Master blaster - Calypso style. Review on Vivian Richards

There are geniuses and then there are geniuses. If Albert Einstein changed the world with his revolutionary Theory of Relativity and William Shakespeare lent a totally new meaning to the world of classic literature, Sir Issac Vivian Alexander Richards strode like a colossus on the cricket grounds around the world enthralling and entertaining cricket lovers everywhere with his exploits.

That a man of his stature whose earthly nomenclature comprises the names of four of the greatest Emperors to have set foot on earth should go on to conquer all the bowlers that he faced was but natural. “King Viv”, as he was fondly called, made a staggering 8,540 runs in 121 test matches at an average of more than 50, making him the leading batsman in West Indies cricket history. He made 24 Test centuries with a best of 291 against England. In 147 One-Day Internationals, he made 6,721 runs with a best of 189 not out in England in 1984 for an average of 47.00. incidentally, he also holds the world record for hitting the maximum number of sixers in test cricket – 86 of them!

Born in At. John’s, Antigua, in 1952, Richards made his international debut against India in 1974-75 and scored his maiden test century (192 not out studded with 6 sixes and 20 fours) in the second test. From then on, he was a constant thorn and torture for nearly all bowlers of his generation. The century that he scored against in the fifth test against England in early 1986 (110 not out) which included 7 sixes was the quickest ever test century at that time in terms of number of balls received (56) and enabled the West Indies to win the series 5-0. Most of his stupendous century innings often came in times of adversity, when his team was all but virtually shut out of the match. Apart from being a blazing batsman, he was also a very handy bowler though that still doesn’t qualify him to be an “All Rounder”.

Nicknamed “Smokin' Joe”, because of his strong resemblance to the Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Joe Frazier, he was responsible for one of the finest batting displays in One Day cricket. It was a warm summer day in May in the first of the three one-day games at the Old Trafford, Manchester. He came to the crease when his team was precariously placed at 11 for two, with the much celebrated pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes back in the pavilion. In walked Richards and he went on to hand out to England the most expensive punishment in the history of limited-overs cricket in that game. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals at the other end and at 166 for nine, the West Indies seemed to truly looking down the barrel. It was then that Richards shifted into a higher gear with a display of dazzling strokes and a fury unseen by the Englishmen till then. 14 overs to go with Michael Holding for company...not many would have expected the innings to go the full distance of 55 overs. These final 14 overs produced 106 runs of which Richard's share was a swashbuckling 93! Such was the audacity of his batting that he had 21 boundaries. So great was his power that one of his five sixes cleared the ground at the Warwick Road end. By the time the stipulated 55 overs were completed, the West Indies had recovered to a healthy looking 272 with the man responsible for it remaining unbeaten on 189 off just 170 deliveries. Legend has it that that one innings dealt a psychological blow and devastated the English team for the rest of the season!

Richards, who contributed to West Indies’ World Cup victories in both 1975 and 1979 and had become one of the most prolific run-makers in the history of the game, took over the captaincy from Clive Lloyd and proceeded to lead the team through their most successful era ever. He captained them to 27 wins in 50 Tests between 1980 and 1991 while losing just 8 and drawing the rest.

The very sight of Richards walking out onto the field with his bat, chewing gum and smiling as though on his way to the beach for a holiday was enough to unnerve the opposition. Imran Khan aptly summed it up when he once said that the best way to get Richards out was by boring him! Richards on the field at the batting end was a spectators’ delight. To put it in typical tapori language, watching him send the opposition bowlers on a leather hunt was “fultoo paisa vasool”.

I can’t resist inserting a small anecdote here. Viv Richards was and is probably the only batsman to be out for a duck three times in a match! Richards was a huge star in his hometown of Antigua and the literally the entire island had come to St. John's Park to see him play in a Red Stripe game (similar to our Ranji Trophy). Antigua batted first and the crowd politely applauded the openers' efforts while waiting for one of them to make a mistake and get himself out. Soon enough one did, and the entire crowd exploded when their favourite son stepped out to bat. First ball, Richards nicked a catch to the keeper. The umpire had no hesitation in ruling him out and a disappointed Richards trudged slowly back to the dressing room. Before he could reach there, the crowd went wild and pressurised the umpire to revoke his decision. Reluctantly, Richards came back but not for long. After facing a couple of dot balls, he was dismissed again and the crowd, let it go at that. Richards however made it to history books when he got out for another duck in the second innings too!

A look at his batting statistics proves that he relished feasting on the poor opposition, irrespective of which country it was. Richards scored his 8000th run in the first test against Australia in early 1991 but struggled for form throughout the series, which the Windies took 2-1. Realising that his time was up, Richards retired from test cricket after the series against England in 1991, which ended 2-2. He was knighted for his contribution to cricket in 1999. He was also honoured by the Antiguan Government which named a street after him. Richards was voted the best international cricketer of the past twenty-five years by his peers in a poll conducted by Wisden in the same year.

Like most of his contemporaries, Richards played county cricket in England between 1974 and 1986. He first represented Somerset and helped them to their first major domestic trophies: the Gillette Cup and the John Player Sunday League title in 1979. He then finished his county career playing for Glamorgan between 1990 and 1993 and wrapped it up in style as his side won the 1993 Sunday League campaign. Richards took over as coach to the West Indies side in 1999 but had to step down shortly thereafter on the back of an indifferent performance by the team.

Popularly known as “The Master Blaster”, the very mention of his name would fill entire stadiums and people would clap, applaud and enjoy at the sight of Richards flay the bowling attack and making the bowlers look foolish in the process. It would be wrong to say that Richards had a lot of talent and was a technically adept batsman. Technique and grace were two words conspicuous by their absence in his dictionary. He was all raw power and brutal fury converted into the art of batsmanship. To see him in action sending fielders helter-skelter without a clue as to what was going on was a sight for the eyes.