ContinueIt was good to see the flamboyant West Indies back winning honours after yesterday's extraordinary win in the World Twenty20 final against home team Sri Lanka, and particularly good to see former batting star Richie Richardson, now the Windies team manager, celebrating with his boys.
If there was one party I would have liked to have been at it would have been last night in Colombo.
The last time I saw Richie (86 tests, 16 tons, average 44) I played with him for the celebrity cricket team Lashings in my preparation to fly down under and end up as 12th man for Australia. (That's another story). We played in North Kent against the backdrop of a prison and Richie, who captained and selected himself to bat at four, asked me to open the innings with an Under-20 star batsman from Bengal. Our opponents were the Kent County Under 20 team and after playing and missing on what was admittedly an inconsistent pitch, I soon reasoned that it was only a matter of time before I would lose my wicket.
Besides, with Richardson waiting to bat, why would I hang around?
Just to add to the pressure Richie decided to umpire, which meant he had a close up view of my, er, batting prowess. I scored 24 off as many balls, an innings that included five boundaries, one an inside edge behind the keeper and two others that flew aerial off thick edges, before being clean bowled by one that kept low.
Still, I was happy. 24 in front of Richardson was more than acceptable and later, as he tucked into an extra helping of chocolate cake during tea he offered this little gem: "That four you sliced over gully. Played like a West Indian my friend."
I sense he may have had more than just chocolate cake yesterday in Sri Lanka.
