Melville Cooke
BRIAN LARA is from the land of carnival, Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the land of many rivers and board mansions. Lara bats like a good dancer mated with a good mas costume colourful, just that little bit of mystery, the real flesh of the matter showing in the flurries, the occasional artistic 'juk', just for the hell of it. Chanderpaul bats like the Demerara River as it flows into the grey, stolid Atlantic Ocean steadily, without major surges, impressive but somehow short of majestic, occasionally surprising with an overflow, as happened when he made a double century in the first match of the current series.
BATTING RECORDS
Their batting records, in more ways than one, are not requirements for the top job. However, the qualities that they show with the willow will, naturally, carry over in their captaincy of the most visible sign that this archipelago over which BWIA plays hopscotch between North America and South America is determined to make its shared history a united future, the West Indies cricket team. While it is early days yet, Chanderpaul's declaration on the stroke (literally) of his 200 in Georgetown is a very good sign of being a team player. Lara's pushing for the 400 mark in Antigua last year was very good for him, but bad for the team's chances of winning the series.
That BC Lara is a good batsman (at times) but a terrible captain. The man is as selfish as a star apple tree. Ironically, Chanderpaul was Lara's partner at the crease in 1994 when he made broke Sir Garfield Sobers' world Test cricket record, also in Antigua. Chanderpaul played a steady, supportive role, as was required. I can hardly imagine Lara doing the same if the roles were reversed.
The diehard fans of that BC Lara invariably turn a discussion of his captaincy into a retelling of his achievements as a batman. His ability, if not his consistent application, is not in question. It is his suitability to lead and a selfish person cannot lead a team effectively, especially if that team is filled with youngsters in need of guidance.
Need I remind you of the word 'whitewash?'
I have heard the snickers as Chanderpaul does his post-match interviews, in a fashion that verges on dour. So since when has what is said after the match been more important than conduct on the field of play? And when did the ability to explain away defeats (which is what Lara spent a great deal of his captaincy doing) become more important than leading by example?
It is a very Caribbean thing, to be taken in by glib talk. That is why the 'girl's man' is a central figure in the very extended family structure. I always wondered why so many women choose to be lied to and tricked by the same man over and over again. But, at the ripe old age of 33, I have come to the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of women love to be suckered.
Give me 'Lil Shiv' over that B.C. Lara every time.
CERTAIN BEHAVIOUR
A few small things: Bounty Killer is a priceless (pun intended) character. I simply adore the opening line of the apology for his on-stage behaviour at the Carnival stage show, which was published in THE STAR on Saturday. It went: "I apologise to all decent Jamaicans" He ended: "While my views on certain behaviour remain the same, I recognise I have offended many decent Jamaicans and again apologise to them most sincerely." So those who are indecent are not included. Hol' dat. I also read Beverly Anderson-Manley's comment on Glynne Manley, the lady who succeeded her in Michael Manley's attempt to break Elizabeth Taylor's marriage record, in The Sunday Herald: "I realised from my own research that she was in my life longer, much longer, than I knew." It occurred to me that, just like Rita Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, the quintessential 'browning' was a plague on the darker skinned black woman's marriage.
Melville Cooke is a freelance writer.
