FORMER West Indies cricket team captain Sir Richie Richardson says the blame for the team’s recent performances should not rest solely with its players.

The Windies have had poor results on tour in England and Ireland since last month, having drawn a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series 1-1 with Ireland, then being swept 3-0 by England in an ODI series, then 3-0 in a Twenty20 International series.

Head Coach Daren Sammy has spoken publicly of his disappointment with the performances and also spoke of his dismay that former white ball Captain Nicholas Pooran opted out of the tour before announcing his retirement from international cricket at 29 years old.

Richardson says it is easy to target the players for criticism, but not enough was done administratively to prevent the region’s cricket from experiencing this situation.

“It’s not about having a go, or criticising, or looking just at the players — that’s not how I look at it,” Richardson said during a segment on Antigua Observer Radio’s Good Morning Jojo sports show on Friday. “The players are a product of the system that we have in the Caribbean. The players cannot be entirely responsible for the situation of our cricket today.

“How I look at it, I look at what we did not do — many, many years ago when we were strong — to preserve and to protect our cricket and to continue the development, to set our cricket up so that we can be propelled going into the future.”

Richardson says many things were taken for granted when the West Indies enjoyed a period of success, part of which occurred during his time as captain.

“We just assumed that our natural talent would always take us through,” he said. “The rest of the world was looking at the game differently, was using scientific approaches to help advance their players, and we never did that until just recently so I am not surprised where we are. It’s hurtful, but I was feeling the pain long before we even got to this stage so right now I think I’m a little bit numb, even though it still hurts.

“But I saw it coming because of what we did not do, and also what we did, because as we all know, insularity and politics have played a massive role in the state of our cricket — and all these things contributed to where we are today.”

Richardson says he noticed shared sentiments by many on his travels around the world.

“People still love West Indies cricket,” he said. “Whenever I travel around the world it actually hurts me when I hear people say, ‘International cricket is not the same because the West Indies is not strong.’ This means that they are very concerned about the state of our cricket. They want us to be strong, and it seems that we’re not doing enough to really get our cricket back.”

Richardson is, however, confident that the team will return to its best some day.

“Of course, the world is a round place and I believe we’re going to bounce back,” he said. “But it’s not going to be easy unless we can really find the means to get something in place to get our cricket back. We’re a small nation, so to speak, and finance will always be an issue but I’m sure if we can get our cricket back up, we’ll get the financial support — not only from within the region but also from around the world.”

Richardson took over the captaincy of the Windies team from Sir Vivian Richards and enjoyed a tenure from 1991 to 1995. In that time he lost only one series — to Australia in 1995. It was the team’s first series loss since 1980. He led the team in 24 Test matches, winning 11, losing six, and drawing seven.

West Indies’ Keacy Carty bats during the second One-Day International (ODI) cricket match between England and the West Indies at Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground in Cardiff on June 1, 2025. Carty struck 103 runs but he couldn’t prevent England from winning by three wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

SIR RICHARD… it’s hurtful, but I was feeling the pain long before we even got to this stage