Sharjah: Sir Viv Richards has called for dialogue in the ongoing financial row which is threatening West Indies’ participation in the up-coming Twenty20 World Cup.

Richards told Gulf News: “West Indies is one of the better teams in the Twenty20 tournament, so I believe that at some point they may have to do some negotiations, because it is substantially less (players fee), if it’s correct.”

Richards did not want to go in to the rights and wrongs of the dispute, but said talented cricketers need to be respected and rewarded accordingly. “In modern cricket everyone knows exactly what is their worth and when you have a tournament with (Chris) Gayle, (Dwayne) Bravo, (Kevin) Pollard and Darren Sammy it is special. They are great Twenty20 players.”

Richards said that governance in West Indies cricket has always been an issue.

“Governance has been a problem in the past. I guess if you would have had good governance then you wouldn’t have had problems. I, as a player, would sympathise with players because I know what boards can be like, what administrations can be like,” he candidly remarked.
Sammy, the skipper of the West Indies team, has claimed that the players have been offered just $6,900 (Dh25,343) per match in India, with around $27,600 to be made if a player features throughout the tournament.

In their 2012 title-winning campaign, payments ranged from almost $60,000 to more than $135,000, it has been reported.

“I am hoping common-sense prevails, if everyone comes to a mutual understanding then I think it would be okay, or World Twenty20 will miss all these guys who have been greats of the Twenty20 game.”

Richards’ aura can bring about huge impact in the West Indies as he is one of the most revered players and so when asked if he would like to be involved with the country’s team, he said: “I would like to be involved with my full job description which is to be helping the players. Because of my experience I can bring the knowledge, I would like to be just around the team and help the team, not coaching but helping them in some of the decisions.”

And he added: “When we were a great team, West Indies supported a lot of bad teams around the world and we went everywhere to play. West Indies may be down now and I hope some common-sense may prevail, and the help which the West Indies cricket needs to get comes from the right direction.”