Not Me, Says Richie

In the face of recent reports in which two West Indian players have been implicated in the match-fixing scandal that has rocked international cricket in recent months, a former West Indies captain says he never once received an offer to throw a match. And Richie Richardson feels authorities should punish offenders in a harsh manner.

His comments come in the aftermath of the Sunday Telegraph's disclosure that two unidentified West Indian cricketers have been implicated in a match-fixing report by India's Central Bureau of Investigation.

'I never had approaches and I wasn't aware of the sort of things that were going on,' Richardson said in an interview with Starcom Network Sports.

'I could not conceive that somebody could be playing for his country and want to sell a match.'

Richardson mentioned instances during his playing days when he received telephone calls from individuals requesting match information.

'People would ask `what are you going to do if you win the toss' or `what's the weather like' and things like that,' he said.

'I just thought people genuinely wanted to know what the situation was.'

'It is only after the scandal of match-fixing, I suspected maybe that these people had bets on.'

Richardson, who retired from international cricket in 1996, said a strong message needed to be sent.

'Match-fixing is a serious thing and whoever is involved should be dealt with severely,' he said.

'I can't say exactly how, but I just think they should be dealt with severely. It's the worst thing anybody can do - to sell out their country.'