Shivnarine Chanderpaul a Worry for West Indies Ahead of Australia Series

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been a comfort blanket wrapped around West Indies cricket during his career.

As a once-dominant team tumbled off their pedestal towards the bottom of the Test rankings, Chanderpaul was at least there to provide some joy. He has been one of the very few consistent performers during a time of decline in the Caribbean.

He does not have the swaggering dominance like Sir Vivian Richards. He does not have the star power and stroke play of long-time team-mate Brian Lara, either.

What the left-hander does have, though, is a tailored technique that has allowed him to accumulate runs while occupying the crease for long periods.

Yet there have been exceptions to the general rule, the most notable case coming in 2003 when he hit a 69-ball century against Australia. Not even Chris Gayle, a left-hander known for being much more aggressive, has managed to reach three figures quicker than that.

Chanderpaul has not changed too much since his international debut, against England in his homeland of Guyana, back in 1994.

He still has an open stance. He still looks about 10 stone when wringing wet. He still crabs across the wicket to get into line as the bowler is running in.

Yet the idiosyncrasies of his technique have helped, not hindered. His career stats are impressive, particularly when you consider the tough times West Indies have gone through of late.

However, there were signs in the recent series against England that Chanderpaul’s powers of concentration may be waning.

He scored just 92 runs at a lowly average of 15.33.

In the second innings of the third Test—a match West Indies eventually won, in the process squaring the series at 1-1—their most experienced batsman was dismissed for a duck.

Prodding at a wide ball from James Anderson, Chanderpaul edged back onto his stumps. In a tense run chase, the home side’s most experienced player had failed to trouble the scorers.

It was a rare failure for the man from Unity Village, as Cricket Record noted on Twitter:

At the age of 40, questions will be raised as to how much longer Chanderpaul can keep on going.

The Tests against England had seemingly provided him the ideal opportunity to move past Lara and become West Indies’ leading run-scorer. Instead, he still sits adrift:

	Tests	Innings	Runs	Average
Brian Lara	130	230	11,912	53.17
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	164	280	11,867	51.37

Chanderpaul has scored one hundred in his last 11 Test appearances, with that three-figure score coming against Bangladesh last September.

He was not dismissed in that two-match series against the Tigers, registering unbeaten knocks of 85, 84 and 101.

Finishing an innings as the one batsmen left still standing is nothing new to Chanderpaul. He has been not out in 49 of his 280 Test innings, a hazard of the job as he has mainly batted down at five in a fragile order.

But it should be noted he has only passed 50 once since facing Bangladesh on home soil.

He first found it tough going away in South Africa last winter, then failed to rediscover his best form against England.

It is tough to know whether Chanderpaul is in terminal decline or if this is just a temporary dip. After all, he never makes batting look easy at the very best of times.

In his profile of the player for ESPN Cricinfo, Roger Sawh wrote:

"

Chanderpaul's longevity - his maintenance of physical strength as well as a continuously energised approach to the game itself - has been crucial.

He has always been a grafter, and in the era of West Indian cricket that he has played in, the resilience that he has come to embody has been in short supply.

Additionally, few would argue with his steely determination. In the face of collapses all around, Chanderpaul has been the abiding survivor, a bit bruised and battered, but never broken.

"

The question is, how much longer can Chanderpaul keep on grafting?

A home series with Australia is up next for West Indies. It might well be the final chapter in the career of their eldest statesman.