Chanderpaul stands his ground

Looks like the Tiger has roared disapprovingly at the latest vaps-inspired suggestion that he return to opening.

Call it selfishness, but it seems that Shivnarine Chanderpaul has had enough of being shuffled up and down the West Indies batting order. Going on the basis of the comments by head coach John Dyson on the eve of the third one-day international against Australia in Grenada, there was clearly an attempt to persuade Chanderpaul to provide some much-needed solidity against the new white ball, especially after the pairing of captain Chris Gayle and the inexperienced Xavier Marshall failed so abysmally in the first two matches.

That they put on 86 runs by the 18th over yesterday may appear to have justified Chanderpaul's resistance. However it appears that his mindset right now is such that his resolve would not have been shaken if both were dismissed in the opening over. Whether or not we want to accuse him of failing to put the needs of the team ahead of his own interests, it has to be taken in the context of the unwritten policy by a succession of captains, coaches and team managers which dictates that, when all else fails, turn to Chanders.

He has opened 74 times in his 233 one-dayers with a higher average at the top of the order (43.27) than his overall figures (7482 runs at 40.44). So it's not as if he has been a failure up there. Still, he has never been keen on opening, occasionally expressing that opinion publicly even after a significant contribution at the top. Such is his proven value as well in the middle-order of a consistently inconsistent batting line-up that a succession of decision-makers can't seem to make up their minds as to where he should be slotted.

Now he may have taken that burden off their shoulders, whether or not it meets with general approval, and (although he will never say these words publicly) to hell with the consequences.

You can understand a 33-year-old veteran of 14 years of international cricket, during which he has also amassed 8001 runs (average 49.08) in 112 Tests, feeling that he should be long past the stage of being used as a stop-gap option. But that has always been the case with Chanderpaul when almost everyone else has failed to deliver.

From the time he walked out with Courtney Browne against South Africa in the quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup in Karachi to partnering Gayle in the Super Eights duel with South Africa in St George's at last year's World Cup, his tenure as an opener has never carried with it an understanding of permanence despite considerable success (six of his eight ODI hundreds have come as an opener with the other two-his most recent-compiled at one-down).

Of those 74 occasions that he opened, the longest unbroken run was for 22 matches, beginning with the opening fixture of the DLF Cup against Australia in Kuala Lumpur in September 2006 and concluding at the new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua when West Indies went down to New Zealand in their second match of the Super Eights at the World Cup. During that period, he totalled 894 runs (average 52.59) and played a key role in West Indies reaching the final of the 2006 Champions Trophy in India, where they were thrashed by nine wickets by Australia and so failed to defend the title won so dramatically against hosts England two years earlier.

Chanderpaul has never shirked from a cricketing challenge of any sort. When sent in to open for the first time in one-dayers, he contributed 56 and featured in a 138-run second-wicket partnership with century-maker Brian Lara in the 19-run victory over Hansie Cronje's South Africans. Just a few months later, when Lara was struggling to cope with Glenn McGrath, Chanderpaul took on the responsibility of batting at No 3 on his first Test tour of Australia.

These are just a couple of the many instances that reinforce the assertion that Chanderpaul has nothing left to prove, although he will probably never be mentioned among the elite level of Caribbean batting greats like Headley, Weekes, Sobers, Richards and Lara. Not that he appears to be perturbed in any way by unflattering comparisons, for Chanderpaul always does things his own way at the crease and has shown he can adapt to the requirements of any situation.

This time though, it looks as if stubbornness, or just plain fed-upness, borne out of his recently-stated frustration at the inability of the young players to learn quickly at the highest level, has contributed to a reluctance to go to the top of the order yet again. There has to be a purpose to every exercise, and if to him it appears to be just another case of filling a hole until the next selectorial bright idea, then his decision is understandable, even if it leaves him open to criticism.

Dealing with critics is one thing. But how do you deal with a situation when a team-mate doesn't even know the rules, as Marshall betrayed yesterday when he was unaware that a free hit follows a no-ball and couldn't understand the relevant signal by umpire Norman Malcolm?

At moments like that, it must seem a waste of time to consider the bigger picture.