October 24 Thursday 2002
Richards junior set to sign for Middlesex 

LONDON: The teenage son of former West Indies captain Viv Richards is set to sign for English county Middlesex, the club confirmed on Tuesday. 

A spokesman said that 19-year-old Mali Richards had been offered a part-time contract and that he was expected to sign it in the near future. 

"We will make an official announcement after that," the spokesman said. A left-handed batsman, Mali was born in England and had also been attracting interest from other counties. 

He is due to be available for Middlesex for certain matches while continuing with his education. Earlier this year, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that he could switch his allegiance from West Indies to England. 

"My ambition is to play international cricket, for the West Indies hopefully, but if the chance did come along for me to play for England, I'd probably take it," he was quoted as saying. He has already represented Antigua at senior level. Viv Richards, the current West Indies chairman of selectors, played 121 Tests for West Indies, scoring 8,540 runs at 50.23 per visit. He also played 187 one-dayers, averaging 47. Richards, who also had a fine career with English county Somerset, played his last Test in 1991 and was named as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the century.