Richards calls for talent search
By Tony Cozier
IT wasn't difficult to imagine what Sir Viv Richards was thinking as he watched the feeble West Indies batting that led to the critical World Cup loss to Australia on Sunday in his first match as acting coach. "I sensed that the mood was pretty good, pretty positive before the match," he said. "But it's when you get out there that the real test comes and I didn't think some of our guys had it." "It" is a necessary ally of talent and goes by several names -confidence, attitude, self-belief. Richards, the Master Blaster, the highest run-scorer in West Indies Test history, the former captain, possessed "it" in such quantities that, in his case, it was called something else - arrogance. Just to see him stride to the wicket, head up, chest out, arms swinging, jaws chewing gum, was enough to tell the story. Its antithesis is self-doubt and fear of failure. It is epitomised by the body language of so many modern West Indian batsmen on their way to the middle, head bowed, shoulders stooped, bat dragging behind them. Whether Richards' attachment to the Test team is to become permanent, in whatever role, will be decided by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) at its next meeting in October. If he is to continue - and he said he would "love to if called upon" - Richards would want players under him whose approach to the game mirrored his. "We have got to look for young individuals with ability and talent, sure, but we've got to make sure they have substance, that they are fighters," he said. "We shouldn't get carried away with the one-innings wonders who are sudden stars after a few runs in the Busta Cup," he cautioned. "The selectors must look to consistency and get to know more about the individuals than just by the scores or by watching them for a match. They've got to know how they stand up to pressure, what their attitude is like." Richards used two examples from the World Cup squad to make his point. "Ridley Jacobs is the perfect example of what I mean," he said. "He just goes out there and gets the job done." "I hope the others can look and see what he is doing and get positive vibes from him," he added. "Every time you ask him to put his hand up, he's there performing. We need more like Ridley Jacobs." Richards identified Ricardo Powell, the 20-year-old Jamaican batsman, off-spin bowler and classy fielder, as a young player to be developed. "He seems to be keen and wants to learn," he said. "He is positive, he is young and he is a talent to work with. We have got to get him into the international setup quickly and the same with other young players with his attitude and talent." "We've got Brian Lara who is only 30 and has plenty of cricket left and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who certainly has the temperament. Now it's for some young players to stand up and be counted." Praising the quality, and commitment, of the bowlers, especially Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, Richards said Sunday's failure by the batsmen was particularly disappointing because he estimated a total of 200 would have been "respectable enough" to challenge Australia. "If we had got there, we would have had the chance to exclude all the mathematical calculations that followed," he noted. "It would have maintained our run rate and put it virtually beyond New Zealand." The batting collapse was especially galling because so many wickets were lost to poor shots, Richards said. "When you're getting out chopping on, that's bad batting," he noted. Richards was drafted in to act as coach after Malcolm Marshall underwent surgery for the removal of a tumour on the colon in a Birmingham hospital May 22. He had been initially approached by the WICB to be batting coach for the World Cup but could not come to an agreement over terms. He was in England covering the tournament on radio and television for the BBC when the WICB asked him to replace Marshall. He said he was uncertain whether he would rejoin the BBC commentary team for the remainder of the World Cup, especially now that the West Indies have been eliminated. "That's in the hands of my agents," he said. His long-term future is in the hands of the WICB. 
|