Viv Richards’ 189 not out still stands as a record

by A.C. de Silva

CRICKET: Isac VIvian Alexander Richards is his name and his name turned out to be big in quick time on the cricket scene. Affectionately known as “Viv” to the cricketing fraternity, he was a former West Indian cricket captain. He has many good batting performances during his career which consisted of 121 Test matches and 87 ODIs.

However, there is one performance that stands head and shoulders above all other performances. That performance was in the one-day international against England at Old Trafford in 1984 where he made a marvellous knock of 189 not out thereby destroying the England bowling. It emphasised his genius - no other West Indian could come near him at that time. His highest in Test is 291.

Sri Lankan cricket fans will remember Richards for a long time as he made his one-day debut against Sri Lanka at Manchester on June 7th 1975 and he really hit-the top with that record-breaking knock against England.

When Richards was born on March 7 in 1952 in St. John’s in Antigua, it turned out to be somewhat of a signal that a outstanding cricketer was on the way to propel West Indies cricket on the long run. Though he moved about as virtually unknown Antiguan in April 1974, everyone from the indestructible Brian Close down to the junior pros, soon realised that he was special.

The Richards’ Law is an overriding principle. When it applies, everything else sinks into the background. It is a simple enough law. It brings out the principle that champion batsmen are a law unto themselves. They do what they want. And who can stop them?

`King’ Richards conquered Delhi on that particular day. His foray on the Kotla came in 1974 when he made his first hundred. They said then he was lucky. Kirmani put down the simplest of catches off Venkatraghavan, the Indian captain.

His second visit there in ‘83 was none too memorable. Whoever heard of Richards being caught at silly point and that too off a faulty defensive stroke? It did happen though.

Richards came back to the Kotla as the supremo of West Indian cricket. And this at a time when they had begun to question his role as a commander. The make-or-break Test for a leader was ahead of him. There aren’t many men in the West Indian batting who are capable of doing what Richards can. He was well aware of that.

Critics silenced

Not many better match-winning innings have been seen in modern cricket. Especially not one so obviously aggressive and yet so superbly organised as to combine a destructive power with constructive state of mind. Richards could not afford to fail and he did not.

The Richards Law again. When you have to go out and do it yourself, you cannot fail. Excuses are only for those who do not succeeded.

They said that his form had not been too good at the start of the Tests then. Statistics are not to be refuted. Richards waved his bat at a ball way wide of off stump to gift his wicket to Chetam Sharma in that particular first innings.

The Indians could not believe their luck. Suddenly, it was a cricket match. In fact, more than a match because one side had been dismissed for 75 and that side was coming back.

No captain could have experienced such adverse circumstances as Dilip Vengasarkar did in his very first Test. There was the fuss over the announcement of his appointment.

Then came the Ravi Shastri issue. That was nothing compared to the fitness problems. First Azharuddin pulled out and then Mohinder Amarnath. The circumstances were such a hospital would have done well had it sponsored the Indian team for the first Test.

Vengasarkar won the toss but who would have thought then than this was a curse rather than a blessing. The Kotla strip did look firm before the match but its character was not seen to be out of the ordinary. Any captain who won toss would have batted. It was not only early winter. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the atmosphere either.

What a disaster the innings proved. Richards himself agreed that the switch to Test cricket was the major factor behind the sensational collapse of the first day on which 18 wickets fell, a record high in a Test in India.

The ball kept swinging and seaming and the scene could have been straight out of a series in England.

Everything happened too quickly. There were a few hundred spectators at the ground, less than for a inter-office match in Bombay or Madras. They were dumbstruck at this spectacle of nine-pins. They did not know whether to laugh or cry. `Oh! Sunny, where are you?’ was the headline in a Delhi newspaper. All knew the master was missing.

Only once in his career did Gavaskar not play in the first Test of a series. That was in his debut series when an injury kept him out. Now he will not be playing Tests at all. Even a blind man would be able to sense the void. But then what is the point in bringing his name into an Indian collapse.

There is an Indian Batting Code too but its clauses, unlike those of the players’ contracts, are top secret.

In his very early years, he was widely known for his habits of nonchalantly chewing gum while playing and preferring to wear a cap rather than a cricket-helmet even against the fastest bowlers. his audacious stroke play, characterised by his ability to crack straight balls through mid-wicket, and his fearless hooking of fellow Antiguan Andy Roberts astound his team-mates.

Off the field he was shy, polite, shunning the limelight, but then he entered the arena ready to bat, he commanded the stage. After a couple of seasons the mere sight of Richards walking out to bat intimidated county bowlers, his entire attitude was transformed.His entrance, slow and measured, with a hint of a swagger, was in itself a declaration of intent, he was going to dominate the bowlers, and the greater their reputation the more determined he was to assert his mastery. Batting was his foray and he scored 8,540 runs in Tests and 6,721 runs in One-Day Internationals. His average in Tests was 50.23 and in One-Day Internationals 47.00. He had 24 centuries and 45 half-centuries in Tests, while in One-Day Internationals, he made 11 centuries and 45 half-centuries. Often his most memorable innings were played against the cream of English bowling, Bob Willis and Derek Underwood. If they were the best around they must be somewhat annoyed.

However, what impressed his colleagues and separated him from many of the contenders for the title `Best Batsman in the world’ was his uncanny ability to produce match-winning innings on the big occasion.

In eight Lord’s finals - five for Somerset and three for the West Indies in World Cup - he has failed just once - at least by normal standards - and on that occasion, back in 1975, his fielding above altered the course of the match. he was heard saying: “I’ll admit that I like showing off and a final at Lord’s is the best possible platform. When I was batting, I wanted to make sure that no one else was going to come in. It was my stage.”

He has, of course, played many astonishing innings; his double centuries in 1976, which established that he was the best; the fastest century (56 balls) against England in Antigua; his 322 in a day for somerset against Warwickshire.

Vivian Richards had a hand in a couple of world records.

1. He was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1977.

2. Selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century 2000.

3. He also played soccer for the Antigua national team, appearing in qualifying matches for the 1974 World Cup.

4. In 1976, he created a world record of 1,710 Test runs in a single calendar year, including 829 runs at an average of 118.42 in the four-match series away to England.

5. Still holds the record for the most sixes - 84 - hit at Test level.

Right now, he is attached to the commentary team and is also a coach.