Richards voices Gibson concerns

Viv Richards has raised his concerns about West Indies' new coach Ottis Gibson on the eve of the first day of the World Twenty20 where West Indies play Ireland.

Gibson, who quit as England's bowling coach to take over as head coach of his native West Indies team in January, is about to embark on his first global tournament as coach but couldn't get a ringing endorsement from Richards.

Instead Richards recalls Gibson's laid-back attitude during West Indies' disastrous tour to South Africa in 1999, where the hosts won the Test series 5-0 and followed it up with a 6-1 thrashing in the one-day series.

"I always remember the West Indies losing in South Africa, Richards told reporters. "I saw the now present coach Ottis Gibson with his two feet on the balcony, earphones in. West Indies were just about to go down the chute - and he was having fun, where the music was concerned. That has left an impression on me, seeing him in the present position he is now.

"That is not saying he will not be a good coach, but I doubt he would like to see one of his players [behaving as he did] at that particular time, with him being in the position he is now. I will back him to do well, but I hope lessons have been learnt from the past for us to move forward."

Though Richards is pleased to see a home-grown coach take over the national side, after West Indies have tried, without much success, a series of overseas coaches, most recently John Dyson, who was sacked last year, he feels Gibson still has much to prove. "It's nice to know that at least we have got someone who is home-based in charge of the team. I guess supporters will be quite happy to see Ottis in place. I think he's a nice guy and he may prove a lot of folks wrong - that's the only poor mark I would put on his resume."

Speaking at a Johnnie Walker event - at which he was backing the anti drink-driving campaign 'Be a Giant', Richards lamented the slowness of the Caribbean pitches, which he feels may dent hopes of exciting cricket.

"I'm concerned about these slow, low pitches," he said. "When you have a format as exciting as Twenty20 we need to continue that lively sense of things. Slow tracks sometimes do take away what the whole Twenty20 game is about - and I just hope that, for the groundsmen's sake and for our sake in the region, we just come to grips with that.

"It is tough to hear you talk about spinners coming into any match and doing well - that is ludicrous, in my opinion. Spinners should come into play more so in the longer formats - but when you are looking to sell this Twenty20 stuff and get more bums on seat it is of vital importance that the wickets are true enough.

"For a game as exciting as Twenty20, we do not need to see where a spinner is the greatest thing on earth. That takes away what the Twenty20 is all about."