Tony Becca - FROM THE BOUNDARYSIR VIVIAN Richards is no longer the chairman of the West Indies selection committee and, all things considered, that is not surprising.
Based on the problems between himself and captain Brian Lara, the complaints by players and the Players' Association re: the attitude of the selectors, plus the fact that he will be working as a commentator during the West Indies/England series, it was obvious that there was a problem and a good bet was that he would have been removed.
Although, based on the history of the West Indies Board in dealing with issues, it should not be so, what is also surprising is that no one knows why Richards is no longer the chairman why he is no longer a selector.
According to the board, there was a report from the chairman, the report dealt with the selectors' term of office, and it contained several specific recommendations, some of which are being considered for implementation.
Also according to the board, the chairman told them that he would be working as a commentator during the West Indies/England series, that was discussed, it was considered that the duties of a selector were in conflict with the obligations of a commentator, as a result it was decided not to extend the chairman's appointment, and this was conveyed to the chairman over the telephone.
Not so said Richards, however.
According to Richards, he resigned, and he did so because of the uncertainty over his job, a change of policy that would leave him, as the chairman, out of overseas tours, and because he was not paid as a selector.
And listen to this.
According to Dinanath Ramnarine, the militant president of the Players' Association who has, among other things, questioned the non-selection of players and who, it is understood, lobbied for the removal of Richards, the selectors have been giving the players a hard time.
BELITTLED
"They (the players) were verbally belittled and threatened in public by selectors," Ramnarine told The Independent newspaper. "Our members spoke of outright intimidation by selectors."
Who is right? Did the Board remove Richards or did he resign?
Based on the confrontations between Richards and Lara one over the selection of a fast bowler in South Africa and one over the selection of a spin bowler against Bangladesh, it was obvious that the time had come for one to go and the reading of the situation was that Lara was going nowhere.
Although the Board, in a letter to Richards, has expressed the hope that he will be available to return at the end of the tour when a new selection committee will be named, the word coming from Board members was that Richards was on his way, that the Board preferred to keep the captain and to let the chairman go, and by signing to be a commentator during the Windies tour of England, Richards gave the Board a nice, convenient way out even though that same Board has allowed Lara, the captain, to write newspaper columns during a Test match and to criticise the chairman of selectors.
Richards, however, is not a man to run away and even though he may have read the signs and realised that he was on the way out, he probably decided to go when he got the offer to work for pay.
For the simple reason that a man has to live, that it takes money to live, nothing is wrong with that.
What is wrong, what would be wrong, is if the Board was influenced by the players who, even if Richards was probably a bit too demanding, need someone strong enough to keep them focused.
TOO INVOLVED
Richards as the chairman was not perfect and as the chairman, he was probably too involved. Hopefully, however, the players, who have always blamed someone for their failure to perform and the Players' Association, through Ramnarine, had nothing to do with the exit of the chairman of the selection committee.
If what happened to coach Rohan Kanhai is what has happened to chairman Richards, if the players were allowed to get rid of someone they do not like because of his efforts to get them to perform, God help West Indies cricket.
