GEORGETOWN–Guyana's opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul has been awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the three-day version of the just concluded Regional Under-19 tournament.
The left-handed batsman was recognised for his brilliant 132 not out, which was crucial in Guyana defeating T&T by an innings and 41 runs and lifting the title for the first time since 2007.
Playing his last year at youth level, Tagenarine amassed 247 runs, one short of the leading run scorer Kacey Carty of the Leeward Islands. Tagenarine is the son of prolific West Indies middle-order batsman and former captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was on hand to witness his son collect the award.
Carty was given an award for scoring the most runs, while Chad Williams of Barbados was the highest wicket-taker with 26 victims. Leniko Boucher of Barbados with six catches and five stumpings had the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper, while the most promising fast bowler was Alzarri Joseph of the Leeward Islands.
DAD celebrates 4oth birthday
West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the father of Tagenarine, celebrates his 40th birthday tomorrow and is set to become just the ninth West Indian to play Test cricket beyond that age. Should he take the field against Bangladesh at Arnos Vale on September 9, it will mark the first time the regional team has fielded a quadragenarian since Gordon Greenidge played Australia in 1991.
Chanderpaul will also become just the fourth player since the year 2000 to manage the feat following England's Alec Stewart, India's Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan's Misbah Ul-Haq.
The Guyanese left-hander made his debut against England at the age 19 in 1994, making 62 in front of his home crowd. He has since amassed 11,414 runs in 156 Tests at an average of 51.88. Currently second among West Indies' all time leading runscorers, he will need another 539 runs to surpass his former teammate Brian Lara (11,953) for the record.
Former captain George Headley was the oldest player to have taken the field for the regional team at 44 years, 236 days.
Oldest Test Players for West Indies
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Player Age Opponent Year
GA Headley 44y, 236d England 1954
N Betancourt 42y, 247d England 1930
LR Gibbs 41y, 129d Australia 1976
CA Wiles 40y, 348d England 1933
CH Lloyd 40y, 124d Australia 1984
G Challenor 40y, 47d England 1928
HHH Johnson 40y, 12d England 1950
CG Greenidge 40y, 0d Australia 1991
S Chanderpaul 39y, 328d New Zealand 2014