STAY WELL & SPARKLE  –  Dishonour-itis

With Chanders
With Chanders

Dominicans have this thing about Chanderpaul. And why not? His five test innings at Windsor Park was a run-fest of two centuries and three top scores against India, Zimbabwe – and Australia. Hello! With an incredible average here of 96, it is no wonder he has been awarded honorary citizenship and land in Dominica.

I was like a kid in a candy shop upon meeting this great man just a couple months ago. He did not make me feel like kissing the ground he walked on as celebrities often do. The Windward Islands team was dominating Guyana in the 4-Day Regional Tournament. I won’t call any names, but out of nowhere, somebody doggedly pulled another first class century out of the hat. It finally took one of West Indies best spinners, Shane Shillingford, to pry him from the crease. Almost singlehandedly, that man turned the game on its head and seized the trophy for the other Land of Many Waters.

So why all this fuss over Chanderpaul anyway? Well, this is precisely the kind of thing Shiv has devoted two decades doing for West Indies. No overseas West Indian cricket fan feels closer to home than in the middle of the night, following on computer, our team (both male and female) playing on the other side of the globe. Without Shiv, those would have been short nights indeed.

But how quickly we forget! ‘Dishonouritis’ is a deep-seated malady in the West Indian psyche that somehow permits celebrating the accomplishment of foreigners but not of our own. Dishonouritis sucks the air right out of the ‘gentleman’s game. Unless we diagnose this as a disease, no treatment can be forthcoming.

Workhorse

In his first test match at his home ground of Bourda, 1994, West Indies trounced England by an innings and 44 runs. Shiv contributed a sterling 62 and from that time he has never looked back. But the naysayers are not impressed. They contend that this is a crabby, ungainly, old slow poke now woefully out of form and has permanently lost his reflexes. Furthermore, they remind us that cricket is a team sport. Chanderpaul is not bigger than the team and he should not stand in the way of developing young players.

Clive Lloyd, himself a fixture in the pantheon West Indian heroes, now rules as chairman of West Indies selectors. He captained Michael Holding back in those glory days. They both opine that Shiv should have gracefully hung up his cleats long ago. “I don’t believe that cricketers should just get a (farewell) series for getting a series sake,” declares Holding. “I don’t think Shivnarine Chanderpaul has proven in recent times that he is still a good enough player to be playing for West Indies.”

Michelle Henderson and Mano Loblack criticize Chanderpaul’s shabby treatment.
Michelle Henderson and Mano Loblack criticize Chanderpaul’s shabby treatment.

The sports-loving public was stunned. Reaction was initially slow. Ardent cricket fan and leading Caribbean songstress, Michele Henderson, was among the first to register her displeasure. Local sports enthusiast, Mano Loblack’s blunt and direct manner confirmed what I was thinking. A comment in an online magazine echoes their sentiments. “Chanderpaul, on numerous occasions, stood alone in the middle to save WI from humiliation as wickets tumbled all around him like a pack of dominoes. As he comes to the end of his workhorse career, he, at least, should be given an honorable, proper send off.” Like legions of other cricket fans worldwide, I have long felt that “Mr. Not-out” should have been promoted up the batting order so he could stick around longer to get more runs. As Star Trek’s Mr. Spock would say, “That’s not logical,” to do otherwise.

Lara and Chanderpaul are West Indies two 10, 000 test run machines
Lara and Chanderpaul are West Indies two 10, 000 test run machines

 

Brian Lara, has been dubbed the Prince of West Indies. Ironically, he is the man whose very record is threatened by Chanderpaul. Yet, he did not put water in his mouth when he flayed the selectors in this statement:

“The manner in which they deal with their players is despicable and should no longer be tolerated. When you look back to so many of our heroes and the manner in which they were dumped, it makes you shudder.”

But wait. There’s more!

West Indies cricket is a venerable institution in our culture. Yet, for whatever reason it seems to be lurching from one public relations fiasco to the next, like someone who had too much at jour overt. Guyana Cricket Board secretary Anand Sanasie, also a WICB director, did not hold back either at his press conference:

“Let me make it clear that the president (Cameron, from Jamaica) and vice president (Nanthan, from Dominica) and myself tried our best to get Shiv retained. In the end, the selectors have the final say. So those who say this is a WICB decision, that is not true. Shiv was never told that the match in Barbados (against England) was his last and they wanted to cover up a wrong with another wrong…Shiv’s record speaks for itself and we are shocked at the manner that this panel is seeking to destroy him.”

We believe the meek shall inherit the earth. Oftentimes however, they just get passed over. The latest release by Justice Irving Andre, “A Century of Dominican Cricket” is a veritable textbook on how we salute our great ones on the Nature Isle. We give them their flowers while still alive – preferably while they still have their cleats on. In it you will find clues on how we should treat ‘the most under-rated over-achiever in test cricket.’

Today we can rally round the West Indies with a fair dinkum chance against the giants from down under. The lad from Unity Village on the East Coast of the Demerara has been the glue holding us to for so long – all thanks to him. Let us yet find some way to show that better.

 

Dr. Sam Christian is surgeon who runs the Urgent Care on 137 Bath Road. It offers general medical care, office surgery, acupuncture and microdermabrasion. He is Medical Adviser to the Dominica Cancer Society and Medical Officer for the Dominica Cadet Corps. Dr. Christian can be reached at 440-9133 or by clicking on urgentcareda.weebly.com

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9 Comments

  1. Unsophisticated & uncivilized
    June 1, 2015

    So Lara is a madman?
    So the West Indies Players Association are madmen?
    So the WICB member from Guyana is a madman?

    Shame on you, DFR! It’s people like you who give cover for the basic lack of social graces endemic and worsening in our society. If we cannot role model good manners for our youth, what chance do they stand?

    Don’t worry, the time us coming when we will no longer plead for you guys to behave properly…

    Trust me

  2. DollFace
    June 1, 2015

    There’s a saying that goes is not what you do, is how you do what you do.

  3. DFR
    May 31, 2015

    Please stop this idea about this being rude and counter productive . Cricket is only a game that one enjoys playing and yes , getting paid for it . What about peoples who have been working for years for a company and suddenly get laid off ? Feel sorry for those folks !

  4. Commonsense
    May 31, 2015

    Stubbornness is a hell of a thing, you know…

    No one ever said Chanderpaul’s career should not come to an end. The point is how. As te doctor said, as long as we remain in denial, we will continue this rude, counterproductive and dishonourabe behaviour.

    Maturity also, seems to be in short supply

  5. DFR
    May 31, 2015

    Michael Holding is a straight shooter and right to the point, Tony Cozier likewise . Yes it hurts to see your favorite player no longer on the team . It is not just about records . Actually SC received many chances and the end of a career must come eventually. He is not the first and only player to be given this treatment . life goes on ! How do the youngsters get a chance when the old timers refuse to go gracefully ? If he had his way he would play until he could no longer see the ball . It is rather refreshing that the WI selectors take a stance and stick to it as long as there is consistency. When the time is right WI will do a testimonial for him . So do us a favor please and think out of the box and look at the big picture !

    • Sylvester Cadette
      June 1, 2015

      My approach if I wanted to end Chanderpaul’s Career, I would tell him prior to the English tour, announce it in public then create a fitting farewell at the end of the last test with England. This is respect. And you would not have the hurt and dishonouritis that persists.

      Llyod wants to rebuild and that is wholesome and good but how do you go about doing it – on the age old distrust and distasteful behavior and relationship between the Players and Board.

      THINK IT OVER DOMINICAS (WEST INDIANS) !! THINK IT OVER !!

  6. Sylvester Cadette
    May 31, 2015

    Dear Dr. Christian I really appreciate your article. Indeed you are so correct in your diagnosis of the unfortunate disease that seem to plague many a West Indian mind and psyche – Dishonouritis.
    Sadly it is a disease that persists even long after slavery and what we hope was the end of neocolonial thinking and mindset.

    Mind you, I do not think Chanderpaul should play forever but the WI Selectors behavior is despicable and their after thought explanations puerile. What was more perplexing is that such came from Llyod. I understand and believe in what he wants to do with the youth but this time his actions fell short in the manner he dumped Chanderpaul. It is a disgrace and Llyod should be told so in no uncertain terms.

    West Indians must be transformed by the renewing of their minds(biblical instruction). or Bob Marley’s liberating one’s self from mental slavery.
    http://dominicanewsonline

  7. Cyrique
    May 31, 2015

    Get over it and move on. He’s not playing and West Indies is alive & kicking. Should he be picked because he’s an honourary Dominican? I’m afraid that’s not how it works. I’m sure he was thanked for his service as have all the others who contributed extremely well to West Indies. It’s time to give other youngsters a chance. Enough is enough.

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