A dominant West Indies cricket organisation neglected to ensure measures were in place to successfully groom players for the future, essentially dooming the regional side to decades of inconsistent performances and failures.
This is according to former captain and batsman, Sir Richie Richardson, who said that although players must shoulder some of the blame, they are simply a product of the system and that cricket authorities failed to effectively plan for the future while other nations progressed.
“I look at what we did not do many years ago when we were very strong to preserve and protect our cricket and to continue the development and set our cricket up so that we can be propelled into the future. We took a lot of things for granted and we just assumed that our natural talent would always take us through while the rest of the world was looking at the game differently and [was] using scientific approaches to help advance their players and the game. We never did that until just recently,” he said.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show at the time, the Antiguan said that although it pains to see the state of West Indies cricket, he was not caught unawares by the steady decline in the standard.
“It’s hurtful but I was feeling the pain long before we reached this stage. So right now I think I am a little bit numb even though it’s still hurtful, but I saw it coming because of what we did not do and also what we did because as we all know, insularity and politics have played massive roles in the state of our cricket and all these things contributed to where we are today. Of course, the world is a round place and I believe we are going to bounce back but it is not going to be easy unless we can really find the means of putting something in place to get our cricket back,” he said.
One of four knighted former cricketers here, Sir Richie who is also an ICC Match Referee, said that upon leaving the role, one of his goals is to give back to the game that has given him so much, starting at the grassroots level.
“Every opportunity I get to give back, I certainly will be doing that but at the junior level is where I would like to focus because we need to build a foundation. In order to build, you need to have a solid foundation and I believe I can contribute most at that level so that’s where I would focus. I am a qualified coach and if I have to do coaching at that level then I would be more than happy to do that,” he said.
In October 2024, Sir Richie who is a member of Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, reached the landmark of officiating in 50 Men’s Test matches as a match referee, when he took to the field in the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, Pakistan.
At the time, the then 62-year-old had also officiated in 99 Men’s ODIs, 99 Men’s T20Is, eight Women’s ODIs, and 15 Women’s T20Is, since making his international debut in February 2016.
