Viv: Sarwan deserves Windies captaincy

from IAN BEST in Barbados

Sir Vivian Richards says that Ramnaresh Sarwan deserves the chance to captain the West Indies cricket team and although he acknowledges the sterling leadership qualities of Daren Ganga, he does not think that he should "leapfrog" over Sarwan for the most challenging of West Indian jobs.

He noted that Sarwan was always seen as a potential leader during his tenure as chairman of selectors, but noted that something went wrong since then and he had not quite lived up to his potential. However, he added that players always seem to enthusiastically rally around Sarwan whenever he was in charge of the team.

Sir Viv was speaking at a press conference today when he announced his selection of the Johnnie Walker All-Star team of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. The 11 players were selected by Richards, Johnnie Walker's responsible drinking ambassador, based on their performances throughout the tournament up to and including the semi-finals.

The 11 players selected are:

Matthew Hayden (Australia)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Ricky Ponting (Australia - captain)
Kevin Pietersen (England)
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa)
Scott Styris (New Zealand)
Shaun Tait (Australia)
Shane Bond (New Zealand)
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka).

Reserves: Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Boyd Rankin (Ireland).