Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Chanderpaul, from a fishing village on the east coast of Guyana, has transformed from a boyish left-hander accused of not scoring enough hundreds, to one of the great West Indian batsmen.

He made his Test debut in his home ground at Bourda, and although it took him three years to score a Test hundred, he has since blossomed into West Indies’ finest batsman.

After the retirement of Brian Lara, his importance became even more acute. By the end of West Indies 1-0 home win over England in early 2009, Chanderpaul had 21 Test hundreds.

His steadfastness on tours of England, particularly in 2007, led naturally to his first county contract, joining Durham as overseas player for the second part of the 2007 season.

He announced himself with an unbeaten 80 in the NatWest Pro40, before his thrilling 78 helped the Dynamos win the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord’s.

Chanderpaul returned for the second part of 2008, contributing four half-centuries and 138 against Sussex, his first century for Durham.

He was in the side that clinched Durham’s maiden championship pennant at Canterbury in the final game of the season.

Chanderpaul returned to Durham as overseas player for the second part of the 2009 season, enjoying a typically run-drenched spell.

Scoring 472 runs from six innings in the LV= County Championship at an average of 236, with three hundreds and a highest score of 201 not out, he helped the county romp to their second successive Division One title.