I Was Happy To Support - Chanderpaul

TAUNTON, United Kingdom - West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, not out on 82 overnight, said that with centurion Runako Morton going great guns against Somerset he was happy to play a supporting role.

"Runako came in and started to stroke the ball well and he decided to play his game and have a go at anything in front of him, he was successful in doing that and I was happy to support him," Chanderpaul said in reflecting on the team's performance on the rained out day two after finishing day one on 237 for 4.

After the West Indies found themselves in a hole at 44 for 4, having chosen to bat, Chanderpaul and Morton rebuilt the innings with a fantastic 193 run fifth wicket partnership.

"If anything had gone wrong we would have been in bigger trouble and we had to make sure that we got a partnership going," Chanderpaul reasoned.

"I was trying to get a feel for the wicket and see what the ball was doing while keeping an eye on the weather situation as well, I realized that we could not do anything rash," explained the veteran of 101 Test matches.

Despite getting 82 from 115 deliveries, Chanderpaul said he was not timing the ball as well as he is known to be.

"I wasn't timing the ball as well as I would have liked but the main thing is that I was still out there and still batting and feeling my way," said the stodgy left hander who has accumulated 6736 Test runs at an average of  44.6.

Turning his attention to the excessively rainy conditions Chanderpaul said it can be frustrating with only limited time to prepare for the four Test series against England.

"We only have a short period of time to prepare for the first Test so you want the opportunity to be out there playing as much as possible to get acclimatized," Chanderpaul said.

"Playing England in England wouldn't be like playing Somerset, England plans carefully for each player they face and in England the ball will always move around, it's not like the Caribbean where you can go out and drive the ball immediately, you have to wait longer on it here," Chanderpaul, the most experienced West Indies player said.

"They key for us will be to put runs on the board, once we do that as batters I am confident that we have the bowlers to do the job for us," said Chanderpaul.