name continue to live on far beyond those of the men who have treated him with such scant regard.
Yours faithfully,
Denis Benn
