Shivnarine Chanderpaul: the Unmovable Object

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is undoubtedly the best West Indian batsman in the squad. His unnerving character and commitment have drawn great acclaim from players,coaches and media alike.

Born on the 16th of August 1974 in Unity Village, Guyana, he has become one of the most 'annoyingly rigid' player in world cricket. He played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the recent Indian Premier League, and was also snapped up by Durham after incredible performances in England in 2007.

Of course he is now the centre piece of the West Indian batting line-up, their highest scorer in the last 3 series.

He made his debut against England in March of 1994 aged just 19 at his home ground of Georgetown, showing a career already spanning over 14 years. He made 62 off 163 balls during the West Indies' only innings, as only Michael Atherton scored big with 144 in the first innings. West Indies went on to win the match convincingly by an innings and 44 runs, with another stunning performance by Curtley Ambrose.

A superb knock of 107 not out against Australia in the 2nd test in 2008, he shepherded the West Indies tail (and middle order) to 352 all out; he alone stood defiant in the face of amazing pace and brutality from Australian 'flying colt' Brett Lee.

Always shy with the press, he modestly commented that he was just 'doing his job', tactfully dismissing the fact that only two of his teammates just reached over fifty.

Like any other player, he has had his bad moments. A drought spanning 23 tests without a century was without a doubt a dark time in his career. He long suffered from injuries, first thought to be hypochondria, but which turned out to be a piece of floating bone in his foot.

His sparse scoring lasted from March 1998 to February 2002, when he made 6 scores over 50, with three 100s in 7 innings against India.

Chanderpaul has recently come of age as a quality batsmen, and a guardian of all that is important to him - his stumps. In the last 10 tests, he has been bowled just 3 times and has been not out 7 times of his 20 innings.

Also through the last 10 tests, he has scored 5 centuries, 2 of which were not out, and 7 50s, 4 of which his defences held true. In the 2007 tour against England, he scored 3 half-centuries and two unbeaten centuries in his 5 innings, an incredibile achievement.

An average of just under 150, he achieved one of the highest averages ever recorded in a series by a West Indian.

Again, in the last two test matches against the in-form Australia, he has registered scores of 118, 11 107 not out and 77 not out, an average of 156. In the last test, he manoeuvred the West Indies to a drawn match as the Australians hunted for the match win. He gave away no chances and stood with Ramnaresh Sarwan in a partnership of 143 runs.

Chanderpaul has never been hailed as the new Brian Lara or Richie Richardson, but when he missed a match against England in 2007, during a spell of imperious form, the Windies slumped to an innings defeat. This just goes to show the real value of this player, something Durham wisely picked up on.

Acclaimed around the world he has been written about many times :

'Such rare grace under pressure, a real brick wall', he has also been compared to Atlas, the god who carried the world on his shoulders.

He himself recognised his quality form in England and attributed his great performances to "concentration and the resistance to nearly all balls outside off-stump".

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