Happy Birthday, Barry Richards! Former South African great turns 71

Happy B'day, Barry Richards! Former SA great turns 71

Born July 21, 1945 in Durban. Barry Richards turns 71 today. The former right-hand batsman played for South Africa. He played just four Test matches for his country and proved his brilliance in those matches. He did’t get to play many matches and that might still be considered loss for cricket as a game. All his four Tests were against Australia in a home series. He scored 508 runs in those 4 Tests at an average of 72.57. His First-class records were magnificent too. Nine times, Richards scored a century before lunch and five of those were made on the first day of the match. READ: Barry Richards: A tale of a sublime career that bloomed unseen

In the 4 Tests that Richards played he hit 2 hundreds and 2 half-centuries. In First-class cricket his records were exemplary. In 339 First-class matches Richards had 28,358 runs. His highest was 356 and his average was 54.74. He had 80 hundreds and 152 fifties as well, which speaks volumes about the kind of a bastman he was in First-class cricket. READ: Barry Richards’s epic 325 not out in single day’s play against Dennis Lillee and Graham McKenzie

His List A record was good too. In 233 List A games, he scored 8506 runs with a highest of 155 not out. This, at an average of 40.12. In First-class cricket he mainly played for Hampshire, Natal and South Australia.

After retirement, Richards moved into the commentary box, working for the South African Broadcasting Corporation and MNetSupersport. He has since then been a part of the Test Match Special team and has lent his voice to Channel 4 and Five. He also coached South Australia to a Sheffield Shield final before becoming Queensland’s chief executive. It was under Richards that Queensland won the Sheffield Shield for the very first time. He has also served as President of Hampshire and has taken on the odd coaching assignment in the subcontinent.