‘Bowl them out'

He never lost a series in his seven years as captain, and four times raised the Wisden Trophy for further West Indian safe-keeping, so Monday afternoon's scenes at the Oval would have saddened Sir Viv Richards more than most.

It was not that he never expected the moment to arrive when England would finally end their 31 fruitless years against the West Indies.

What distressed him most was the attitude of the players chosen to uphold the legacy of West Indies cricket.

There were a lot of prima donnas in this West Indies team, he charged, who were more concerned with style than substance, more attracted by what he termed designer stuff than the cricket.

They have to be weeded out.

When you are committed to your country, it is highly important that you dedicate those five days (of a Test match) to your country, he said after the West Indies defeat in the Oval that ensured England clinched the series 3-1 and regained the Wisden Trophy for the first time since 1969.

Other ideas

There are a lot of people who have other ideas during that period and that's something the West Indies Cricket Board most certainly will have to get pretty strong about, he added.

Get some of these individuals out and get people who are willing. And they must be read the riot act about what needs to be done and what it means to represent the West Indies.

He intimated that players were out past curfew, one at two o'clock in the morning, and castigated them for the show of walking around with collars up and flashy brand-name sunglasses perched on their heads.

It was a repetition of his censure after last year's World Cup when he took over as coach from the ailing Malcolm Marshall.

He charged then that the modern players didn't realise what cricket means to the Caribbean and said he would get rid of half of them.

He told the story of one player summoning his sunglasses from the dressing room on an overcast day at Taunton and promptly placing them on the top of his cap.

If I say there is a curfew at midnight, that is what I mean, Richards stated. If you cannot fit into that category, then you cannot fit into my touring party. It's very, very simple.

He cited England's performance this season as an example to follow.

England didn't start too well but they got something together and we've seen a concerted, collective effort with everyone working for one another, he said.

That is what competing is all about and we're still to learn that.

Jimmy Adams, as most captains would, stuck by his players, stating that he couldn't fault them for what they gave for the three months we were here.

They know what they are representing but, as they get more experience, that will come into a better focus, Adams said.

But manager Ricky Skerritt was more forthcoming.

He acknowledged a lack of professionalism, principally because there are very few full-time professional players in the Caribbean and in this team.

He referred to a bitingly cold day at Canterbury in the triangular One-Day series when the players were shocked into the reality that they were in England and just didn't want to play. They were duly thrashed by Zimbabwe.

Professionalism is dealing with the conditions that you face and, no matter what, going out and giving your all, he said. There are one or two players in the team who don't understand that yet.