Brendan and Shivnarine
Those Two Little Pauls of Mine
By Sham Samaroo
Mar 9, 2009
Brendan Paul Nash and Shivnarine Tiga Chanderpaul both scored centuries on day four of the fifth and final test against England at the Queen's Park Oval. The dimunitive left-handers battled through two full sessions from tea on the third day until lunch on the fourth sharing a record-breaking fifth wicket stand of 234. Nash scored his maiden test hundred while Chanderpaul registered his 21st ton to bring West Indies to within two runs of England's mammoth first innings score of 546 for 6 declared. Holding a narrow one game lead going into this fifth and final test, West Indies are on the verge of that elusive series win - their first in 11 years against England. But England refuse to go down without a fight, and when a groin injury on day three forced Chris Gayle to retire after scoring a defiant century, England sensed an opening. Panesar further raised England's hopes when he trapped Simmons soon after to leave West Indies precariously at 203 for 4 - still 143 runs adrift of the follow-on target. And then came the Paul pals.
Similar in temparament and stature, Nash and Chanderpaul batted resolutely for 82 overs to blunt the English attack led by a rambunctious Monty Panesar. Nash mixed aggression with solid defense to finish the third day undefeated on 70 including 12 beautifully struck boundaries that underlined both his confidence and positive intent. Chanderpaul also reached his fifty - the 73rd of his test career. Resuming on day four, the pair batted through to lunch during which time Nash reached his maiden test century and even though he fell soon after lunch, the ever reliable Chanderpaul continued undaunted to 147 not out.
It was in 1950, almost 60 years ago that West Indies registered their first win against England at Lords, and went on to take the series 3-1. The stars of that victory were those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine. That memorable victory inspired calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener to pen, perhaps, the most famous cricket calypso of all times - Cricket, Lovely Cricket. Should West Indies go on to take the series tomorrow, as Gayle holds aloft the Wisden trophy, here is hoping that someone will be inspired to pen a tribute to those two Pauls of ours.
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Cricket lovely Cricket,
At Lord's where I saw it;
Cricket lovely Cricket,
At Lord's where I saw it;
Yardley tried his best
But Goddard won the test.
They gave the crowd plenty fun;
Second Test and West Indies won.
Chorus
With those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine.
The King was there well attired,
So they started with Rae and Stollmeyer;
Stolly was hitting balls around the boundary;
But Wardle stopped him at twenty.
Rae had confidence,
So he put up a strong defence;
He saw the King was waiting to see,
So he gave him a century.
Chorus
With those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine.
West Indies first innings total was three-twenty-six
Just as usual
When Bedser bowled Christiani
The whole thing collapsed quite easily;
England then went on,
And made one-hundred-fifty-one;
West Indies then had two-twenty lead
And Goddard said, "That's nice indeed."
Chorus
With those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine.
Yardley wasn't broken-hearted
When the second innings started;
Jenkins was like a target
Getting the first five in his basket.
But Gomez broke him down,
While Walcott licked them around;
He was not out for one-hundred and sixty-eight,
Leaving Yardley to contemplate.
Chorus
The bowling was superfine, Ramadhin and Valentine..
West Indies was feeling homely,
Their audience had them happy.
When Washbrook's century had ended,
West Indies voices all blended.
Hats went in the air.
They jumped and shouted without fear;
So at Lord's was the scenery
Bound to go down in history.
Chorus
After all was said and done, Second Test and the West Indies won!