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Chanderpaul had to go, but Windies board should have handled things better: Jeff Dujon

Jeff Dujon kept wickets for the West Indian pace quartet throughout the 1980s. The legendary 59-year-old talks to G Krishnan about the Shivnarine Chanderpaul saga. Excerpts...

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Jeff Dujon (File photo)
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Jeff Dujon kept wickets for the West Indian pace quartet throughout the 1980s. The legendary 59-year-old talks to G Krishnan about the Shivnarine Chanderpaul saga. Excerpts...

Q)What are your thoughts on the Shivnarine Chanderpaul episode?
Basically, I thought that for someone who has had such a great career, it would only be fitting if he knew when he was playing his last Test match. They (selectors) were hoping against hope that he would have made runs against England and it would have, sort of, postponed that decision. He did not. I think he deserves to know that he is playing his last Test match. It will be fitting for someone who has had such a wonderful career to hold it back up to the curve for the last time. So, I personally feel that he should be playing in the first Test (against Australia, starting Wednesday) and that should be his last.

Q)Where does he stand in the annals of WI cricket?
That’s more than two decades. I mean, by virtue of the amount of runs, and important runs, that he has scored for the West Indies, he has pretty much held the middle-order for a long time. He should rank really highly among our great players. He was not the greatest player to watch but he produced, and the consistency with which he produced, ending with an average of over 50. He should be regarded as one of the most outstanding batsmen we have had.

Q)We have seen WI greats treated unfairly towards the end of their careers. Why does it happen often?
I am not sure. A lot of thoughts have gone the way in which the players leave the arena, in terms of administration. A lot of it is abrupt and handled very badly. This is something the West Indies board has to look at, and look at correcting in terms of planning and communicating when players get to the end of the career and what the plans are for the future. It left a bad taste in the mouths of a number of past players and the West Indies should seriously think how they go about this. The Australians do it very well in terms of their forward planning and show appreciation for great careers. This is something the West Indies board has to look at because it’s really been neglected in the past. There doesn’t seem to be a policy and as a result the players leave feeling that their careers were not worth as much as they should have been.

Q)Should failures in last two series be held against Chanderpaul?
I am not arguing the fact that he is at the end of his career and that it is time to go. It is just the manner in which it has been handled. That, to me, is important. There is enough evidence that his average in the last two or three series has not been very good and he is coming to the end of his career. I have no problem with him being omitted at this time but the manner in which it has been done.

Q)Where does WI Test cricket stand at the moment?
We are in the rebuilding process now. We have a new coach (Phil Simmons). He clearly has his plans. He has made a reasonably good start. I think it is a long way to go. It is a rebuilding process that I hope is going to be approached very objectively. Hopefully, we will start to come around. At this time it is a bit too early to tell. The team is obviously in transition having lost a great player in the middle order, that is a huge gap you have to fill. The bowling seems to be coming around nicely but the batting is where I think a lot of attention has to be paid.

Q)We have been hearing about WI cricket on a rebuilding stage for a very long time...
It has been a very slow process in the sense that the players play in the IPL and in other competitions. You don’t have all of the players at the same time. There has obviously been some fallout from the India series when the players pulled out. It is important for us to really know how many senior experienced players will be available on an ongoing basis in order to help rebuild the team. That is not known at this time. With the players we have now, that process has to start. I agree with you that it has been a very long process but it has been interrupted by a number of factors.

Q)Has Chanderpaul dragged himself on for last few years?
It is recently that he has been failing, in the last couple of seasons. It is a decision that should’ve been made a bit earlier by the selectors. It wasn’t, and we’ve come to a point now where it is really being done in not the best of fashions.

Q)What is the general talk among the public there?
The general public feels that it is time for him to go but at the same time, the consensus is that it is not being done in the right way.

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