Shiv?Chanderpaul?would not make an all-time West Indies XI, but he has the runs and hundreds to be mentioned alongside the best.
During the current opening Digicel Test against Australia at Kensington Oval, Chanderpaul struck an unbeaten 103.
It was his 25th Test century – among West Indies players, only master batsman Brian Lara (34) and Garry Sobers (26) have more.
Chanderpaul’s hundred is also his fifth against Australia, all of which have come at home – no West Indies batsman has scored more Test centuries at home against Australia. In seven home Tests against Australia, Chanderpaul averages 89.11.
The one major blemish in his outstanding career is that he is still without a Test match century in Australia where he averages just 30.20 in 11 Tests.
Chanderpaul also became the highest run-getter in Tests at Kensington Oval in Barbados. Chanderpaul has scored 1 374 runs there in 16 Tests, at an average of 68.70, with Lara in second place at 1339 runs at 53.56.
This was Chanderpaul’s fourth Test hundred at the ground, which equals the record for this venue, jointly held by Desmond Haynes and Clive Lloyd.
It’s unwise to write off anyone at 37. The tiger is still making his presence felt on the cricket field in the same way that two other 37-year-olds Derek Fisher and Paul Scholes are making their mark in basketball and football respectively.
Scholes, the hard-working Machester United midfielder, has already three goals since his return to the champion side this year.
The man who has made 689 appearances for United, the third highest number of appearances by any player for the club, delivered one of the strikes for Man U in their 2-0 victory over Queen’s Park Rangers, their eighth straight win that keeps them eight points clear at the top.
Basketball point guard Fisher, who was born August 9, 1974, seven days before Shiv, is now with this season’s NBA?favourites Oklahoma City Thunder. His NBA career has spanned more than 15 years, during which he won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He ranks second all time in NBA Finals three-pointers made (43), behind former teammate Robert Horry. He has the highest three-point field goal percentage in NBA Finals history (42.6 per cent).