Lord Megachief of Gold 2008

2007’s Lord Megachief of Gold was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, but who will be given the most exalted title in all of cricket for 2008?

The contenders

Gautam Gambhir came of age as a Test batsman and averaged 70.87 during 2008. Graeme Smith did his things and averaged 72. Ajantha Mendis took his Test wickets at 18 and his one-day international wickets at 10. He also brought us the carrom ball.

Who will it be? Who will be crowned Lord Megachief of Gold 2008?

2008’s Lord Megachief of Gold is…

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

In honour of his ongoing achievements, we’re promoting Shiv to Grand Lord Megachief of Gold. No-one’s really noticed, but Shiv has probably had an even better year than in 2007.

In 2007, he averaged a jaw-dropping 111.60 in Test cricket. That was in three Tests against England and one against South Africa – barely even a series-worth of cricket.

In 2008, he averaged a relatively measly 101, but he played two Tests each against South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand and three against Australia.

They might have won the series, but Shiv did a right number on Australia. In six innings, he averaged 147. He was out three times, hit two hundreds and three fifties.

Also in 2008, he found time to win a one-day match with a last ball six and even more extraordinarily, to shepherd Jerome Taylor to a Test hundred. The man’s so devoted to run-scoring, he can’t score enough on his own now; he’s actually subcontracting in order to handle the workload.

In years to come, they’re going to rewrite the coaching manuals, because there is no way that Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s approach to batting can be anything other than ‘exactly right’. There’s a chance that he’s scoring his first 40 runs in each innings because the fielding side can’t bear to look at him, but hey – they all count.

Bat like Shivnarine Chanderpaul

• Spend eight years riding horses for about 12 hours a day in order to get the correct bandy-legged gait.
• When taking your guard, turn 90 degrees so that you’re facing the bowler as he runs in.
• Try and do something – anything – unexpected with your elbows.
• Practise scuttling.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Grand Lord Megachief of Gold, we salute you, in an ugly yet undeniably effective way.