Johannesburg: Former West Indies skipper Sir Vivian Richards has thrown his support behind T20 skipper Darren Sammy after he made what is described to be an `inappropriate` comments about the country’s cricket board following their stunning victory in the World T20.
Referring to the lengthy pay disputes between the board and the players, Sammy said that his team were disrespected by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
“Mark Nicholas (the English commentator) described us as a team with no brains. All these things before the tournament just brought this team together,” said an emotional Sammy after his side claimed a four-wicket win against England to clinch the coveted prize for the second time.
“I really want to thank these 15 men, the ability to just put all those adversities aside and to come out and play this type of cricket in front of such passionate fans, it’s just tremendous,” he added.
Describing Sammy as an `honest` player, Richards said truth lies in the skipper’s remarks and added that it would be interesting to see what comes from the WICB in the coming future, Sport24 reported.
The 64-year-old further stressed that Sammy was extremely committed towards his job and had always led the team well since he took over as the skipper.
Delighted by Sammy’s comments, Richards said that the former’s outbursts were the result of his emotions, adding that it was great he was able to get it off from his heart.
WICB president Whycliffe Dave Cameron had earlier said that he wanted to apologise to the millions of fans for the captain’s remarks and also vowed to enquire the reason behind such statements.
Earlier, the Caribbean players were locked in a pay cut dispute with their country’s cricket board, which threw their participation in jeopardy prior to the World T20.
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