CRICKET West Indies (CWI) President Dave Cameron says the region’s current cricketing structure has allowed the extension of the career of veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Chanderpaul has called time on his illustrious 22-year international career January 2016, eight months after being axed from the Test squad, but continued his trade at the first class level.
“As a result of the current system we were able to extend Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s career. He is now 43 years old and still contributing to our Cricket West Indies system. With the new system he is now able to play in the regional and go off to play county cricket and return to provide his great skills and support to the Guyana Jaguars and is no wonder they are the defending champions,” Cameron said during his feature address at the Guyana Cricket Board annual awards ceremony last Wednesday evening.
Chanderpaul, who played a record 164 Tests, was controversially axed by West Indies selectors following a run of low scores.
The former West Indies captain amassed 11,867 runs at an average of 51 and lies second on the all-time West Indies list of run-scorers behind Brian Lara who scored 11,953 runs.
He struck 30 centuries and 66 half-centuries.
Chanderpaul also played 268 One-day Internationals, garnering 8,778 runs at an average of 41, and also suited up for 22 Twenty20 Internationals.
He made his Test debut as a 19-year-old against England back in 1994 and proceeded to become a feature of West Indies’ batting over the next two decades.
Renowned for his unconventional batting stance and his ability to concentrate for long periods, Chanderpaul consistently scored runs for the regional side despite their fluctuating fortunes in Tests.
He was one of Wisden’s five Cricketers-of-the-Year in 2008, the same year he was voted the ICC Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, under the new system being rolled out by the then West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), now CWI, and supported by the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), each territory has become a franchise.
Each of these franchises will select 10 players who will be paid a retainer and who will earn increased match fees from an extended first class season.
By the way, players who are on the fringe will be placed into a pool and each franchise will be able to select players from that pool to make up their full squad complement.
With this new initiative, Cameron had indicated that the region truly have a cricket industry where the game is now a formal occupation.
“We have retained umpires as well, match referees, curators, coaches and administrators, so I urge all cricketers present, both male and female, to ensure you take part and get qualified that after you finish playing the game, there are other opportunities for you.
We have the most players in any sport as professionals in this region, approximately 140 players are being paid as professional cricketers in this region today. In the just concluded Bangladesh Premier League, we had 22 players registered playing in that league, while at the same time the four-day tournament was running and at the same time we had a Test team in New Zealand; so cricket now is a formal occupation under this new system,” the Jamaican businessman pointed out.