My boys respect the greats: Windies skipper Sammy

Birmingham (England), June 12: Captain Darren Sammy was quick to reaffirm his young side's huge respect for former West Indies' greats after Denesh Ramdin was fined by the International Cricket Council for a jibe at legendary captain Vivian Richards.

Ramdin celebrated his century on the fourth day of the third Test against England Sunday by producing a piece of paper with the words "Yeah Viv Talk Nah" scribbled, and brandishing it towards the media centre.

It was in response to criticism levelled at him by Viv, now an analyst for BBC Radio, following West Indies' second Test defeat at Trent Bridge.

"Denesh and I spoke and he spoke in the media yesterday and he said probably his emotions got the better of him," Sammy told a media conference Monday.

"We as a West Indian team have a lot of respect for our past players especially someone so great as Sir Viv. We all take a lot of inspiration from Fire in Babylon (movie on great former Windies players) which reflects our history and as a team we have a lot of respect for guys like Sir Viv."

Following the nine-wicket defeat at Trent Bridge, Viv said Ramdin had "deteriorated in such a big way" and looked like "a totally lost guy".

Sunday, Ramdin said the statement had been "a bit hurtful" and admitted the celebration Sunday had been "a bit emotional".

Sammy said he expected Ramdin to discuss the issue with Viv but had no idea if the player would apologise in person.

"I know Ramdin would probably have a word with him. There's no love lost, like he said. Hopefully we could move on and continue respecting our past players," Sammy noted.

The incident provoked the ire of another West Indies legend, former fast bowler Michael Holding who is now a pundit for Sky Television.

Holding blasted Ramdin's action as "crass" and said he should be fined by team management.

"That's Mikey's opinion. Again, a lot of people have been having opinions about what the team should do and what should happen," Sammy pointed out.