ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies team manager Richie Richardson has described the current regional management as “the most organised and best” he has ever worked with in any organisation.
And he has called on Caribbean cricket fans to put aside insularity in relation to team selection and “stop bickering and pulling against each other”.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview after West Indies lifted the ICC World Twenty20 Cup for the first time in Sri Lanka just over a week ago, Richardson, who is also a former West Indies captain and leading batsman, pointed to the professionalism exhibited by the management team.
“I have to say I ‘ve worked with a number of organisations and I think the management team of the West Indies is certainly the most organised, the best team I’ve ever worked with. Everybody looks out for each other, very organised, very professional, always in position to do what they have to do and look after the players,” said Richardson, who was first appointed manager in January last year.
“I think we are a perfect example of what a team should be like and I am sure that the players would have learned from us as well. So the management team has also played a significant part in what we have done so far and it’s not just about the players going out there to play the game. It’s having people managing them and making sure they do all the right things, supporting them. I think we’ve done that very well.”
Under the captaincy of all-rounder Darren Sammy, West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs in the final in Colombo on October 7 to spark wild celebrations among the players, management and fans.
Significantly, the team for the final comprised six players from Trinidad & Tobago – Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul and Samuel Badree, three from Jamaica – Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell, and two St. Lucians – Sammy and Johnson Charles.
“It’s about time we stop bickering and pulling against each other and stop having such narrow views about selection and who is playing and stuff like that,” Richardson said.
“Obviously people are going to have their opinion but at the end of the day we should always support the team that goes out there on the field to represent us.
“So I just want to reach out to Caribbean people. Let us continue to support our team, let us continue to be together because we have problems and one of the problems that we have is that we pull against each other.
“Everybody wants their player to captain or their player to play. It’s all about the Caribbean. If 11 players are from Trinidad, let’s support those 11 players. If the captain is from Nevis, let’s support that captain. It’s about the West Indies and I know the selectors will pick the team that they think is the best to go out there and do the job. Let us all support that because when we win we all feel really, really good.”
West Indies’ triumph meant that they became the second nation after India to win all three ICC versions of limited overs titles, having swept to the first two World Cups under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd in 1975 and 1979 in England, and the Champions Trophy in 2004 with Brian Lara at the helm, also in England.
West Indies can, however, claim that they won all of their titles without a share, as was the case with India who shared the Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka in a rain-hit final in Colombo in 2002.
Richardson, a 50-year-old Antiguan who played 86 Test and 224 One-Day International matches between 1983 and 1996, described West Indies’ T20 success as “a wonderful and exciting feeling” in light of the long period the once powerful unit had experienced without silverware to show.
“It’s a wonderful feeling. I was fortunate to have played with some of our greatest players in the past, Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards to mention a few and we were world (Test) champions and the best team in the world at the time,” he asserted.
“West Indies cricket has gone through some rough periods and it is good to see that hard work, investment and commitment by a lot of our players that we were able to win the T20 World Cup.
“So it’s a very exciting feeling and I am very much excited to be part of this especially knowing how much we have worked together as a group, as a team and we have proven to the world that we still have the ability to play cricket at the highest level and win international tournaments. “I think we’ve had some brilliant moments and I always knew that once we performed as a unit, each individual goes out there and plays for each other, I knew that we would do it.
“At times when we looked like we were going to lose matches we have seen guys come out and play magnificently well. We have seen Marlon Samuels, Chris Gayle play well, (Andre) Russell pull off some magnificent fielding, Darren Sammy bowling well. I think overall we have played well as a team. We have gelled well and I think that is what has contributed to our success.”
Richardson called on regional fans to continue supporting the West Indies team as he pointed to the many messages of congratulations he received from supporters around the world.
“I just want to tell them to continue to enjoy the feeling. I know it’s a wonderful feeling and I know they are all happy. I know this is what they all wanted but I just want to say that we did it for the entire Caribbean and for all of our fans around the world, even for fans that support other teams, they want us to be strong.
“I was on Facebook going through my emails and getting messages from all over the world, English fans, Pakistani fans, Indian fans, Australians. They are all happy for us because what they are saying is that world cricket is not the same when West Indies cricket is not strong. So they want us to be strong as well.”
West Indies next tour Bangladesh in November and December for two Tests, five ODIs and a T20 International.
A 15-man squad, to be again led by Sammy, was announced last Saturday.