Viv Richards

At 72 years old, Viv Richards has this physical status:

Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who played for the West Indies at both national and international levels.

He is regarded as one of the finest batsmen of all time.

Richards was selected as one of the top cricketers of the century by a 100-member committee of experts in 2000, alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs, and Shane Warne.

In Pakistan Super League, he is also the mentor of the T20 team Quetta Gladiators.

Richards was determined to have played the best One Day International (ODI) innings of all time by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

After Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, he was selected by Wisden as the best ODI batsman of all time and the third best Test batsman of all time in December 2002.

Due to his consistent batting skills, he became the first cricketer in ODI to win 20 Man of the Match awards. Richards' average was 8,540 runs in 121 Test matches, including 24 centuries.

He won 27 of 50 Test matches while missing just 8.

He has also scored nearly 7,000 runs in One Day Internationals and more than 36,000 in first-class cricket.

Richards is a regular cricket commentator and team mentor who has been honoured for his contributions to cricket. Richards was inducted into the International Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009, a first class member.

Early life

Richards was born in St. John's, Antigua, and later became part of the British Leeward Islands. On a scholarship, he attended St. John's Boys Primary School and then Antigua Grammar Secondary School in Antigua.

Richards began playing cricket at a young age. Mervyn and Donald's brothers, who appeared as amateurs in Antigua, were in the game, and they encouraged him to participate. The young Vivacious Viva first trained with his father and Pat Evanson, a neighbor and family friend who had captained the Antigua side.

Richards left school at the age of 18, and worked at D'Arcy's Bar and Restaurant in St. John's. He joined St. John's Cricket Club, and the restaurant's owner, D'Arcy Williams, gave him new whites, gloves, pads, and a bat. He joined Rising Sun Cricket Club, where he stayed until his release to play elsewhere after a few seasons with St. John's C.C.

Personal life

Richards and his partner Miriam have two children, including Mali, who has also played first-class cricket. Richards is also the godfather of Ian Botham's son, Liam.

Richards briefly worked with Neena Gupta, an Indian actress with whom he has a child, and fashion designer Masaba Gupta.

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Cricket career

Richards made his first-class debut in January 1972, when he was 19 years old. Richards was involved in a non-commission match between the Leeward Islands and the Windwards: he appeared in 20 and 26. He made his competitive debut just days after. In the second innings, he scored 15 and 32, top-scoring for his team in the Combined Leeward and Windward Islands in Kingston, Jamaica, against Jamaica.

Richards had competed in the Anti Antigua, Leeward Islands, and Combined Islands tournaments by the time he was 22 years old. Len Creed, Vice Chairman at Somerset, who was in Antigua at the time as part of a West Country touring group, was aware of his abilities in 1973. In late 1972, Surrey had earlier dismissed Richards and Andy Roberts at the Surrey Indoor Nets. "They didn't think we were smart enough to expand our cricket training."

Richards moved to Lansdown, C.C., where Creed arranged for them to play in league cricket for Lansdown C.C. In Bath, the poet was born in Bath. On the 26th of April 1973, he made his Lansdown debut as part of the second XI. Richards was also employed by the club as assistant groundsman to head groundsman John Heyward, in order to give him some financial independence before his time was established. After his debut, he was drafted to the Lansdown all-rounder "Shandy" Perera from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Perera is a major influence on Richards' cricket growth, particularly in the case of post-game analysis. He spent his first season at Lansdown at the top of the batsman's averages, and shortly after, he was offered a two-year contract with Somerset County.

Richards then relocated to Taunton, where he was arranged living accommodation by the club; a flat-share with two other county players: Ian Botham and Dennis Breakwell. Richards played his Benson & Hedges Cup debut against Swansea on April 27, 1974; after the game, Somerset skipper Brian Close arranged a player's ovation for Richards in recognition of his playing and contribution to the win. Richards was named Man of the Match.

Richards made his Test match debut for the West Indian cricket team against India in Bangalore in 1974. In the second Test of the same series in New Delhi, he scored an unbeaten 192. The West Indies viewed him as a solid opener and that he kept his profile up in the early years of his promising career.

Richards helped the West Indies win the inaugural Cricket World Cup final in 1975, a feat that later he characterized as the most memorable of his career. Alan Turner, Ian Chappell, and Greg Chappell were all on display in the field, running out Greg Chappell and Greg Chappell. Despite internal island divisions, the West Indies were able to win the following World Cup in 1979, thanks to a Richards century in the final at Lord's, and Richards claims that the Caribbean joined together on both occasions. In the same one-day international against New Zealand in 1986–87, he was the first man to score 100 and take 5 wickets. In 1984, he saved his side from a difficult situation at Old Trafford and won the game without using his own bat.

1976 was perhaps Richards' finest year: with an astonishing average of 90.00 in 11 Tests, he had an incredible average of 1710 runs. This feat is all the more surprising considering that he skipped the second Test at Lord's after contracting glandular fever; however, he scored his career-best 291 at the Oval later this summer. This was the highest number of Test runs by a batsman in a single calendar year for 30 years until it was broken by Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf on October 30, 2006.

Richards had a long and successful career in the County Championship in England, including many years with Somerset. The team won the NatWest Trophy in 1983, with Richards and close friend Ian Botham having a tumultuous match in the final few overs. Richards played in Somerset's victors in the 1979 John Player Competition and the 1982 Benson & Hedges Cup, as well as helping Somerset beat Somerset in the finals of the 1979 John Player League and the 1982 Benson & Hedges Cup.

Richards turned down a "blank-cheque" bid to play for a struggling West Indies squad in South Africa during the Apartheid period in 1983 and 1984.

In 50 Test matches from 1984 to 1991, Richards captained the West Indies. He is the only West Indies captain to win a Test series, and it is said that his zealous desire to win contributed to this success. However, his captaincy was not without controversy: one instance resulted in Rob Bailey's dismissal in the Barbados Test in 1990, which was described by Wisden as "at best undignified and unsightly" by him. It was calculated gamesmanship at its worst." According to Section 2.5. of the Rules of Conduct of the ICC Code of Conduct, such conduct would now be disciplined.

Richards returned to the crease after a stoppage due to poor light and mistakenly taking a shot at the wrong end, which is a rare occurrence.

Richards recorded his first-class score, 322, for Somerset and Warwickshire in 1985. Despite his outstanding presence at Somerset, over time, his appearances dropped as he devoted the majority of his time to international cricket. In 1985, the county finished last in the county Championship, and 1986 was next in last. When the county's decision not to renew Richards' and his West Indies teammate Joel Garner's contracts for the 1988 season, the county's new captain, Peter Roebuck, became embroiled in a major controversy. Somerset suggested that we replace the two with Martin Crowe, a New Zealand batsman. In the ensuing case, Ian Botham refused to work with Somerset as a result of Richards and Garner's treatment, who then moved to Worcestershire. Richards was rewarded with the unveiling of a pair of entrance gates following his long-running resentment of the contest and Roebuck's eventual retirement from the club.

Richards spent the 1987 season in the Lancashire League as Rishton CC's professional, preparing for the West Indies tour the following season.

Richards made history by scoring 101 against New South Wales in November 1988 while on tour of Australia with the West Indies. Richards is the only West Indies player to reach this milestone, and only Don Bradman (117), who was not a member of England's top-class centuries, scored more first-class centuries than Richards' 114.

Richards returned to county cricket for the 1990 season at the end of his career to play for Glamorgan, assisting them in winning the AXA Sunday League in 1993.

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