Rahul Bhattacharya’s piece about Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the November issue of The Cricket Monthly is full of highlights, not least because a man who is himself one of our favourite cricketers also seems to revere exactly the same players we do.

He describes how Brian Lara would sometimes put spin on the ball with his shots to evade fielders and then at other times wouldn’t, depending on where they were positioned.

There’s also a fantasic quote about the challenge of facing Wasim Akram:

“After looking for swing-swing-swing all of a sudden I saw a ball on my face.”

However, our favourite moment is the way he tells another Wasim Akram story and more specifically how he punctuates it.

“Wasim bowl a few that went across him. Hooper normally play bat-and-pad, but he left a little gap just enough for the ball to pass through. Wasim had a look at him. Then Wasim had one go back through that little gap and hit them stumps. That is how good this guy is. Wasim is an unbelievable bowler. Wasim Akram.”

That’s how you end a cricket anecdote. You say the name of the player as if you’re ending a prayer.

That Shivnarine Chanderpaul, he’s one hell of a guy. Shivnarine Chanderpaul.