It is 11:15 am and Antigua is trying to recover from Hurricane Earl that struck the island in the wee hours of the morning.
It is 11:15 am and Antigua is trying to recover from Hurricane Earl that struck the island in the wee hours of the morning.
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| Sir Viv Richards.
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Antigua's favourite son, Sir Vivian Richards is home and Hurricane Earl is not the only thing playing on his mind. The game he decorated in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s with his regal batsmanship and swagger is tarnished further by Hurricane Asif and Amir.
"I am sorry, I haven't really watched enough to analyse all this, but from the pictures I saw on television, I feel certain things don't look good," he says.
Richards finds it strange that cricket is experiencing dark days in times of change. "You would have imagined that the game would be heading in the right direction with the introduction of stuff like 20-20. But then, this (spot fixing controversy involving Pakistani players) is sad," he says. The West Indian great reiterated that the footage he saw on television was not encouraging and made him feel sad. "The game does not look good and pictures don't lie," he says. Richards played in an era when cricket could well and truly be called a gentleman's game. It was under his captaincy when fast bowler Courtney Walsh did not run out Pakistan tailender Salim Jaffer, who was backing up too far at the non-striker's end during a crucial World Cup game in 1987. "When you think of cricket, you associate it with respectable people, gentlemen. Probably, that side of things just fell away," he says. So is cricket no more a gentleman's game? Sir Viv is not yet ready to hit across the line as it were. "I am not sure. All these allegations do suggest that there are folks out there who are benefiting from doing all this (fixing)."
Many cricketers of his generation are calling for life bans to those Pakistan players found guilty. Richards wants to see a thorough investigation being conducted before talking about life bans. "We will have to wait and see. Let the investigation get over and then we can say whether it deserves harsher punishment. I am positive that things will clean up as long as a proper investigation takes place."
