SHIVNARINE Chanderpaul will head back to the Caribbean after Friday's NatWest t20 Blast opener at Grace Road.
The West Indies have called a training camp to prepare for their three-Test series against New Zealand, which begins in Jamaica on June 8.
Though the squad will not be confirmed until June 3, it would be a surprise if Chanderpaul is not in it, especially as he needs only another 694 runs to overhaul Brian Lara and become the West Indies' highest run-scorer of all time.
Lara made his 11,912 Test runs in 130 Tests, while Chanderpaul has played 153 since making his debut against England in Guyana in 1994, but what a fabulous record he has.
He currently averages 51.93 in Tests and, following the retirements of Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar, only Kumar Sangakkara and Cheteshwar Pujara of the current players in world cricket has a better average.
It would be wonderful if Chanderpaul took the record from Lara before he comes back to Derbyshire at the end of June but a bit much to ask in three Tests. More likely, if he is going to get the runs he needs this summer, they will come in the two Tests against Bangladesh in September.
This next series will also see Chanderpaul play under a new West Indies captain, after Denesh Ramdin was named to take over from Darren Sammy.
Chanderpaul had 14 Tests as captain himself between 2004-06 and Ramdin will be the 12th captain he has played under in Tests.
Pub quiz time. A hearty cheer and spicy chicken roti if you can name the other 11.
For those who can't be bothered or can't think of all the names, here they are:
Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Carl Hooper, Ridley Jacobs, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy.
There might have been another name. The little-known, now forgotten, Floyd Riefer led the Windies for two Tests in Bangladesh in 2009 but Chanderpaul and just about every other senior player boycotted that series due to a row over sponsorship payments.
There have been one or two rows, as well as one or two different captains, in his time as a Test player.
derbytelegraph.co.uk
