Latest update April 6th, 2025 6:33 AM
May 21, 2011 Sports
A call by former West Indies cricketer Andy Roberts for officials of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to resign has not been fully endorsed by his fellow Antiguan, and former West Indies captain Sir Vivian Richards.
Roberts called for the resignation of WICB president Julian Hunte, as well as another St Lucian, chief executive officer Dr Ernest Hilaire, following Pakistan’s victory in the one-day series, and questions surrounding team selection that has also led to clashes between Board officials and senior West Indies players.
SIR VIV… I hope we can find a common solution to our problems
“The West Indies Cricket Board right now is taking our cricket backwards. We need people at the Board who have the interest of cricket at heart and who can plan for cricket development. I think the president and the CEO are in the wrong place. They are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Roberts told Trinidad & Tobago newspaper Newsday in an interview earlier this month.
However Sir Viv, who was in Jamaica last week to spearhead a ‘Responsible Drinking’ campaign by Scotch Whisky company Johnnie Walker, opted to wait until the ongoing series between the West Indies and Pakistan, and that involving the Windies and India next month, to end before he gives a verdict on the overall performance of the Board.
“I have always respected most things that Andy has said. However, when you have an ongoing series, that sort of talk adds more fuel,” Sir Viv said.
“We have a series against Pakistan, after that we have a series against India and we need to see out this process and see how things run and then we can act. “There is lots of evidence to support various arguments on all sides, but let’s wait and see until these series are finished and when they are finished, I will have a much clearer view on where I should point my finger. “Based upon some of the views I’ve had in the past, the stuff that Andy Roberts said may sound better and better, and maybe I could be on that wagon. But for now the jury is still out,” Sir Viv said.
As for serving West Indies cricket in the future, Sir Viv, a veteran of 121 Test matches and 187 one-day internationals, and like Roberts, a former selector, coach and manager, said he remained committed to contribute in whatever way that he could.
“No one is more passionate about West Indies cricket than Vivian Richards. No one loves West Indies cricket more than me. “I would love to serve West Indies in a capacity right now that involves bridging a few gaps and determine where we go in the future.
“If all parties that are involved now don’t have a fair idea of the situation that we’re in, then I don’t know if anything can be done to our cricket.
“Would we like to go down in a blaze of glory or just go down? This is one question that needs to be addressed.
“I hope that we can find a common solution to our problems. It will take all sorts for us to come to a common consensus. West Indies cricket is hurting. When West Indies cricket is done, some of us will be dead and gone, but some of us will be responsible for the negative side of seeing West Indies cricket becoming totally destroyed,” he said.
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