15 facts about Sir Viv Richards: The Master Blaster of the 20th century

Words, essays, articles and even books do little justice to the genius of Sir Viv Richards. A commanding presence each time he made his way to the middle with a bat in his hand. A distinctive beard, a rather relaxed stance and the evergreen chewing gum, opposition bowlers knew all too well to take a friendly, light-hearted batsman lightly. If there was any emperor of cricket, it would have to be Viv Richards. Fearless and aggressive, Richards established himself as perhaps the top lieutenants of Clive Lloyd’s West Indian dominated era. In a nutshell, Richards was well and truly the face of international cricket from the mid-1970’s to the early 1990’s.

1. The pride of Antigua:

Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was born on the 7^th of March 1952 at St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

 2. Wreckage of the bowling attack:

The most feared batsman of his time, Richards held each and every bowling attack in the cusp of his fingers. Although the West Indies side at the time boasted of great players, Viv Richards was a class apart. You just knew he was coming. Each time he made his way down the steps of the dressing room, the fielders would receive him with pale faces while crowds would stand atop their seats just to catch a glimpse of the batting genius. He was almost like an ancient Roman gladiator. Apart from the Australian attack (Lillie and Thomson), the rest of the bowling attacks in the world have been ripped to complete shreds by Richards.

3. In a league of his own:

Viv Richards was almost like a well-illustrated book on cricket come to life. All the shots ever imagined by even the great Freddie Truman flowed from the bat of Richards. While there are dozens of adjectives to describe him, the best illustration that draws an epitome to an exciting career is by his numbers. Here are a few stats that single him out from the rest of the pack.

• Between 1976 and 1988, Richards played 92 matches, scoring 7091 runs at an average of 55.39. This included 22 centuries and 34 half centuries.
• In 29 series played, he has averaged less than 30 only on 7 occasions
• He has the third highest average batting at no.3 in the lineup. He is behind Don Bradman and Walter Hammond
• He had the best win percentage as captain in the 1980’s, winning 54% of his matches.

4. The best ODI innings of all time:

The 31^st of May 1984 became a red letter day for Cricket and Viv Richards in particular. Celebrating almost a year of losing the 1983 World Cup, Richards marked the occasion with a magnificent century. The spectators at Old Trafford didn’t know what hit them on the day. Eldine Baptiste and Michael Holding were the only other two batsmen to cross double figures on the day. Richards smashed, crashed, hooked, cut and pulled an England bowling attack comprising of Bob Willis, Ian Botham and Neil Foster on his way to 189. He smashed 21 fours and five sixes as the Windies went on to win by a mammoth 104 runs.

5. A tryst with football:

Some writers contend that Richards also played international football for Antigua and Barbuda, appearing in qualifying matches for the 1974 World Cup. However, he does not appear in recorded line-ups for these matches.

6. An offer refused:

In 1982/83, Viv Richards tore up a blank cheque handed to him by the South African Cricket board to play for a rebel West Indies team touring South Africa.

7. Fire in Babylon:

Fire in Babylon was a documentary to commemorate the greatest Test cricketing nation – The West Indies.  For the most part of the documentary, Richards talks about facing up to the pace and fire of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

8. The games that people play:

Former wicketkeeper-batsman Jeff Dujon is famous around the world for whistling ‘The games that people play’ while batting. In one instance, Dujon stopped whistling while batting with Viv Richards. When asked by Richards why he wasn’t singing the song, Dujon replied, “That Thomson comes in so fast, I don’t really have the time to whistle such songs.”

9. Occasional commentary and Mentorship:

Richards joined the Delhi Daredevils as their Mentor in The Indian Premier League in 2013. Richards will also mentor the Quetta Gladiators in the 2016 Pakistan Super League.

10. The opening act in Bangalore:

Viv Richards made his Test Debut in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in November 1974. Bhagwat Chandrashekhar dismissed Richards for single digit scores in both innings. Despite this, the Windies won by 267 runs.

11. OBE & Knighthood:

In 1994, Richards was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket. In 1999, he was made a Knight of the Order of the National Hero (KNH) by his native country Antigua and Barbuda.

12. The best there ever was

While talking about his favorite batsman, Sclyd Berry said, “Nobody has walked to the crease as Richards did. No choreographer, equipped with spotlights and sound effects, could have improved upon his natural entrance.”

13. A century of centuries:

He became the first coloured cricketer to score 100 centuries in first class cricket.

14. The vote:

In 2000, Richards was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, coming fifth behind Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Shane Warne in the poll of 100 international cricket experts appointed by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. That poll saw both Botham and Warne vote for Richards, and in the opinions of both, Richards is the greatest batsman they ever saw.

15. The emperor of cricket:

Barry Richards, Ravi Shastri, Shane Warne, Ian Botham, Martin Crowe and Muttiah Muralitharan are among the cricketers who have cited that Viv Richards is the greatest cricketer they have ever seen.