Sir Viv Richards was a wonder on the cricket field, a menacing cricketer, always on guard and with no weakness. Sir Richards represented the West Indian Cricket team from 1974 to 1991 and always batted at number three.
A loved and revered gem in the cricket world, Sir Viv Richards played 121 test matches and scored 8540 runs in his career. He had an average of 50.23. In 1983, Richards had an average of 66.51.
As a captain, Sir Richards won 27 test matches out of the 50 games. Sir Richards also has scored around 7000 runs in test cricket matches. Feared by many bowlers and revered by cricketers and cricket lovers across the world, Sir Richards has set some examples.
He is the first cricketer of color to score 100 centuries in first-class cricket.
The following article is a tribute to one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Here is a short biography of sir Richards and a document of his scores as a cricketer.
Who Is Viv Richards?
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was born on March 7, 1952, in St. John’s Antigua. Cricket came as a family tradition to Richards. His brothers Mervyn and Donald used to play cricket, and they inspired Viv to play cricket. Both of his brothers used to play as amateurs and represented Antigua.
Sir Richards started to play cricket with his father and his neighbors at an early age. When he turned 18, he left school and joined St. John’s Cricket Club. After a few seasons there, he joined the Rising Sun Cricket Club. This is where he played until he started to play abroad.
“Richard was the most feared batsman of his time. He said – “I didn’t wear a helmet because I wanted to show that the bowler wasn’t intimidating me, and also that’s just the way I liked to bat.”
Before he was 22, Viv had already played for Antigua. In 1973, Vivian made his Lansdown debut as a part of the second XI team. Soon he was promoted to the first team. In 19745, Richards made his debut in the Benson & Hedges Cup, playing for Somerset.
After the match was over, the skipper of Somerset named Brian Close arranged for an ovation for Richards. They recognized his contribution to the match for the victory. He was also awarded the man of the match.
Richards’ First Debut in International Test Cricket was in 1974 against India in Bangalore. Richards was a wonder. Until 2005, he was the only player in the world to score a century while also taking 5 wickets in one day of cricket.
In 1976, Viv had an incredible average rate of 90.00 with seven centuries in eleven tests and 1760 runs. His resilient cricket playing made him the captain of the West Indies International Cricket team.
Richards is friends with Ian Botham
Richards made his international test cricket debut in 1974. In the same test series against India, he scored 192. Richards played excellent cricket helping West Indies to win their inaugural World Cup match in 1975. Later, again in 1979, West Indies won the world cup, and Sir Richards was a part of this winning match.
Sachin Tendulkar said in honor of Sir Richards–
"My other regret is not having played against my childhood hero Sir Vivian Richards. I was fortunate to have played against him in county cricket, but I still rue not being able to play against him in an international match,"
Later, from 1985 to 1991, Sir Richards remained the captain of the national team of the West Indies. He is the only player never to lose any of the test series he captained. Richards is also one of the five Wisden Cricketers of West Indies, coming after Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs, and Shane Warne.
Viv Richards Cricket Career
His cricket career is full of some wonderful cricket scores. Here is a brief overview of the cricket score of Viv–
| Format | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 6s | Cts | Sts |
| Test | 121 | 182 | 12 | 8540 | 291 | 50.23 | 24 | 45 | 84 | 122 | 0 | ||
| ODI | 187 | 167 | 24 | 6721 | 189* | 47.00 | 7451 | 90.20 | 11 | 45 | 100 | 0 | |
| FC | 507 | 796 | 63 | 36212 | 322 | 49.40 | 114 | 162 | 464 | 1 | |||
| List A | 500 | 466 | 61 | 16995 | 189* | 41.96 | 26 | 109 | 238 | 0 |
Bowling
| Format | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBm | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
| Test | 121 | 103 | 5170 | 1964 | 32 | 2/17 | 3/51 | 61.37 | 2.27 | 161.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODI | 187 | 131 | 5644 | 4228 | 118 | 6/41 | 6/41 | 35.83 | 4.49 | 47.8 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| FC | 507 | 23220 | 10070 | 223 | 5/88 | 45.15 | 2.60 | 104.1 | 1 | 0 | |||
| List A | 500 | 12214 | 8872 | 290 | 6/24 | 6/24 | 30.59 | 4.35 | 42.1 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Words fall short in describing what Viv Richards has done for global cricket. But the curious fans have no bounds. Here are some popular questions about the cricket genius; you may find them interesting.
In 1999, the Antiguan government created Sir Richards a Knight of the Order of the National Hero, for his contribution to cricket. For his Knighthood, Sir Richards is called Sir.
Although Sir Ruchahrds left the field, he has not gone too far. He joined the Indian Premier League team Delhi Daredevil as their mentor. He also mentored the Quetta Gladiators from 2016 to 2022 in Pakistan Super League.
Sir Richards has a strike rate of 47.83.
Sir Richards’ daughter is Masaba Gupta. In 1989, Sir Richards got married to Neena Gupta, an actress, and they had a daughter named Masaba Gupta. Richard and Neena Gupta never got married, but they welcomed Masaba as their daughter.
Sir Viv!
Sir Viv is probably the only cricketer to be appointed as Officer of the order of the British Empire. The government of his native country also honored him with Knighthood. In 1986, Sir Richards scored the fastest century in the history of test cricket.
Holding several records and honors, Sir Viv Richards has left an honorable legacy behind as a cricketer.
