Watching the West Indies implosion in New Zealand is tragic viewing, another sad episode in the demise of West Indies cricket. There however remains one shining light among the rubble, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
The left-hander with the strangest technique in the world is a marvel.
He has played 153 Test matches and scored 11,219 runs at an average of 51.93 – a higher career average than Sir Vivan Richards (50.23).
What’s more, Chanderpaul, who is approaching 40, has averaged 66.73 in the last four years.
However since making his debut in 1994, Chanderpaul has only been involved in 35 winning teams.
Chanderpaul is one of sport’s greatest losers.
Who are sport’s greatest losers? Those champion athletics who fail to capture the biggest prize in their sport or are standouts in mediocre teams.
There are of course many, but here are my top four in no particular order.
Elgin Baylor (basketball)
Despite competing in eight NBA Finals, Elgin Baylor never won an NBA Championship.
A number one draft pick, Baylor was awarded the 1959 Rookie of the Year Award and was MVP in his first All-Star game.
He never really slowed down from there, averaging 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game over his 14-year career.
Baylor earned 11 All-Star appearances and was named in the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time.
Baylor’s retirement came early in the 1971-72 season. His timing couldn’t have been worse. The very next game after Baylor retired the Lakers kicked off their still-league-record 33-game win streak and later won the 1972 NBA championship against the New York Knicks!
Merlene Ottey (athletics)
When Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey competed in the 2012 European Championships she was 52 years old!
Ottey won a record 14 World Championship medals and attended a record seven Olympic Games, but never won the gold.
Ottey won three silver and six bronze medals. She won Olympic medals 20 years apart, but could never capture the Gold. Enough said!
Jonah Lomu (rugby union)
Jonah Lomu never won the Rugby World Cup, but in the brief history of the tournament he has easily been the most devastating player to appear in it.
The 120kg colossus from New Zealand scored a record 15 tries across two tournaments. He run around and through defenders at will.
His performance in the 1995 semi-final against England when, as a 20 year old, he scored four tires and famously ploughed through Mike Catt is arguably the greatest performance by any player in a rugby union international.
Despite well-documented health problems, Jonah finished his career as a great All Black. He scored 37 tries in 63 Test matches and enjoyed 44 wins.
Haydn Bunton SR (Australian rules football)
Many great players have failed to capture the flag, Gary Ablett Senior and Tony Lockett included, but surely the best is Hayden Burton Senior.
Burton won the Brownlow Medal in his first two seasons at Fitzroy in 1931 and 1932. He wasn’t’t even 22.
Bunton added a third Brownlow in 1934 before moving to Western Australia to play for Subiaco.
In four seasons at Subiaco, Burton won the Sandover medal three times, meaning in 11 full seasons of senior football, he was recognised as a league’s most valuable player six times, an extraordinary achievement.
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While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
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