Chanderpaul slams 'lack of discipline' comments

Days after former West Indies captain Chris Gayle alleged that he was being disrespected by the board, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has questioned WICB CEO Ernest Hilaire's comments about the lack of discipline and application in the Windies team over the last decade.

In a letter to the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board), Chanderpaul sought an explanation from Hilaire regarding the comments he made against senior cricketers, accusing them of being indisciplined and questioning their commitment to the cause of the team.

The CEO, during an interview earlier with Line and Length network, while emphasising upon West Indies cricket's bad run of affairs, had said that lack of application and discipline over a sustained period of time was responsible for their debacle.

"If you look at West Indies cricket since the mid-90s, a lot of the systems we had in place broke down. There's no discipline, there's no application. We've been doing that for 15 years and we've been losing.

"We need to put a new system in place. No one man is bigger than the team, no one man is such a superstar he can decide if he is training today, if he's going to have treatment tomorrow, if he's going to attend a team meeting. It cannot work that way," he said.

The left-hander has taken serious offence of the comments and cautioned Hilaire about the "damage" he believed the interview has done to his career.

"I must warn you that unless your explanations adequately deal with the matter and show themselves to be based on truth and free of malice, I will take whatever action necessary to clear my good name. While it would help if the WICB as an organisation repudiates your comments in this regard, it would still not be sufficient to erase the tremendous damage already done," Chanderpaul was quoted as saying by Trinidad Express.

The 36-year-old batsman, who along with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle was dropped from the national team for the home series against Pakistan after their World Cup debacle, claimed that statement has brought disrepute to him as an "international cricketer and loyal servant of West Indies cricket".

"I am convinced that those persons who do not know the sacrifices I have made on behalf of West Indies cricket and my dedication to the cause of West Indies cricket would believe, based on what you have said in interview, that I lack discipline and application and have not demonstrated the sense of responsibility which I know that I have shown throughout my career," Chanderpaul wrote in the letter.

The left-hander also pointed to his "unblemished reputation for professionalism", saying that Hilaire had "crossed the line by making these public accusations" that if left "unchallenged and (not) corrected may destroy my career."