Richi Richardson Interview by Colin Croft

Former West Indies captain Richie Richardson has formidable figures when it comes to international cricket. He made his Test debut against India at Mumbai (Bombay), India, in November 1983 and played his last Test against England at the Kennington Oval , London in August 1995. That Test heralded the end of Richardson's captaincy and the end of probably the most contentious cricket tour ever undertaken by a West Indies cricket team, saying something; considering some of the tours that have come since 1995. Overall, Richardson played in 86 Test matches, scoring 5,949 runs at a good average of 44.39. Additionally, he also played in 224 One Day Internationals, making 6,248 runs at an average of 33.41.

Mike Selvey, the former England fast bowler, profiled Richie Richardson thus: "Out of the shadow of (Sir) Viv Richards emerged Richie Richardson. As West Indies captain, Richards followed by Richardson was somehow genealogically appropriate. There was a contrast, though. Richards was volatile and explosive in word and deed. His successor as West Indies captain was genteel and gentle, unfailingly courteous and modest. Richardson stood for sportsmanship in an age when such values were beginning to disappear and deserved better than the shabby under-hand power-brokering devised by the West Indies Cricket Board and some of its senior players that saw him dismissed as captain.

"Like Richards, Richardson declined to wear a batting helmet and his wide-brimmed maroon sunhat soon became a trademark. He was a destructively brilliant batsman, particularly powerful on hard pitches where he could throw the bat through the line with abandon, almost always carving the ball away square of the wicket. He hooked willingly too, usually 'up', normally for sixes!

"Criticism was normally directed at his lack of concentration, but he was certainly capable of that too; his 69 crafted and grafted out over four hours on a vile pitch at Edgbaston in 1995 showing his worth, a wonderful display of bad-wicket batsmanship. Richardson reserved his finest batting for the Australians, with only Jack Hobbs bettering his nine centuries against them. The finest was at Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana in 1991, when he blasted a masterful 182, including 106 in the 120 minutes of the final session of the first day of that Test match."

Selvey may have thought that Richie was genteel. I beg to differ. Richie Richardson has great passion, aggression even, for many things, not least West Indies cricket, even though these days he also plays, with some aplomb, the rhythm guitar for his band; "Dread & The Baldhead", along with playing fete matches for Lashings of the United Kingdom.

Last week, at another of those infernal "launchings" that seem to be the requirement of every cricket game these days, I managed to catch up with one of my favourite West Indian cricketers of all-time.

Colin Croft (CC): Richie, you have not been really critical but certainly very concerned about West Indies cricket over the recent years. What are your views as to how things are going now, in 2005?

Richie Richardson (RR): Crofty, to be honest, I have been concerned a long, long time ago, even when I was captain, and even before that, when I was simply a player. We simply have failed to see where we were going. We failed to really analyse our problems and rectify them before things got too far out of hand. So, I am not really surprised at all at what is going on in West Indies cricket at this moment in time.

What I would like to see happen is for us to seriously analyse and come together to sort out our problems so that we do not sink any further. We have heard over and over again that cricket is the single most important thing to Caribbean people and we simply cannot afford to see our cricket go further down the drain. Simply, something has to be done. Everybody has got to come together and devise a plan to rescue West Indies cricket.

CC: Let us talk a little about the past before we get to the future, as you yourself have suggested in our past conversations that knowledge of the past helps planning for the future. You were probably the last really successful captain that the West Indies has had, coming after Clive Lloyd and of course, (Sir) Viv. In the ten years before and up to when you were captain, things went wonderfully. Similarly, but disappointingly, the ten years after your captaincy ended has been a horror show, with things disintegrating badly. What the hell happened here and why did it happen so quickly?

RR: It actually was happening for some time. You know that when things are getting bad, they normally do so very quickly indeed. That is so in this situation too. However, I do not think that all is lost. Something positive has to be done and we are simply going to have to find a way of having that happen. We as Caribbean people would have to put many of our personal feelings and our egotistical personalities aside.

I have been criticised heavily by many, including West Indies Cricket Board members, for saying that we need to have people who know what they are doing run our cricket. I still maintain that. Cricket will always be the property of the West Indies and the Caribbean people, but because of all that has been going on, it seems that only a few people own it.

I would like to see someone or a few people really take control of our cricket and run the game properly here. That is not being done now. That is my biggest concern. I know that we have people who are capable of doing that job and some of the Board's directors etc. might be okay, but so much is going wrong that something must change. If it takes one person or one corporation to approach the most important aspect of Caribbean life and change it, I would be happy. Someone must run the cricket like a business, not like some senile "Old Boys" Network.' If that can be done, then I would support that 100 per cent.

CC: The passion of West Indies people all around the world, though, is that they need to see the senior West Indies cricket team doing well. I think the vision of the West Indies cricket fraternity is to see 11 guys out there winning regularly. How do we get from the point we are at now, in 2005, to where we want to be, winning regularly, maybe to 2007 and beyond?

RR: I think that the players that we now have are the best that we can produce at the moment. We cannot really knock the players too much. Yes, they, collectively, have to take some responsibility for the mess that West Indies cricket, especially internationally, is in, since the focus seems to have changed from trying to win, to just playing as much as possible. However, these cricketers that we have are what have been produced by the system that we now have. If the system is bad, as ours is now, then the produce, our cricketers, could only be bad. Nothing good comes out of a bad system!

I do not support the suggestion that the players are the only ones responsible for the state of West Indies cricket. The system had to be right and the plan has to be made and implemented before the product can be right.

CC: There are many who would suggest that now, in 2005, there are many more levels of cricket in the West Indies than ever before. In the '70s, '80s and even '90s, there were only three levels; Under-19 youth cricket, then playing for your individual country, then playing Test cricket.

In the late '90s, we also introduced Under-13 and Under-15 cricket. To go along with that, we also have "A" and "B" teams, a few more levels, hence a few more cricketers and an opportunity for the players to develop well along the way.

RR: You cannot compare yesterday with today. I do not believe in that. What I believe is that we have missed the boat. When we really should have made the investment; in people, in thought, in deed, in finance and reserves; we simply did not.

Also, the game has changed immensely over the last few years. We in the Caribbean are still behind the world in many things and until these things change, we will not see too much improvement.

CC: Just supposedly, if you were given the task of running West Indies cricket, the entire things, with immediate effect, what would be first thing that you would do?

RR: That is funny, since I do not know that I would be qualified enough to be doing that. However, as I have said before, first of all, you have to do some very serious analysing, trying to find out what the problem is. We would have to put some intelligent heads together, heads from a fairly wide cross-section of our community together find the problem and then find ways of alleviating that problem and others. It probably would take some time. I do not think that this would happen in quick time, or overnight.

CC: Can you define what the problem, or problems, could be at this moment?

RR: I have said this many times, but again, when we had been doing well, in the '70s, '80s and '90s, we took a lot of things for granted. We just assumed that we would continue to produce talent, assuming that talent alone would take us through whatever came up. We just never re-established our grassroots to try to get the kids involved properly, re-sensitise the younger players to allow them to want to play cricket from the lowest to the highest levels. We did not even try to get the public involved generally. In order for West Indies cricket to be strong, the cricket culture must be strong and effervescent and buzzing.

The youngsters have to have something to be looking forward to. It is true that playing cricket at the top is very attractive these days, with so much money in the game, but so many of the players are just distracted.

Recently, Michael Holding mentioned that it was very difficult to go anywhere and to pick up a book, find any history at all of West Indies cricket. We heard about Mr. Sydney Wallen, who is 97, after whom a stand had been named at the Antigua Recreation Ground. I found the information very exciting and exhilarating and I would love to get a copy of his history. The things that he spoke about recently I never knew, either as a West Indian and especially as an Antiguan.

We are rich in history and if many of our youngsters were to learn and know of these things, it certainly would have an impact on their cricketing development. We need to have institutions in place where our youth can go and get information, learn about our cricketing history and our great players like Sir Gary Sobers. I never saw Sir Gary in any videos etc. I will find it hard to get information on any of our great cricketers of the past. These things will help our youngsters about our heritage and with their development along with helping their own sense of pride and personal achievement.

The players have got to be educated enough to appreciate the situation. It is not just about going out to the middle, bowling, batting and fielding. The players should know and be aware that their performances affect an entire nation. I think that some of the present and recent past players know this, but all should be fully aware of the situation. It should not be just about money. It must be like going to university. We must create that environment of learning and appreciation from the top to the bottom, or maybe from the bottom to the top.

At present, we have a Coach who coaches only the West Indies Test cricket team. I believe that whosoever coaches the top team should devise a programme that includes all levels of the cricket. He should know what is going on at all levels, especially the grassroot level. I am not sure that that is happening at the moment. If that is done, then the Coach would know who would have been doing well at the "A" team level and who could be promoted. As things are now, he only deals with the top. I do not think that the West Indies cricket problem can be solved from the top. It has to be an entire thing.

CC: You stopped playing just about the time when technology was just about to take over the game. How do you see the technological aspects of the game developing the game and how can it be beneficial to West Indies cricket?

RR: Whether we like it or not, technology is part of the future and we have to simply accept it in the sport. We simply should know how to use it as much as possible, to our advantage. Unfortunately, we have always been reluctant to use technology in our cricket.

When I was playing, especially as captain, I asked several times for video tapes, CDs, cameras, computers etc., but was always negated. We always thought that we do not need those sorts of things. The players too did not help, being set in their old ways. The game was changing and we were not changing with the game, understanding the importance of making the necessary changes. That is another reason why we are suffering as well. It has simply taken us too long to realise the importance of technology.

CC: It then means that this is not a short term thing. This has to be a long term plan. This is not going to change next week or next month?

RR: Exactly. It may not happen fully even in my lifetime, but we have got to make some sort of start somewhere. It is going to take quite a while.

CC: What about this "foreign" coach syndrome that we seem to be in at this time? I have no problem with it, once the guy, or girl, for that matter, knows what is to be done to get the best from the players.

RR: To be honest, I am like you, Crofty. It really does not matter who the coach is, local or foreign, once the person can do the job required. If that person can make the difference that we want, then I have no problem with that.

What I think is important is that we are bringing some experts from abroad but I am not sure how we are going to benefit from that. The players at the top might benefit directly, but who else? What about our own local coaches? What about the youngsters in the lower regions of our cricket? Are they going to be helped too? I am not sure about that.

I think that something should have been put in place where some of our WICB coaches should have been included and apprenticed to these foreign coaches, so that there would be continuity and also for them to be given an opportunity to get some information and expertise. Our coaches should be assistants to these guys so that continuation can be effected. All of our cricketers too, from Under-13 to the adults should have the same efforts and care, exposed to some sort of development programme. That is how I see it. If these foreign coaches are to make the right impact on West Indies cricket, then it has to be wholesale. It cannot be just at the top.

CC: What about the West Indies captaincy and the Brian Lara factor?

RR: The stats are quite puzzling. When Brian Lara is playing, it does seem that he does well, but, for some reason, the guys do not always seem to be able to do well, struggling a bit. Strangely, when he is not playing, they seem to try hard to fill the void and work harder. I really do not know why that is. It is a bit of a mystery to me.

Brian Lara needs to continue to do well and the rest of the batsmen too need to try to do as well around him. He is the No.1 batsman in the world and it is just not right that he is performing so well and the others not taking up the challenge to support him.

I do not know how that can be resolved. Everybody knows Brian Lara. He knows what he wants and he goes out to get it. It is that simple. I do not really blame him. That is what he is and at times it may rub people the wrong way, but he knows what he wants and he does whatever it takes to get it. I cannot knock him for that, but if it affects other people negatively, then they need to do whatever it takes to get themselves right to deal with it.

At the moment, Brian Lara is our best batsman, so you cannot say that he cannot play. He is the best batsman in the world. I just hope that he could continue to score runs and the younger players could also go out there and score runs like him. Then the bowlers could come together and win some games for us. The West Indies people need something to be happy about.

I do not know about the captaincy. I do not even think too much about that. The decision was made and I do not hear too much noise being made about that. Lara seems to be happy so there is no further need to worry about it.

CC: Is there any hope for us to believe that you will be involved in the cricket hierarchy soon, maybe even graduating to future President?

RR: What? Who? Are you kidding? No man, I doubt that very much.

CC: Thank you.

Richie Richardson is a very classy guy, but one of the past representative cricketers that the Caribbean cricket fraternity has treated worst than most. His ideas, though, his passion, and his courage should be harnessed and used. Energy is never wasted. It is just better when converted. Enjoy!