Batsman leaves first-class match to receive awards

Officials angry as Chanderpaul goes missing

Cricinfo staff

March 31, 2008

	Shivnarine Chanderpaul has had a productive year for West Indies but Guyana were denied his full contribution as he retired out on 78 © Getty Images

Shivnarine Chanderpaul might have picked up a host of honours at the West Indies Players' Association awards but in doing so he infuriated both his own team and his opponents in their ongoing Carib Beer Series match. Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 78 at stumps on the first day of Guyana's home game against Windward Islands when he departed for the awards ceremony in Trinidad.

However, neither Guyana's manager Carl Moore nor their coach Albert Smith was able to explain Chanderpaul's absence and he was deemed "retired out". Smith said it was disappointing the batsman had not discussed the situation with the team's management.

"He is our most dependable batsman and has done so much for West Indies cricket as a top-class batsman," Smith told CMC. "But if he knew he was just using this game for some practice and would then leave the guys he should have at least informed me as the coach and maybe allowed one of the youngsters to play."

The situation so incensed the Windward Islands that when they started their innings after lunch they refused to let Guyana use a substitute fielder. The Windward Islands manager Lockhart Sebastien was furious at the seemingly blasé attitude to a first-class game.

"This is not a curry goat match," Sebastien said. "This is a first-class encounter and things like this are allowed to happen and we wonder why West Indies cricket is in the state that it is in.

"Chanderpaul told Devon [Smith] yesterday [Saturday] that he was here just to take a knock but we assumed he was joking. If he knew he had to leave then he should not have played and given one of the other youngsters a chance."

© Cricinfo

Add to del.icio.us | digg this | Stumble It What's this? If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content on cricket, you may use these buttons. When you add them to any of these sites, you "social bookmark" them for others to find and rate. More on del.icio.us>> More on digg>> More on stumbleupon>> Close

Cricinfo Magazine online - our new home for features and comment Ask Steven, Numbers Game & more England v New Zealand fantasy cricket now available Enter your teams here Cricinfo on the go - our mobile services WAP, Genie and Mobicast

Stories

Chanderpaul sweeps major WIPA awards

Jaggernauth spins T&T to victory

T&T maintain advantage

Matches

Guyana v Windward Islands at Providence

Players/Umpires

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Series/Tournaments

Carib Beer Series

West Indies Domestic Season

Teams

West Indies