Richards applauds action against`disruptive forces'

Richards applauds action against`disruptive forces'
Associated Press

Bridgetown, October 24 : Former West Indies cricket captain Sir Vivian Richards has applauded the team's decision to drop players he called ``disruptive forces.''

Richards' comments, published on Monday in the Barbados Advocate, were an apparent reference to the omission of Franklyn Rose and Chris Gayle accused by West Indies Cricket Board selectors as having ``attitude'' problems for the upcoming Australia tour.

``There were a lot of disruptive forces in the team,'' the newspaper quoted Richards as saying. ``You can't have half who are dedicated and half who are not.''

Vivian Richards was captain of the regional team from 1985 to 1991. ``(The selectors) have started ... sending a message to individuals who have been may be drilled on numerous occasions for having attitude problems,'' he was quoted as saying.

Rose was named ``Man of the Series'' in the two-Test series against Zimbabwe in March but performed poorly in the recent five-Test series against England, which the West Indies lost 1-3.``As selectors there a number of factors which we consider... included among that criteria are talent, discipline, attitude and commitment,'' Mike Findlay, chairman of the West Indies selectors, was quoted as saying in The Jamaica Observer last week.

WI head declines comment: The head of the West Indies Cricket Board said he wants to see a report by Indian investigators before commenting on allegations that two Caribbean players accepted bribes. The Sunday Telegraph of London on Sunday reported that two unidentified West Indian cricketers had been implicated in a match-fixing report by the CBI. ``It is not prudent to comment at this time because the report has not been published.''