Sir Vivian Richards is enjoying his English summer, which has already yielded golf at Sunningdale with his dear friend Sir Ian Botham and the chance to follow the comings and goings at his beloved Liverpool FC. Shame about the cricket, although even that would be more bearable if the West Indies Cricket Board would hire him to bolster the batsmen’s confidence.
All he does is offer casual advice here and there, as does his old teammate Michael Holding. “I guess they prefer that to paying us,” he said last week, with a wry grin.
Richards is working as a Test Match Special pundit but would also love an official role with the team, the more so as he sees genuine promise in Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo, who collectively in two Test matches have mustered just a single knock of 40-plus, and 10 scores of eight or fewer.
“It’s about getting them to fulfil the talent they have,” he said. “They have lost their confidence, so how do we give it to them? Only a guy who’s been in battle can tell you about the preparation for battle.”
There has never been more of a warrior in the cause of West Indian cricket than IVA Richards, whose Test average was 50.23 and whose walk to the wicket was a statement of intent. To expect the Richards swagger from young Powell and Barath — respective Test averages 20.68 and 22.81 — would be a bit much but the great man wants to see more robust body language.
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“If you’re given an opportunity, then even if you may not have the package, at least send the message that you have it. That’s where chewing the gum came in,” he said. “It wasn’t nervousness about being hurt but about being out. You don’t want to walk out there and then straight away come back, but you will soon be back if you look like you don’t belong.”
His own preparation ritual, he recalled, usually involved a lie-down with a good book. “Paying attention to what I was reading, with every line followed by another line, really helped my concentration. You forgot you had a game to play but it still kept the mind tuned.”
Richards, sports and tourism ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda, was talking at a breakfast hosted by his country’s tourist board, and between extolling the virtues of Antigua’s 365 beaches and Barbuda’s lobster, he tried hard to find something positive to say about West Indian cricket.
It would be easier to do so if the International Cricket Council was more supportive. “Everyone says West Indian cricket is important to world cricket, but whenever we’re playing Tests, it clashes with the IPL and our guys are lured in that direction. When the IPL is on, we’re the only team that’s always playing. We need help with that from the ICC.”
In the meantime, he has identified a self-fulfilling misconception that playing in England is difficult. “The captain [Darren Sammy] has responded to what folks have asked of him here, but the team haven’t. They act like it’s the Roman Empire and they’re ready to be served up to Caesar. But I always felt it was one of the best places to bat. The grounds are well-organised, the support is great, there are really no better arenas. Sure, with the new ball in a decent fast bowler’s hand, he’s going to do something at some point. But it’s how well you do in between, and how strong you are mentally. It’s all mental.”
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By wrapping up the series before this week’s third Test at Edgbaston, England have consolidated their position as the No 1 Test team. Richards had to admit the series against South Africa will represent a sterner test of their ability.
On West Indies’ prospects, he said: “We’ve been to the mountain top. Now we’re climbing it again.”