Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards famously known as Viv Richards was born on March 7, 1952, in St John’s Antigua. He was a former West Indian Cricketer and is regarded among the top five finest batsmen of his generation.
Viv was a towering figure in the cricket circles which led to the success of the 1980 West Indies team. On his day, he could effortlessly dispatch with his imperious presence bowlers to all parts of the field. Richards was voted in the top five cricketers of the century in 2000 by a panel of experts alongside other seasoned cricketers such as Sir Garfield Sobers, Shane Warne, Sir Jack Hobbs, and Sir Donald Bradman.
Vivian Richards journey into the cricketing world
Richard followed the example of his family as the father Malcolm Richards, who was once Antigua’s fastest bowler. He also had two brothers who played bats in Antigua. Vivian Richards began his international career for West Indies in 1974 at the age of 22. In the course of his career, he encompassed 121 test matches and by 1993, he had scored 8540 runs and had distinguished himself among the most feared batsmen of all time.
Richard thrived in the era of the most dominant bowlers and was renowned for refusing to wear a batting helmet when playing. He is one of the greatest cricketers with an average of 50.23 runs per innings in test matches, which is among the leading test averages of all time. Of the 50 test matches he played as a captain, he won 27 and lost only eight between 1985 to 1991 when he lead West Indies team to successive international successes. He was an exemplary captain who cleverly used his fast bowling skills to approach games and had an aggressive style of play that cunningly outsmarted opponents. In One Day Internationals, he scored over 7000 runs and more than 36000 runs in first-class cricket a feat that lead to the Antiguan government to knight him in 1999 for his contribution to cricket.
Highlights of Vivian Richards career and Honors
In 1975, Viv led West Indies to their Inaugural World Cup victory an achievement he later said was the best moment of his bowling career. In 1979, World Cup, the team repeated the same feat and Viv scored a century as the team won their second successive title. Richards hold the record of the fastest ever tests century against England in Antigua from just 56 balls during the 1986 tour.
At the Wisden Cricketers of the Century, Vivian Richards emerged among the tops greatest cricketers of all time in 2000 and also won other different honors. The Sir Richards Stadium situated in North Sound Antigua was named in his honor and was built for the 2007 Cricket world cup. The stadium hosted three cricket test matches and had since then hosted many T20 and One Day Internationals. Today Vivian Richards is involved in team mentorship and is a cricket commentator.
