Sir Vivian Richards (cricketer)

Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards dominated world cricket during the 1970s and 1980s with an aggressive, swaggering, and fearless batting style.

Born:  7 March 1952 in St. John’s, Antigua

Age: 74

Nicknames:  Master Blaster and King Viv

Versatile: A highly gifted athlete, he played international football for Antigua in the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Debut: Made his Test debut for the West Indies in November 1974 against India alongside Gordon Greenidge. He scored an unbeaten 192 in just his second match.

World Cup Glory: Played a key role in the West Indies’ consecutive ICC Cricket World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979. In the 1979 final at Lord’s, he smashed a legendary 138 not out against England.

The Golden Year (1976): Scored an astonishing 1,710 Test runs in a single calendar year at an average of 90.00, smashing 7 centuries. This stood as a world record for 30 years until broken by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006.

Fearless: Played in an era of terrifyingly fast bowlers completely without a batting helmet, relying entirely on his eyesight and quick reflexes. Remarkably, across 182 Test innings, he was never once dismissed for a first-ball duck.

Eye Injury (1984): Suffered from pterygium and underwent eye surgery in 1984. While this affected his reflexes and dropped his peak average from 66.51 to a career-end 50.23, he remained one of the best batters in the world.

Unbeaten Record: Succeeded Clive Lloyd as captain in 1985. He captained the West Indies in 50 Test matches, winning 27, and remains the only West Indies captain to never lose a Test series.

Anti-Apartheid Stance: Strongly used his platform to oppose South Africa’s apartheid regime, refusing lucrative ‘rebel tour’ offers and advocating for one man, one vote.

Test Record: Played 121 Test matches, scoring 8,540 runs at an average of 50.23, including 24 centuries and 32 wickets with his off-spin.

ODI Record: Played 187 ODIs, scoring 6,721 runs at a revolutionary strike rate of 90.20, with 11 centuries and 118 wickets.

Fastest Century: Smashed a 56-ball Test century against England in Antigua (1986), which held the world record for the fastest Test century for three decades.

Domestic Master: Amassed 36,212 First-Class runs and became the first Caribbean player to score 100 first-class centuries. He had highly successful county stints in England with Somerset and Glamorgan.

Knighthood: Knighted by the Antiguan government in 1999 for his monumental services to cricket and elevated to National Hero status.

Cricketer of the Century: Voted as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century in 2000.

Stadium Honour: The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, was constructed and named in his honour for the 2007 World Cup.

Hall of Fame: Inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.