Viv Richards: Cricket
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards KNH, OBE, (born: March 7, 1952), also known as Viv Richards, is considered to be one of the greatest cricket batsmen of all time. He scored 8,540 runs in 121 Test matches with averages some years in the 1990s. He made his Test debut on November 22, 1974 for West Indies versus India and his One-Day International debut on June 7, 1975 versus Sri Lanka. He played for Combined Islands, Leeward Islands, Somerset, Queensland and Glamorgan. Sir Viv Richards played in four cricket World Cups for the West Indies and captained the same team from 1984 to 1991.
Greatest Sporting Achievements
Richards became one of the five Cricketers of the Century by a 100-member panel of experts in 2000 alongside Donald Bradman, Jack Hobbs, Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne. He played the best ODI innings of all-time and chosen the greatest ODI batsman of all time by Wisden, also as the third greatest Test batsman of all time together with Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.
Why Was He So Good?
Richards is one of the towering figures of the sport. He embodied the cavalier approach of the dominant West Indies team of the 80s combining power and elegance. He provides domineering charisma at the line, naturally dispatching bowlers to all part of the ground.
What You May Not Know
- He refused to wear a batting helmet when he playing cricket’s most dominant fast bowlers.
- Viv’s son Mali played cricket for the Leeward Islands, as did his two brothers Donald (1968-1970) and Mervin Richards (1974-1974).
- Viv captained the West Indies team from 1984 to 1991, and never lost a Test series as captain.
- He is the only man reportedly to have played both World Cup Football (in the qualifiers for Antigua) and World Cup Cricket. Well actually he played for Antigua and Barbuda in a qualifying round of the CONCACAF championship, which is in turn the qualifier to get into the World Cup of 1974.
Related Pages
- More cricket players
- About Cricket
- About Sport in Antigua and Barbuda
- Athlete Database home
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