Richards gives his reasons for quitting

Sir Vivian Richards has said that he resigned as the West Indian cricket team's chief selector because of the uncertainty over his job, and also a change in policy that left him out of overseas tours.

Richards's two-year stint would have expired on June 25, on the eve of a board meeting in Guyana where they were to decide his future. However, Richards said that he was not willing to wait until the outcome of the meeting because the board had already decided that the chairman of selectors wouldn't join the management team on overseas tours.

"We had a format before ... but things have changed somewhat," he told the Associated Press. "Now it would be up to management and the coaches and the captain who will be on overseas tours. It left me a little bit in the water."

Another reason given for his resignation was the fact that he was not paid a salary. "It left you in a no-man's situation, because West Indies' selectors are only paid expenses," said Richards. "All these are little complications."

Meanwhile, in another twist, Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the West Indies Players' Association, told The Independent that the players had been harshly criticised this year. "They were verbally belittled and threatened in public by selectors," said Ramnarine. "Our members spoke of outright intimidation by selectors."

Richards denied those allegations when he spoke to the Associated Press. "That's so ludicrous," he said. "I can stand up for every member on my panel and say [they] have always gone and given advice. I believe that when you are part of a selection process ... there should be an understanding that [the selectors] could go and talk to players who are performing below par."