Sir Viv Richards Player Profile, Age, Career, Bowling & Batting Stats

Sir Viv Richards is a former West Indies cricketer who played international cricket for nearly two decades and dominated world cricket.

He played 121 Test matches and 187 ODI matches and was known for his swagger and style as a batter. One of the other features of his batting was him nonchalantly chewing his gum and taking on the opposition bowlers.

He played in an era where batters had no real protection against top-class fast bowlers who bowled really fast.

He played them all with ease with no trouble whatsoever. His style of cricket and his attacking nature as a batter made him one of the fiercest batters in world cricket throughout the 70s and the 80s.

Early and Personal Life

Richards was born to Malcolm and Gretel Richards in St. John's, Antigua, then part of the British Leeward Islands. He attended St. John's Boys Primary School and then Antigua Grammar Secondary School on a scholarship.

Richards discovered cricket at a young age. As a youngster, he practiced with his father and Pat Evanson, a neighbor and family friend, who had captained the Antigua side.

Richards left school aged 18 and worked at D'Arcy's Bar and Restaurant in St. John's. He joined St.

John's Cricket Club and the owner of the restaurant where he worked, D'Arcy Williams, provided him with new whites, gloves, pads, and a bat. After a few seasons with St. John's C.C., he joined Rising Sun Cricket Club, where he remained until his departure to play abroad.

Domestic Career

Richards made his first-class debut in January 1972 when he was 19. He took part in a non-competition match, representing the Leeward Islands against the Windwards: Richards made 20 and 26.

His competitive debut followed a few days later. Playing in the domestic West Indian Shell Shield for the Combined Leeward and Windward Islands in Kingston, Jamaica versus Jamaica, he scored 15 and 32, top-scoring in the second innings in a heavy defeat for his side.

By the time Richards was 22, he had played matches in the Antigua, Leeward Islands, and Combined Islands tournaments.

In 1973, his abilities were noticed by Len Creed, Vice Chairman at Somerset, who was in Antigua at the time as part of a West Country touring side. Lester Bird and Danny Livingstone played an important part in persuading Creed to take Richards to Somerset.

International Career

Viv Richards made his international debut in 194 against India in Bangalore. He played Test cricket against five countries including India, Australia, England, New Zealand, and Pakistan, and played with authority against every opposition.

The biggest achievement in his cricket career remains winning two back-to-back ODI World Cups in 1975 and 1979. He also scored 6721 ODI runs and played the format in an era where the world saw a lot of Test cricket.

He was among the first greats of the game throughout the 70s and the 80s. Sir Viv scored 254 Test tons and 11 ODI tons and almost looked like a beat while he was batting.

Richards captained the West Indies in 50 Test matches from 1984 to 1991. He is the only West Indies captain never to lose a Test series, and it is said that his fierce will to win contributed to this achievement.

His captaincy was, however, not without controversy: one incident was his aggressive, "finger-flapping" appeal leading to the incorrect dismissal of England batsman Rob Bailey in the Barbados Test in 1990. He made his Test debut in 1974 in India and scored an unbeaten 192 in his very second game.

Just 2 years later, in 1976, Richards scored 1710 runs at an average of 90 with 7 centuries from 11 Tests. It remained a record for almost 30 years until it was broken by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006.

In 2000 he was voted one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Century by a 100-member panel of experts and in 2002 the almanack judged that he had played the best One Day International innings of all time.

In December 2002, he was chosen by Wisden as the greatest One Day International batsman who had played to that date and as the third greatest Test cricket batter. In 2009, Richards was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall Of Fame.

In October 2013, Wisden selected the best test team across 150 years of test history and slotted Richards at No. 5. He was one of only two batsmen of the post-war era, alongside Sachin Tendulkar, to feature in that team