For many Caribbean cricket lovers, it seemed as if Tagenarine Chanderpaul would have followed in his father, Shivnarine’s shoes and transitioned to Test cricket a long time ago but this season of the West Indies Championship has underlined that his time is now.
It is no surprise West Indies have had their struggles with their openers laying a foundation. In the last three years and across 43 innings West Indies are yet to have an opening partnership of over 100. In fact, the Caribbean side has only had six 50-plus partnerships at the top of the order and a highest of 83.
Test captain, Kraigg Brathwaite is the most successful batter in this position since his debut and has made 10 centuries along with 25 half-centuries to average 34 after 77 Tests.
The Bajan has started the innings with four partners. His usual opening partner over this period has been John Campbell and they have had 30 starts together. The pair has scored 712 runs at an average of 25.42.
Campbell’s first-class average of 30 takes a dip to 23.5 after 18 Tests with just two half-centuries under his belt. He has scores of 48, 37 and 98 in his last two first-class matches.
Next in line is Kieran Powell who has shared seven opening stands with Brathwaite and scored 75 runs at a disappointing average of 10.7. However, Powell’s Test average of 25.7 is slightly better than Campbell with three centuries and seven 50-plus scores over 44 Tests. His first-class statistics are also better than Campbell with eight hundreds and 40 half centuries coming from 134 matches. The 32-year-old has backed this up with scores of 19, 18, 139 and 83 in his last two first-class matches.
Jeremy Solozano was called up to the Test side in November last year but suffered a concussion on debut. His first-class average is the worst among those mentioned above at just 23 with two centuries and nine fifties after 44 matches. His recent scores are also poor (six, 14, duck and four).
Shai Hope, who was named as Solozano’s concussion substitute, was tried at the top of the order for two innings with scores of 1 and 25. However, he seems better suited in the middle order where he scored the bulk of his runs including his two centuries and four of his five half-centuries. His first-class average suggests similarly with nine centuries and 13 50-plus knocks from 67 matches. His first-class average of 34.5 is also the highest but not as an opener.
Much like Hope, Vice-captain Jermaine Blackwood is better suited in the middle order but has opened on four occasions and has been the most productive. Together with Brathwaite the pair averages 40.
Shayne Moseley plays the role of an opener in the first-class arena and while he has played two Tests, none of his four innings was at the top and he scored just 28 runs in those innings. He has had a decent run in first-class cricket with an average of 29.9 to go with 4 centuries and 11 half centuries but in his last 13 first-class innings he has not reached 50 and has an average of 18.
Now looking around the ongoing championship, there aren’t many options with the likes of Keagan Simmons (6 matches), Leroy Lugg (four matches), Kimani Melius (8 matches) and Tion Webster (16 matches) who are all young in their careers while veterans, Devon Smith and Montcin Hodge are past their prime.
Chanderpaul, at 25 years old, has finally shown the selectors what he is capable of doing. Coming on the heels of criticisms and calls for him to be dropped from the Guyana Harpy Eagles side, he has responded with his best batting performances.
The left-hander joins Brathwaite as the only player with two tons this season. He has the highest average at a staggering 82.8 after seven innings and is second only to Brathwaite in the runs column with 414. But it is not just his scores of 140 not out, 23 not out and 184 that suggest he is ready for the international stage but it is his ability to spend extensive time at the crease.
The former West Indies under-19 batsman averages 32.7 in first-class cricket, superior to Solozano, Powell, Campbell, Moseley, Melius, Webster, Simmons, Lugg and Hodge.
Chanderpaul has soaked up a massive 1024 deliveries at the crease, the most by any batsman in the region. To put this in perspective, the left-hander has faced more than double the deliveries faced by any batsman in the Guyana side with Vishaul Singh facing the second most (443 balls).
Brathwaite has faced 915 balls while Yannic Cariah (795), Campbell (674), Blackwood (694) Powell (649) and Raymon Reifer (595) are among the batsmen to face the most balls.
With one match to conclude the West Indies Championship, Chanderpaul could solidify the case for a Test call up with another good outing as they face the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.
West Indies are set to play Bangladesh in the Caribbean for two Tests. It will be interesting to see if the selectors turn the ‘cub’ into the ‘tiger’.
