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In his new autobiography 'Sultan', Wasim Akram, the sultan of swing, the greatest left arm paceman of all time and a friend of countless West Indian cricketers says this

wasim akram i totally 100% agree

In reply to Jumpstart

Dessie Haynes was not a particularly good captain.He was aged 35 years old when Viv retired so those two things would have been against him.In addition he was not the type of person who would kow tow to the CWI big wigs which would be a third strike against him.Richardson was much more amenable to doing CWI's biddings so that was a tremendous boost to his portfolio.

I am not being facetious but that was the reality of that decision to make Richie Richardson the captain.Another negative effect of Richardson was his relationship with Malcolm Marshall and the latter's premature departure from the team.Of course the decision to omit Viv from the 1992 World Cup simply because Richie felt uncomfortable having Viv in the team is another data point against Richie.

In reply to Dukes

don't you think that is a good thing? has not almost every WICB decision affected us negatively?

On dessie not being a good captain, that's debatable. Tactically, he was almost as good as viv. For example, we would have lost that 91 series if not for Dessie's epic time wasting that was within the rules. We would have lost had Dessie not had the idea to bowl out Ambrose and Walsh vs SA in 1992(Richardson was preparing Patterson to bowl at the start of the final day). In addition, at that time, after Viv, Dessie was the most respected and loved cricketer in WI cricket, locally and internationally. Richarson did not have the respect of the team, including his own compatriots. Clive was not the greatest captain tactically, but he was an inspiration. You have to quantify in which ways dessie was deficient.

In reply to Jumpstart

I am not defending the decision,I am merely explaining why it was made.It was wrong but understanding the culture of WI cricket it was in keeping with their ethos
I remember I was pissed when Jackie Hendriks,then the COS gave as his excuse why Viv was not in the 1992 WC team that it was because the captain felt uncomfortable with Viv in the team..

P.S The statement that Dessie was not a very good captain is a result of2 first class cricketers opinions expressed to me as well as my own perception that he seemed to not think deeply about strategies to get opposition batsmen out.I was far more impressed with Malcolm Marshall who had an extraordinary cricket brain.

In reply to Dukes

oh oh cool. definitely agree with that.

that's extremely ironic because Richie went on a Sky Sports podcast and told the interviewer that somebody in the WICB didn't want viv around. I know Viv and Richie's relationship was strained for years afterwards. And richie never cleared the air, just made insinuations that elements in the WICB didn't like viv which i find extremely suspicious
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In reply to Dukes

The West Indies can’t move forward with people like you

It is a known fact. They further you look back into history, they more it clarifies the present. Failure to learn from the past ... well you know the rest.

In reply to Jumpstart

Richie was arguably the worst WI captain of the modern era

In reply to Emir

No Channapaul was the worst, Richie second worst.

I was tempted to say Reifer, but he was not really a cappo.

The human being is a mighty study in superciliousness! At a time when WI cricket is verging into irrelevance, the discussion keeps focusing on showing up and belittling former players and captains. Puerile and shallow! Especially when you consider that the guy who is the subject of contempt is NOW a very well-respected administrator with the governing body of the game whilst the one being shown feign sympathy gets pilloried EVERYDAY on this board by the self-same people over the selections he makes of current cricketers to represent them!