DERBYSHIRE SWOOP FOR SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL!!

At a time when counties around England are finding it difficult to entice top players across to play in the English game, Chris Grant and Karl Krikken have pulled off a signing that will send shock waves around the county circuit.

Derbyshire have signed a legend. A man currently ranked number two in the world, having recently been displaced by Australia's Michael Clarke. A man still very much in his prime.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is one of a small band of international batsmen to have scored ten thousand Test runs, many of them made in a poor West Indies side. In the process, he has established himself as one of the most difficult men to dismiss in the international game. He is one of only six players to have gone one thousand minutes in Test cricket without conceding his wicket. He has done this four times, and is the only player to have done this astonishing feat more than once. He is also the only batsman in the history of Test cricket to have faced a thousand consecutive balls without getting out. He is one of only four batsmen to have averaged more than 100 in two different calendar years (the qualification being 400 runs) and the only one, other than Sir Donald Bradman, to do so in consecutive years.

Yet conversely, Chanderpaul has scored the fourth fastest Test hundred - off 69 balls - in the history of the game, against Australia. He is currently the second highest run scorer for the West Indies after Brian Lara, having overtaken Sir Viv Richards on 17 May 2009.

He may not be the most graceful player in the world game, but he is mightily, supremely effective. An unorthodox, perhaps unique technique sees him work the ball into spaces and around the corner, though any bowler who drops short falls victim to a rapier-like cut or a savage pull. The footage below shows his ability around the wicket, as one might expect with a player of such reputation.

Three previous short stints in the county game have been a huge success. Chanderpaul averaged 54 for Lancashire, 58 for Durham and 90 for Warwickshire

http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2119/f_Batting_by_Team.html

By any standards, these are impressive figures and by reputation in advance of arrival, Chanderpaul must go down as the biggest batsman to sign for Derbyshire. Dean Jones and Mohammad Azharuddin were players of world class, but neither were ranked quite so highly, Peter Kirsten's reputation was made at the club, while Eddie Barlow was an all-rounder. It goes without saying that should Chanderpaul emulate the feats of such players in his stint at the club we will have a treat in store.

I suppose the big question is where he will bat in the order. He has opened in the past with success, as well as filling other positions in the top five with ease. I'm happy to leave that decision to Karl Krikken and Wayne Madsen to decide, but the presence of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in our batting line-up is the most extraordinary news that any Derbyshire fan could have wished for.

Regular readers will be aware that a few weeks ago I put him on my short list of fantasy signings for Derbyshire, though I didn't dare to think that it could come to realisation. Great players - and that is what he is - haven't habitually signed for Derbyshire over the years. Recently inducted into the American College Cricket Hall of Fame, Chanderpaul's recent form confirms that he is still very much at the height of his powers. Anyone who wants to see a genuine great of the era should get down to the County Ground a few times next summer. It is hard to think of a better role model for young supporters, let alone the talented young batsmen at the club, who can only benefit from working alongside him. There should be more than a few memberships on the back of this news, because Chanderpaul isn't just a good, solid professional.

He is one of the all-time greats of the game and those statistics don't lie. Making runs in a good team, when you go in at 230-3, is a lot easier than regularly making an entrance at 25-3 or somesuch. That's why his position in the order is of minimal importance. Batting for his country, he has faced more than his share of new balls and handled it beautifully. It would make sense for him to be in earlier than later, but that is a discussion for another day.

Chris Grant has made a massive impact on Derbyshire cricket in just under two years, yet took a little stick from people for an ill-advised comment, presumably made in the euphoria of becoming chairman, that he was looking for a landmark signing for the club. While it might have taken longer than he hoped, no one can now say that he hasn't delivered on that promise. I hope that those who stop him on his walks around the ground to moan about things - I've seen it happen a time or two - will now stop him again, shake his hand and say "Well done, Mr Chairman".

The amount of work that has gone into this signing, the phone calls, e-mails, meetings and discussions, will have been colossal. It will have taken weeks and weeks of work and it is to the chairman's immense credit that he has persuaded a man of this stature to come to play for OUR cricket club.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be playing for Derbyshire next season. And maybe for two years after that. I just had to pause and read that again.

I've just written my favourite-ever blog piece.