Windies legend Richardson chose 'tailor-made sunhat' over helmet for practical reasons

Barbados, (West Indies) - Former West Indies batsman Richie Richardson has said he was never comfortable batting with a helmet, and he modified his maroon hat to make it more  easier to wear.

Richardson, team manager of the Windies team, played during an era when helmets became ubiquitous, but he, like legendary Sir Viv Richards, chose not to wear one, and it was a choice  made not out of bravado, but for more practical reasons.
 
"As a youngster growing up, we didn't have access to helmets. So, I never really got used to helmets," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Richardson, as saying.

"Even when I tried to use it, I was very, very uncomfortable. I felt comfortable without it. When I wore a helmet, I felt like I was in a phone booth. I didn't feel comfortable. So, I thought 'let me  take my chances'," he added.
 
Richardson's tailor-made sunhat also became his good luck charm during his playing days. The idea of wearing the hat first came to him while he was playing a one-day tournament in India  during the 80s.

"It was an ODI tournament and nobody wore them, nobody liked them. An idea came to me, maybe I could start something different," Richardson said.
 
"I'm not sure if it was the first time we wore coloured gear, but it was the first time seeing a maroon-coloured floppy hat. It didn't look good. Everybody just chucked them away. I kept one,  and decided I was going to try something," he added.

So, he headed to a manufacturer in Pakistan with the changes he wanted to be made. He asked for a wider brim and a deeper cup, which would keep the hat steady on his head.
 
''It worked well, it just so happened that I was doing well at the time, I was at the peak of my career and a lot of people thought it was the hat that was doing the magic. ''I started wearing it in Test matches and nobody objected and it became a story,'' he said.