Don't count West Indies out in WC stakes: Richardson

Team manager and former batting terror, Richie Richardson talks to MiD DAY on West Indies' World Cup chances

Team manager and former batting terror, Richie Richardson talks to MiDu00a0DAY on West Indies' World Cup chances

Richie Richardson is long past the willow-wielding stage. Nowadays, he is more at home with a guitar around his neck as he teams up with former teammate Curtly Ambrose in a reggae band called Big Bad Dread and the Baldhead.

Former West Indies captain and current team manager Richie Richardson. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

But he has made a return to cricket through his appointment as manager of the West Indies team.

"As a former player and captain I gave my all for West Indies cricket on the field. We are at the cusp of a new era and it is now time for me to contribute off the field and aid in the building and resurgence of West Indies cricket," the 49-year-old former batting great said when he was appointed team manager.

Richardson led West Indies in two World Cups ufffd 1991-92 Down Under and 1996 in the sub-continent. In 1996, his team was shocked by minnows Kenya at Pune and though they recovered well to enter the semi-finals, WI committed harakiri against Australia. At 165 for two, they needed 43 runs in the last nine overs. Some splendid work by Shane Warne (4-36) saw the 1975 and 1979 champions ending up six runs short of the target.

Richardson announced his retirement after that loss. He believes the West Indies under Darren Sammy can give a good account of themselves in next month's World Cup.

Excerpts from an interview:

How realistic are West Indies' chances in this World Cup?
I think the West Indies have got as good a chance as any. We all know in the World Cup, any team that plays well can win the tournament.
If they play consistently in all departments of the game, they can win the World Cup.
A lot of players have been playing one-day cricket off late ufffd Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo.
I believe the team is in a very good position to do well.
It's now up to the guys to gel; to play to potential and there is a possibility of that happening.

Would you say the biggest hurdle for the WI would be conquering sub-continental conditions?
A lot of the players would have played in the sub-continent before. The one-day series in Sri Lanka ahead of the World Cup will be good for the players who haven't played a lot of cricket in the sub-continent.
The tracks are generally very good in international cricket today and it shouldn't take very long to acclimatise and adjust to conditions.

What do you make of Darren Sammy as captain?
Sammy hasn't been captain for very long, but he has the potential to motivate a team and get his guys to play really good cricket. The most important thing is for the guys to support him, rally around him. I believe he will do well.

Your memories of the 1996 World Cup ufffd
I honestly believed we were going to win. We had a hiccup against Kenya and that was very disappointing. But we bounced back after that only to lose to Australia in the semi-finals where I think we were complacent. I was very disappointed. Had we beaten Australia and got into the final, I believe we would have beaten Sri Lanka.

You were the first West Indies batsman to be dismissed in that game against Kenya...
I got a very slow in-swinging delivery (from Rajab Ali) and I didn't play it as well as I should have. It was just a bad day for all of us. For some reason, the team wasn't clicking. Maybe, we underestimated Kenya, but we played very badly. It was very, very strange. (WI were bowled out for 93)

Does that defeat still hurt...
I wouldn't say it hurts me, but I don't like to talk about it.
It was very disappointing, but there is nothing I can do about it. It's history.

West Indies are in a tough group now with India, South Africa, England...
As I said, if you play to potential, anything is possible. Every match is a game of cricket between two teams and it is a matter of how well you play on the day.
If you play well, you should be able to beat anybody.
My approach has always been positive and I hope the players have the same attitude.