Richards resigns as chairman of selectors

Viv Richards: opting to give precedence to his media commitments © Getty Images

Sir Viv Richards has resigned as West Indies' chairman of selectors after two years in the job. His commitment to commentate with the BBC was cited by the West Indies board as the main reason for his decision. Richards himself was unavailable for comment.

Richards will be replaced on the three-man selection panel by Clyde Butts, the former Guyana and West Indies offspinner - Joey Carew and Gordon Greenidge are the other two selectors. Carew will take over from Richards as chairman.

The WICB has appointed interim selection committees for the next two months pending the conclusion of the review of the management structure of the West Indies team. The recommendations of the review are expected to be implemented following the ICC Champions Trophy in England this September, and will have an impact on the role of selectors.

Richards, 52, took over as chairman of selectors in May 2002, but his last few months in charge became increasingly controversial, with reports of rifts between him and Brian Lara, the captain. On West Indies' tour to South Africa earlier this year, the two were involved in an extraordinary incident, when Lara made a last-minute change to the fourth-Test team during the toss - apparently against Richards's wishes - bringing in Merv Dillon for Adam Sanford.