'I felt it would happen for me some day'
Dale Richards is “happy and excited” to be selected in the West Indies team for the first time. The 32-year-old right-handed opening batsman is the only newcomer in the 14-man West Indies team for the first Test match against England at Sabina Park, Jamaica on February 4-8.“I was pretty happy and excited when I got the news on Friday. I have been doing well for Barbados since the start of the season [West Indies Cricket Board’s Four-day Competition], so I had my fingers crossed,” he said.
“This season, I did not change a lot of things, but I have been able to concentrate a lot longer when I’m in the middle and that has been the reason for my success. From the start of the year, my aim was to force my way into the West Indies team and it has happened. I have been around for a few years but I never gave up. I felt it would happen for me some day.”
Richards has been a member of the Barbados team since 2000 and has been the island’s most dependable opener. His first aim is to make a major contribution to the West Indies team in the upcoming series.
“I just want to continue to do the basics well and continue to show the discipline which has brought me to this point. I played for the West Indies ‘A’ team before so I had a little taste of what it is like. This is a step higher up the ladder and my aim is to perform and make a contribution to West Indies cricket,” he added.
SQUAD: Chris Gayle (Captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Amit Jaggernauth, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Dale Richards, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor