Viv Richards: 15 points that summarise the life of undisputed king of batting
Viv Richards: 15 points that summarise the life of undisputed king of batting
Born March 7, 1952, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards is former West-Indian cricketer and one of the greatest the game has ever witnessed. A destructive batsman, Richards had the ability to tear any opposition’s bowling attack into pieces. Of his many batting records, some stand even today. Besides being a terrific batsman, he was also a successful captain, never losing a Test series — something even Clive Lloyd could not achieve. Also an efficient administrator, he served the West Indian cricket and some other teams across the globe in a wide range of roles post retirement. On his birthday, Chinmay Jawalekar looks at 15 facts from the life of the player, whose batting style and personality has often been described in one word — swagger.
1. Early life
Born to Malcolm and Gretel Richards in St John’s, Antigua, Viv was inclined towards cricket from a very young age. The fact that both his brothers Mervin and Donald (half-brother) used to play cricket only acted as a catalyst to Viv pursuing the game. He started practicing with his father and former Antigua captain Pat Evanson, a neighbour as well as family friend. After studying at St John’s Boys School and Antigua Grammar School, he quit studies at 18 and started working at D’Arcy’s Bar and Restaurant. The owner of the place, D’Arcy Williams was a generous man and gifted Richards with cricket gear and other accessories as he had joined St. John’s Cricket Club.
2. Almost a footballer
Blessed to have been gifted with extraordinary talent in cricket as well football, Viv played international football for Antigua and Barbuda. While there is a myth that he represented them in qualifying matches for 1974 World Cup football, there is no documented proof. Thankfully, Richards shifted his entire focus towards cricket.
3. England
In 1973-74 Richards was one of the finest cricketers to emerge from Alf Gover’s School, located in a garage on East Hill, in Wandsworth, South London. Len Creed, Vice-Chairman at Somerset, played a crucial role in Richards’ relocation to England and gaining a contract for Lansdown CC, Bath. Viv was also employed by Lansdown as assistant groundsman. He soon started playing for Somerset first XI and was introduced to Shandy Perera, who he later called as a major influence on his cricket development especially with regards to post-game analysis.
4. Test debut
In November 1974, Richards made his Test debut against India in Bangalore, falling to Bhagwat Chandrasekhar for 4 and 3. Astonishingly, the selectors dropped Chandra for the next Test, and Viv slammed 192 not out. As a result, West India won the match by an innings and 17 runs. In all, he played 120 Tests more and scored over 8,500 runs at an average of just over 50.
5. World Cup-winning ODI debut
Richards did not do anything extraordinary with bat in World Cup 1975, but pulled off three spectacular run outs, sending back Alan Turner, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell, thus helping his side win by a close margin of 17 runs.
6. Dream year
1976 was Richards’ finest year, when he scored 1,710 runs in just 11 Tests at an average of 90. He notched up six tons in the process. This was a record for most Test runs in a calendar year that stood for 30 years until it was subsequently broken by Mohammad Yousuf who scored 1,788 runs in 2006.
7. Another World Cup, another win
In the 1979 World Cup final against England, Richards launched into the England attack with a vengeance. He slammed a 157-ball 138 with 11 fours and 6 sixes (including a flicked six off Mike Hendrick in the last ball of the innings), and helped his side win by 92 runs. He was named Man of the Match for his performance.
8. The blank cheque refusal
Richards had apparently twice refused a blank cheque offer to play for a rebel West Indies squad in South Africa during the Apartheid era in 1983, and again in 1984.
9. Captain
Richards was extremely successful as captain of the West Indies team. He captained the team in 50 Tests and won 27 of them while lost only 8. He remains the only West Indies captain to never lose a Test series.
10. Records
Richards created and held a number of batting records; including the one for the highest score in an ODI with 189 not out against England at Manchester in May 1984. It is still rated as one of the greatest ODI innings of all time by many. Richards also scored the fastest Test century in the history of Test Cricket, taking just 56 balls to reach the milestone against England at Antigua. The record was later equalled by Misbah-ul Haq and recently broken by Brendon McCullum. Richards also remains one of only four non-English cricketers to have scored 100 First-Class centuries, the others being Don Bradman, Glenn Turner and Zaheer Abbas.
11. Cricket roles post-retirement
After retirement, Richards held a number of posts with WICB and some T20 franchises. He was Chairman of Selectors for a brief while before he resigned. Allen Stanford, who is currently in prison, had appointed Richards among others as the Ambassador of his ambitious project Stanford 20/20. Later, he also served as the team mentor of Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2013 and Quetta Gladiators in the recently concluded inaugural edition of PSL.
12. Sir Vivian Richards Foundation
In 2004, Richards launched his philanthropic initiative The Sir Vivian Richards Foundation in Antigua. The organisation was set up with the aim of promoting self-awareness among youth and helping young people — particularly among the underprivileged — achieve their goals.
13. Honours
Richards has earned many laurels during his career. He was awarded an OBE for services to cricket in 1994. In 1999, he was made a Knight of the Order for the National Hero (KNH) by Antigua and Barbuda. Recognising his achievements, a 100-member panel of experts named him in 2000 as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound was named in 2007. In December 2002, Wisden named him as the greatest ODI batsman of all time as well as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.
14. Testimonials
Several prominent cricket personalities including the likes of Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Barry Richards, Martin Crowe, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Neil Fairbrother among others shared their opinion that Richards was the best ever batsman they personally witnessed on many occasions.
15. Personal life
Richards led a colourful life both on and off field. He is married to Miriam and has two children with her: Matara, who currently lives in Canada; and Mali, who has also played First-Class cricket. He also had a brief relationship with Indian actress Neena Gupta, with whom he has a daughter, fashion designer Masaba Gupta, with whom he shares a doting relationship. He is also godfather to his good friend and contemporary player Ian Botham’s son, Liam.
(A self-confessed cricket freak, Chinmay Jawalekar is a senior writer with CricketCountry. When not writing or following cricket, he loves to read, eat and sleep. He can be followed at @CricfreakTweets.)