By Neto Baptiste
Legendary former West Indies cricket captain, Sir Vivian Richards, has labelled the standard of cricket and in particular the batting in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as “awful,” pointing to “not suitable” wickets as a probable factor.
“The batting has been awful in my opinion. It hasn’t stepped up in any big way and maybe there may be reasons for that because some of the wickets themselves are not suitable, in my opinion, for the nature of such tournaments. When you look and see all of those spinners and so on and teams are playing three and four spinners, it is a sign that the wickets are not conducive or well enough for all-round play,” he said.
The iconic batsman, who scored 8,540 runs in 121 Tests, was speaking on Observer Radio’s Good Morning Jojo Sports Show when he was asked to critique the level of play in the tournament thus far.
Although some have been very critical of the players and their ability to deliver, Sir Viv believes that all factors must be taken into consideration, pointing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as a possible factor that played against the adequate preparation of some players and pitches.
“Maybe because of the situation that we’re in at the moment with the coronavirus and maybe the lack of preparation for wickets and stuff like that and that would have played a huge part in helping to see to spinners whom, in my opinion, are on top at present, the wickets have not been good enough in my opinion for a tournament that is supposed to bring excitement,” he said.
The Antiguan also scored 6,721 runs in 187 One Day International matches and is the only West Indies captain never to lose a Test series.