Let the ‘Tiger’ be!

Dear Editor,

The current administration of West Indies Cricket – the board, the selectors, the coach – appear to be hell bent on hammering the final nail in the coffin that the West Indies Cricket team finds itself in. This has been confirmed by one ‘Hilarious’ letter and the recent revelations made by accomplished West Indian batsman Shivnarine ‘Tiger’ Chanderpaul that there was interference with his batting during matches, and that he was subjected to unreasonable questioning by the team management during the past year. I say, “Let the ‘Tiger’ be!” Chanderpaul’s record speaks for itself: 9,063 Test runs and 8,778 ODI runs, with averages of 48.98 and 41.60 respectively.

Embedded in his Test runs is a most famous hundred, 104 to be precise, against Australia at the ARG in 2003. Batting with a broken finger, he and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made 105, propelled West Indies to a world record 418 victory target. Only as recently as 2008, he was ICC’s Cricketer of the Year. During his last ODI for the West Indies — the ill-fated World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan — while others fell like flies, he was the last man standing, on 44 not out. Given the lack of seasoned players in the West Indies team today, I say, “Let the ‘Tiger’ be!” The current crop of WICB administrators needs to look at history and learn from it.

Frank Worrell’s 1963 West Indians in England were lauded for their uninhibited approach when Norman Preston, the then editor of Wisden, wrote: “All of them are natural cricketers, unspoiled by excessive coaching.” It must be noted that the man who made the most runs on either team in the famous 1963 series was Rohan Kanhai, purveyor of the ‘roti shot.’ No one in their rightful mind could have told the “Babulall” to discard that shot. Worrell knew it was essentially West Indian: it entertained and won matches, so he let it be.

Fast forward from the 1960s to the 1980s, and we have the legendary Viv Richards making hitting across the line an art form.

He amassed 8,540 runs that include the fastest hundred, off 56 balls, and drove fear in bowlers around the world. All the while, West Indies were establishing the best record in the history of the game. His captain Clive Lloyd, like Worrell before him, had the wisdom to recognize Richards’s individuality.

And recently, there was the great Brain Lara, owner of the most magnificent collection of hundreds: 277 at Sydney; 375 at St. John’s; 213 at Kingston; 153 not out at Bridgetown; 221 at Colombo; 400 not out at St. John’s, and 226 at Adelaide. These are Test cricket’s Magnificent Seven. Not even the greatest batsman of them all, Australia’s Don Bradman, has a seven that can compare. And yet, Lara accomplished them with an exaggerated back lift. Everyone around him just let him be. There is a saying that world cricket needs a strong West Indies. It is not so much the team as it is the unique brand of cricket that our players have historically brought to the world stage. West Indians have entertained with their uninhibited brand of cricket throughout history, while winning games. We are now being foolish by retaining high-priced coaches for the Test team and incompetent administrators who seem bent on taking away the unique identity that has been integral to West Indies Cricket.

CLR James, in his seminal 1963 work, “Beyond a Boundary”, despite being a very difficult book to read, asked the pertinent question: What do they know of cricket who only cricket know? Sadly, from the West Indian administrative perspective, the answer is one “Hilarious” one. Former West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts hit the nail on the head when he said the current president and CEO of the WICB should resign with immediate effect.

Again, what do they know of cricket who only cricket knows? Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo and Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony must be commended for standing behind the ‘Tiger’. As a senior statesman in the region, Jagdeo has clout. He remains the ideal person to call upon Caricom to implement Cricket Studies at the CXC level. The manual has been written and the detailed curriculum has been drafted.

This is a topic for another article. For now, it’s hands off Chanderpaul. He still has much to offer West Indies Cricket. He is unique. The old saying ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is relevant to him. He may have the crabiest technique in the game, but it is effective. The proof is in the more than 9,000 Test runs and 8,000 ODI runs. So bring him in for the Test series against Pakistan and India, and “just let the Tiger be!”

Respectfully,

Vijay P. Kumar