“Tage” striving for greater consistency

By Akeem Greene

“Being consistent is crucial since that is the only way you can be selected so I need to try keep getting good scores. I am excited about getting my first hundred at this level and I hope to get some more runs and finish the season the well”.

Those were the words of Guyana Jaguars opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul as he reflected to Guyana Times Sport on scoring his maiden First-Class century on Sunday against Barbados Pride in the ninth round of the 2017-18 Cricket West Indies/Digicel four-day championship.

A moment to savour! Tagenarine Chanderpaul celebrates scoring his maiden First-Class century with teammate Raymon Reifer at the Kensington Oval

After falling failing to get off the mark in his first innings the son of batting maestro Shivnarine Chanderpaul went to work against Pride at Kensington Oval. He started the final day on 66 and grafted the remaining 35 runs in fine style and struck consecutive boundaries off the bowling of Jonathon Cater to his reach his landmark. The compact left-hander spent over six and half hours at the crease, just striking nine fours.
Reflecting on the magical moment which was celebrated with his father watching from the pavilion, the former West Indies under-19 player stated “the ball before he [Jonathon Cater] bowled a full toss and I hit it to mid-wicket and I just thought if he hits the deck I will pull it away and that is what he did and it worked as planned”.
Prior to match, the player who is commonly known as Brandon was in a lean patch with scores of 36, 0, 4 and 6; added to that he missed the eight round due to illness. In the earlier rounds he racked up scores of 84 (his previous best), 52 and 62 not out; however, his father’s advice did the trick for a change in fortunes.
“I had a few games where I did not get any scores and my dad and I worked on a few things in the nets so I would say he helped me a lot. He always says when you get in try and make use of the opportunity and don’t give your wicket away. Even if you get a hundred just keep batting and don’t give away your wicket because as an opener sometimes you don’t always get in so when you do, you have to cash in and try get some big runs”
Prior to the start of the final round on Thursday, his eight matches reaped 423 runs at average of 38.45 which is a great degree better than his overall record of 28.75 after 24 matches. He has six half-centuries in the 1179 runs accumulated.
“Hopefully I can progress from here. The hope is to get selected for Windies and I know if I get more runs that can happen”.
As the picture perfect comparisons continue between him and ‘Papa’, the 21 year-old maintains he has his own unique way of playing.
“I have my own style. It’s four-day cricket you don’t need to go swiping after everything. You just need to take your time and bat since there is a lot of time. Every game is an opportunity and I just apply myself again, start new and try and get stuck-in and get some runs”.
The Everest Cricket Club cricketer has also reaped success with his club mate Chandrapaul Hemraj and former under-19 teammate at the top of the order giving the four-time championships solid starts more often than not this season.
“I know Hemmy from way back since under-19 and we are very comfortable with each other. It is quite easy, since we play club cricket together so the communication is going quite well”.