ST JOHN’S – West Indies team manager Richie Richardson has described the current regional management as “the most organized and best” he has ever worked with in any organization.
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 Trophy 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 organizations and I think the management team of the West Indies is certainly the most organized, the best team I’ve ever worked with.
“Everybody looks out for each other, very organized, very professional, always in position to do what they have to do and look after the players,” said Richardson, who was 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 and 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.”
Richardson, a 50-year-old Antiguan, played 86 Tests and 224 One-Day International matches between 1983 and 1996.?(CMC)
