Test Cricket 1970s and 1980s - Top Batsmen

 (27 November 1970 to 16 April 1990)

Sunil Gavaskar led the charge in the 1970s with a tremendous series in the West Indies, 774 runs in four Test matches, including a double century and century in the same Test. He never looked back, becoming the first to scale the Everest of 10,000 Test runs, earlier going past the inimitable Don Bradman’s 35-year-old record of 29 hundreds, setting a new benchmark for Sachin Tendulkar to surpass.

Greg Chappell made his Test debut just before Gavaskar, an upright, elegant player who overhauled Bradman’s Australian record aggregate of 6996 runs. The supercilious marauder Vivian Richards arrived a few years later, followed by the impish, street-smart Javed Mianded. The left-handed gritty fighter Allan Border followed suit, and went on to top Gavaskar’s aggregate, becoming the first to post 11,000 Test runs. Meanwhile, the copybook opener Geoff Boycott carried over his broad blade from the 1960s. All of them scored over 5000 Test runs and averaged above 50 in this golden age of the 1970s and 1980s.

Two other Australians, Ian Redpath and Dean Jones, averaged over 50, hitting up more than 2500 Test runs. Even in the evening of his brilliant career, the great Gary Sobers crashed 1256 runs in 17 Tests in the 1970s, at an average of 52.33 with a highest of 178 not out with 5 hundreds and 4 fifties. Two openers Charlie Davis of the West Indies, and Mark Taylor of Australia, averaged in the mid-60s while notching up over 1000 runs. Davis averaged 66.56 for his 1065 runs, and Taylor averaged 64.72 as he scored 1618 runs.

David Gower, Gordon Greenidge, Dilip Vengsarkar, Clive Lloyd, Gundappa Viswanath, Desmond Haynes, Ian Botham and Zaheer Abbas crafted over 5000 runs in this period. All of them averaged in the 40s, except allrounder Botham who scored 34.35 runs per innings. Several other batsmen scored over 2000 runs and averaged above 40.

Top Rungetters (minimum 5000 runs)

Sunil Gavaskar (India), Tests 125, Highest Score 236*, Runs 10122, Average 51.12, Hundreds 34, Fifties 45

Allan Border (Australia), Tests 115, Highest Score 205, Runs 8701, Average 53.38, Hundreds 23, Fifties 48

Vivian Richards (West Indies), Tests 111, Highest Score 291, Runs 7990, Average 51.21, Hundreds 24, Fifties 38

Javed Miandad (Pakistan), Tests 104, Highest Score 280*, Runs 7891, Average 56.36, Hundreds 22, Fifties 38

David Gower (England), Tests 106, Highest Score 215, Runs 7383, Average 43.42, Hundreds 15, Fifties 37

Gordon Greenidge (West Indies), Tests 100, Highest Score 223, Runs 7134, Average 46.02, Hundreds 18, Fifties 34

Greg Chappell (Australia), Tests 87, Highest Score 247*, Runs 7110, Average 53.86, Hundreds 24, Fifties 31

Dilip Vengsarkar (India), Tests 107, Highest Score 166, Runs 6545, Average 44.22, Hundreds 17, Fifties 32

Clive Lloyd (West Indies), Tests 92, Highest Score 242*, Runs 6356, Average 48.51, Hundreds 16, Fifties 34

Gundappa Viswanath (India), Tests 87, Highest Score 222, Runs 5746, Average 41.63, Hundreds 13, Fifties 33

Desmond Haynes (West Indies), Tests 89, Highest Score 184, Runs 5711, Average 41.99, Hundreds 14, Fifties 31

Geoff Boycott (England), Tests 67, Highest Score 191, Runs 5505, Average 50.50, Hundreds 16, Fifties 29

Ian Botham (England), Tests 97, Highest Score 208, Runs 5119, Average 34.35, Hundreds 14, Fifties 22

Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan), Tests 77, Highest Score 274, Runs 5023, Average 45.25, Hundreds 12, Fifties 20

 

Best Averages (minimum 2000 runs and average of 50 and above)

Javed Miandad (Pakistan), Tests 104, Highest Score 280*, Runs 7891, Average 56.36, Hundreds 22, Fifties 38

Greg Chappell (Australia), Tests 87, Highest Score 247*, Runs 7110, Average 53.86, Hundreds 24, Fifties 31

Allan Border (Australia), Tests 115, Highest Score 205, Runs 8701, Average 53.38, Hundreds 23, Fifties 48

Dean Jones (Australia), Tests 34, Highest Score 216, Runs 2637, Average 51.70, Hundreds 9, Fifties 9

Vivian Richards (West Indies), Tests 111, Highest Score 291, Runs 7990, Average 51.21, Hundreds 24, Fifties 38

Sunil Gavaskar (India), Tests 125, Highest Score 236*, Runs 10122, Average 51.12, Hundreds 34, Fifties 45

Ian Redpath (Australia), Tests 29, Highest Score 171, Runs 2578, Average 50.54, Hundreds 7, Fifties 15

Geoff Boycott (England), Tests 67, Highest Score 191, Runs 5505, Average 50.50, Hundreds 16, Fifties 29

 

Best Averages (minimum 1000 runs but below 2000 runs, and average of 50 and above)

Charlie Davis (West Indies), Tests 11, Highest Score 183, Runs 1065, Average 66.56, Hundreds 3, Fifties 4

Mark Taylor (Australia), Tests 15, Highest Score 219, Runs 1618, Average 64.72, Hundreds 6, Fifties 8

Gary Sobers (West Indies), Tests 17, Highest Score 178*, Runs 1256, Average 52.33, Hundreds 5, Fifties 4

 

Best Averages (minimum 2000 runs and average of 40 and above, but below 50)

Dennis Amiss (England), Tests 45, Highest Score 262*, Runs 3487, Average 49.11, Hundreds 11, Fifties 11

Mohammad Azharuddin (India), Tests 37, Highest Score 199, Runs 2527, Average 48.59, Hundreds 8, Fifties 9

Clive Lloyd (West Indies), Tests 92, Highest Score 242*, Runs 6356, Average 48.51, Hundreds 16, Fifties 34

Glenn Turner (New Zealand), Tests 32, Highest Score 259, Runs 2441, Average 47.86, Hundreds 6, Fifties 11

Ian Chappell (Australia), Tests 44, Highest Score 196, Runs 3578, Average 47.07, Hundreds 10, Fifties 18

Richie Richardson (West Indies), Tests 49, Highest Score 194, Runs 3515, Average 46.25, Hundreds 10, Fifties 13

Gordon Greenidge (West Indies), Tests 100, Highest Score 223, Runs 7134, Average 46.02, Hundreds 18, Fifties 34

Roy Fredericks (West Indies), Tests 49, Highest Score 169, Runs 3809, Average 45.89, Hundreds 8, Fifties 22

Martin Crowe (New Zealand), Tests 48, Highest Score 188, Runs 3288, Average 45.66, Hundreds 11, Fifties 11

Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan), Tests 77, Highest Score 274, Runs 5023, Average 45.25, Hundreds 12, Fifties 20

Alvin Kallicharran (West Indies), Tests 66, Highest Score 187, Runs 4399, Average 44.43, Hundreds 12, Fifties 21

Dilip Vengsarkar (India), Tests 107, Highest Score 166, Runs 6545, Average 44.22, Hundreds 17, Fifties 32

Lawrence Rowe (West Indies), Tests 30, Highest Score 302, Runs 2047, Average 43.55, Hundreds 7, Fifties 7

David Gower (England), Tests 106, Highest Score 215, Runs 7383, Average 43.42, Hundreds 15, Fifties 37

Mohinder Amarnath (India), Tests 68, Highest Score 138, Runs 4362, Average 42.76, Hundreds 11, Fifties 24

Doug Walters (Australia), Tests 49, Highest Score 250, Runs 3107, Average 42.56, Hundreds 8, Fifties 19

Asif Iqbal (Pakistan), Tests 41, Highest Score 175, Runs 2703, Average 42.23, Hundreds 10, Fifties 7

Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan), Tests 35, Highest Score 201, Runs 2449, Average 42.22, Hundreds 8, Fifties 12

Desmond Haynes (West Indies), Tests 89, Highest Score 184, Runs 5711, Average 41.99, Hundreds 14, Fifties 31

Salim Malik (Pakistan), Tests 57, Highest Score 119*, Runs 2718, Average 41.81, Hundreds 7, Fifties 15

Gundappa Viswanath (India), Tests 87, Highest Score 222, Runs 5746, Average 41.63, Hundreds 13, Fifties 33

Majid Khan (Pakistan), Tests 53, Highest Score 167, Runs 3584, Average 41.19, Hundreds 8, Fifties 17

Keith Fletcher (England), Tests 53, Highest Score 216, Runs 3045, Average 41.14, Hundreds 7, Fifties 18

Graham Yallop (Australia), Tests 39, Highest Score 268, Runs 2756, Average 41.13, Hundreds 8, Fifties 9

John Edrich (England), Tests 37, Highest Score 175, Runs 2427, Average 41.13, Hundreds 4, Fifties 14

Tony Greig (England), Tests 58, Highest Score 148, Runs 3599, Average 40.43, Hundreds 8, Fifties 20

 

Full Career of those who also played in eras before or after

Allan Border (Australia, 1978-94), Tests 156, Highest Score 205, Runs 11174, Average 50.56, Hundreds 27, Fifties 63

Graham Gooch (England, 1975-95), Tests 118, Highest Score 333, Runs 8900, Average 42.58, Hundreds 20, Fifties 46

Javed Miandad (Pakistan, 1976-93), Tests 124, Highest Score 280*, Runs 8832, Average 52.57, Hundreds 23, Fifties 43

Vivian Richards (West Indies, 1975-91), Tests 121, Highest Score 291, Runs 8540, Average 50.23, Hundreds 24, Fifties 45

David Gower (England, 1978-92), Tests 117, Highest Score 215, Runs 8231, Average 44.25, Hundreds 18, Fifties 39

Geoff Boycott (England, 1964-82), Tests 108, Highest Score 246*, Runs 8114, Average 47.72, Hundreds 22, Fifties 42

Gary Sobers (West Indies, 1954-74), Tests 93, Highest Score 365*, Runs 8032, Average 57.78, Hundreds 26, Fifties 30

Gordon Greenidge (West Indies, 1974-91), Tests 108, Highest Score 226, Runs 7558, Average 44.72, Hundreds 19, Fifties 34

Mark Taylor (Australia, 1989-99), Tests 104, Highest Score 186, Runs 7525, Average 43.49, Hundreds 19, Fifties 40

Clive Lloyd (West Indies, 1966-85), Tests 110, Highest Score 242*, Runs 7515, Average 46.67, Hundreds 19, Fifties 39

Desmond Haynes (West Indies, 1978-94), Tests 116, Highest Score 184, Runs 7487, Average 42.29, Hundreds 18, Fifties 39

David Boon (Australia, 1984-96), Tests 107, Highest Score 200, Runs 7422, Average 43.65, Hundreds 21, Fifties 32

Dilip Vengsarkar (India, 1976-92), Tests 116, Highest Score 166, Runs 6868, Average 42.13, Hundreds 17, Fifties 35

Rohan Kanhai (West Indies, 1957-74), Tests 79, Highest Score 256, Runs 6227, Average 47.53, Hundreds 15, Fifties 28

Mohammad Azharuddin (India, 1984-2000), Tests 99, Highest Score 199, Runs 6215, Average 45.03, Hundreds 22 Fifties 21

Gundappa Viswanath (India, 1969-83), Tests 91, Highest Score 222, Runs 6080, Average 41.93, Hundreds 14, Fifties 35

Richie Richardson (West Indies, 1983-95), Tests 86, Highest Score 194, Runs 5949, Average 44.39, Hundreds 16, Fifties 27

Salim Malik (Pakistan, 1982-99), Tests 103, Highest Score 237, Runs 5768, Average 43.69, Hundreds 15, Fifties 29

Martin Crowe (New Zealand, 1982-95), Tests 77, Highest Score 299, Runs 5444, Average 45.36, Hundreds 17, Fifties 18

Doug Walters (Australia, 1965-81), Tests 74, Highest Score 250, Runs 5357, Average 48.26, Hundreds 15, Fifties 33

Ian Chappell (Australia, 1964-80), Tests 75, Highest Score 196, Runs 5345, Average 42.42, Hundreds 14, Fifties 26

Ian Botham (England, 1977-92), Tests 102, Highest Score 208, Runs 5200, Average 33.54, Hundreds 14, Fifties 22

John Edrich (England, 1963-76), Tests 77, Highest Score 310*, Runs 5138, Average 43.54, Hundreds 12, Fifties 24

Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan, 1969-85), Tests 78, Highest Score 274, Runs 5062, Average 44.79, Hundreds 12, Fifties 20

Ian Redpath (Australia, 1964-76), Tests 66, Highest Score 171, Runs 4737, Average 43.45, Hundreds 8, Fifties 31

Mohinder Amarnath (India, 1969-88), Tests 69, Highest Score 138, Runs 4378, Average 42.50, Hundreds 11, Fifties 24

Roy Fredericks (West Indies, 1968-77, Tests 59, Highest Score 169, Runs 4334, Average 42.49, Hundreds 8, Fifties 26

Majid Khan (Pakistan, 1964-83), Tests 63, Highest Score 167, Runs 3931, Average 38.92, Hundreds 8, Fifties 19

Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan, 1959-79), Tests 57, Highest Score 201, Runs 3643, Average 39.17, Hundreds 10, Fifties 19

Dean Jones (Australia, 1984-92), Tests 52, Highest Score 216, Runs 3631, Average 46.55, Hundreds 11, Fifties 14

Dennis Amiss (England, 1966-77), Tests 50, Highest Score 262*, Runs 3612, Average 46.30, Hundreds 11, Fifties 11

Asif Iqbal (Pakistan, 1964-80), Tests 58, Highest Score 175, Runs 3575, Average 38.85, Hundreds 11, Fifties 12

Keith Fletcher (England, 1968-82), Tests 59, Highest Score 216, Runs 3272, Average 39.90, Hundreds 7, Fifties 19

Glenn Turner (New Zealand, 1969-83), Tests 41, Highest Score 259, Runs 2991, Average 44.64, Hundreds 7, Fifties 14

Graham Yallop (Australia, 1976-84), Tests 39, Highest Score 268, Runs 2756, Average 41.13, Hundreds 8, Fifties 9

On the 40th anniversary of India’s triumph in the cricket World Cup 1983, interview with skipper Kapil Dev published in Indra Vikram Singh’s ‘The Big Book of World Cup Cricket’

 

What did your 1983 World Cup team have that the 1975 and 1979 Indian sides did not?

Self-belief. We had a good tour of the West Indies prior to the 1983 World Cup. We levelled the One-day series 1-1 before losing the decider. It was not a joke to beat the West Indies in those days. Once we beat them (in Berbice, Guyana), we realised that we could beat anyone. Besides we had a number of allrounders. If you consider that men like Kirti Azad and Madan Lal – who batted at no.7 and no.9 for us – have scored 16 Ranji Trophy centuries each, it becomes apparent that we had tremendous batting depth. Imagine a player like Syed Kirmani was batting at no.10! Even last-man Balwinder Singh Sandhu could bat. We had attacking batsmen (Krish Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil and Kapil himself) and also those like Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar and Yash Pal Sharma who could see us through the 60 overs. Our fielding was safe rather than brilliant, though men like Roger Binny and Yash Pal were outstanding. Gavaskar did a great job in the slips and Kirmani was a fine wicketkeeper.

No one except Kim Hughes gave your team even an outside chance to win the Cup. Were you surprised at your team’s performance?

Definitely, I was surprised. But everything was clicking for us then. We had belief in ourselves. Victory over the West Indies in the first match of the World Cup gave a kick-start to our campaign. We can win, we thought after this. Our attitude was very good.

 

In retrospect, you did have a very good One-day side.

I agree we had a good team.

 

Would you say that it was your innings against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells that turned the tide? You went on to win four matches in a row to lift the Cup quite sensationally.

Rather than my innings, what was critical was that the thought of losing never crossed our minds. There was a terrific bond within that team.

 

Was the wicket seaming a lot on that day?

You know that matches started at 11 A.M. in England thanks to their long hours of daylight during summer. Even at that hour the ball was nipping around. Crucially, our batsmen kept edging instead of missing. As wickets tumbled, the pressure kept building up. Soon it was 9 for four wickets (when Kapil went in to bat, and then 17 for five).

 

Did the pitch ease out as your innings progressed?

Yes, it improved and we were able to build up a good total.

 

Personally too you had a brilliant World Cup in 1983, with bat and ball. Was that your finest hour, or was the Test wickets record more exhilarating?

The World Cup win brought recognition to Indian cricket. It brought about a massive change as far as One-day cricket was concerned in India. Earlier our One-day record was poor. This victory was not a fluke; we went on to win the World Championship of cricket in Australia in 1985. We became a force to reckon with. Even though Test cricket is the ultimate, the World Cup triumph was extremely important for us. People talk about my innings of 175 against Zimbabwe, but look at our team effort and the fine combination we had. Medium-pacers Binny, Madan Lal and Sandhu were the key. For variety we had left-arm spinner Ravi Shastri. Let’s not forget the bowling of Amarnath (slow-medium) and Kirti Azad (quickish off-breaks). In the semi-final at Manchester – where the ball invariably swings around – it was turning and keeping low that day. These two were first-class. They pegged England back and bowled 24 overs between themselves (conceding just 55 runs and picking up three wickets), leaving my main bowlers with plenty of overs in hand. After Amarnath and Kirti had bowled 6 overs each, they would look at me at the beginning of each over and wonder if I would keep them on. I just kept them on and on. Our fielding was also very sharp that day.

 

Are you aware that you are still the only player to score a century and bag a five-wicket haul in all the World Cups put together?

(Expresses surprise).

 

What were your thoughts on the morning of the final?

We felt we had nothing to lose.

 

Your total of 183 could not have inspired confidence.

They gave us a green top on which the ball was flying around. The great West Indies fast bowlers Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding made it very tough for us.

 

Was the ball still moving around when you bowled?

It seamed the whole day. I bowled four maidens, which would not have been possible if the ball was not seaming around.

 

Gordon Greenidge shouldered arms and was bowled. Sandhu said he thought he had bowled an out-swinger but the ball came in.

It happens sometimes. Once you release the ball you can’t always be sure what it will do. At times I would attempt an out-swinger and the ball would come in after hitting the seam. Sandhu was bowling from the Nursery End from where the ball generally goes away from the right-hander due to the slope at Lord’s. But that delivery seamed in sharply.

 

At which stage did you think that you could win? Richards’ dismissal? Lloyd’s dismissal? Or later?

Vivian Richards was obviously an awesome player but even though we managed to dismiss him, Clive Lloyd was still there. And we knew what Lloyd had done in the 1975 final. But soon Lloyd (who had a strained groin and Desmond Haynes as runner) hit a catch to me at cover. Then wickets started tumbling.

 

Surely at 76 for six, you had the match in the bag.

What was important was that their top six batsmen – Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Larry Gomes and Faoud Bacchus – were out.

 

Do you think the West Indies batsmen were complacent?

No. When a batsman goes in, he tries his best. It’s pressure that gets batsmen in such situations. It was a World Cup final. The fielding side is always less nervous at times such as this. Ultimately, pressure got to the West Indies.

 

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3

Fully illustrated

Hardcover with jacket 11.5 x 8.75 x 1 inches

544 pages

Available at an attractive price on Amazon https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166840

Aravinda de Silva, superb, compact technique coupled with exhilarating strokeplay. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva, on the other hand, was a gifted batsman. During the early stages of his career he would play brilliant cameos before throwing his wicket away through poor shot selection. For this he was called ‘Mad Max’. Gradually he learnt to temper himself and matured into one of the most exciting strokeplayers of modern times. In many ways, one felt, he was a more aggressive version of Gavaskar.

In fact the Indian maestro was initially an attacking player, with a penchant for the hook shot. But after the first flush of his memorable maiden series, when success became harder to come by, Gavaskar developed into an accumulator of runs, rather than a destroyer of bowling. De Silva retained the sparkle, though it has to be said that he was a middle-order batsman who could indulge in strokeplay with greater freedom than Gavaskar whose primary task was to see off the new ball and take away the sting from those menacing pacemen. Gavaskar and de Silva were of similar stature, maybe the latter was even a wee bit shorter, both compact and well balanced and similarly correct in strokeplay.

De Silva would drive in glorious fashion through the covers, or cut off the back foot, and was quick to hook or pull the short ones. When he got into the groove he was liable to pull off a string of big scores. His highest Test score of 267 came against New Zealand in 1990-91, the same match in which Martin Crowe registered his personal best of 299. De Silva scored centuries in each innings of a Test twice, against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo in 1996-97, when he was unbeaten in both innings, and against India on the same ground the next season.

His most prolific year was 1997 when he amassed 1220 runs at an average of 76.25 with 7 hundreds, the most since Vivian Richards got as many 21 years earlier. In his 93 Tests, de Silva logged up 6361 runs at an average of 42.97 with 20 centuries.

The 1996 World Cup was memorable for de Silva’s superb strokeplay. His 91 against Zimbabwe was followed by 145 versus Kenya, the highest for Sri Lanka in a One-dayer. In the semi-final he hit 66 of the 85 runs scored while he was in, against India. In the final he brought up victory with his unbeaten 107. That was in addition to his stint of three for 42 with the ball. He was man-of-the-match in the semifinal as well as final. If the player-of-the-tournament award had not been decided before the semi-finals, it would surely have gone to de Silva. In the latter half of the nineties, de Silva was doubtlessly one of the three best batsmen in the world, the others being Tendulkar and Lara. There is nothing more to be said.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1

Vivian Richards…..monarch of all he surveyed. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

 

A batsman who many modern observers rate second to Bradman is Viv Richards. Sir Vivian was indeed king, monarch of all he surveyed in the sheer dominance of his strokeplay. He was mesmerised by Chandrasekhar on debut at Bangalore in 1974-75, and overshadowed by another first-timer Gordon Greenidge who nearly got a hundred in each innings. Richards set the record right in the very next Test.

I was fortunate to see that knock of his at the Ferozshah Kotla. At that time we knew nothing about the awesome strokeplay that he was capable of, but his power was certainly in evidence. One shot that has remained in my memory was the one he played while batting at the pavilion end. He hit one of the spinners straight and high, up above the big advertisement hoarding perched atop the stands, landing probably in the centre of the adjoining Ambedkar Football Stadium. I have never seen a cricket ball sailing that high ever again. Brijesh Patel, fielding at extra-cover, rolled his fingers around his eyes as though spotting the little spheroid with a pair of binoculars. It was a hit nobody ever forgets.

The other thing that I noticed was his dead-bat defence. Time and again during that long innings he would drop deliveries from the spinners Venkataraghavan, Prasanna and Bedi right under his eyes. He would then either bend down and pick up the ball, or tap it with his bat, passing it to the forward short-leg fielder Solkar. Whenever I hear people talk about Richards’ tremendous strokeplay, and how they felt he was vulnerable early in his innings because he whipped balls from outside his off-stump to the on-side, I always think back to that impregnable defence. Of course he was a blaster, but he was also a master for, like all the great players, he had a very good defence. People, particularly English ‘experts’, mocked at Bradman as well early in his career. Look what he did to them.

It was indeed a delight to see Richards bring up his first Test century and go on the rampage towards the latter stages, returning unconquered with 192. It was the beginning of the Richards saga. He was soon to become the best West Indies batsman and rule the world of cricket until he called it a day 16 years later. 

When the just-appointed England captain Tony Greig made a stupid statement before the 1976 series that he would make the West Indies “grovel”, Richards took it as a personal affront. He hammered the English bowling like no one else had done since Bradman in 1930. He slammed 232 at Trent Bridge, 135 at Old Trafford and 291, his highest Test score, at the Oval, aggregating 829 runs at an average of 118.42 in four Tests. Later Australia’s Mark Taylor got 10 more runs in England in 1989. Nobody has scored so many for the West Indies in a Test series. That year he hit up 1710 runs (in just the first eight months) at an average of 90 in 11 Tests with 7 hundreds. No one had scored as many runs in a year. The opposition: the great pace bowlers of Australia, Lillee and Thomson at their height, among others; the celebrated Indian spinners; and the pace and swing in England. The king had been crowned. It took another batsman, Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan, three decades to score more runs in a calendar year, 1788 with 9 hundreds, also in 11 Tests. 

A decade later in 1985-86, Richards blasted the fastest recorded hundred in terms of balls. He brought up his century in 56 deliveries before delighted home fans at St. John’s, Antigua, against England. 

Richards was the first batsman to dominate in Tests as well as One-day Internationals. If his electrifying fielding turned the World Cup final versus Australia in 1975, four years later his tremendous 139-run fifth-wicket stand with Collis King turned the second World Cup final. Richards scored 138 to raise a match-winning total. In 1984, also against England, he smashed the then highest-ever One-day International score of 189 not out. Michael Holding was a virtual bystander in an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 106. In 1987 he surpassed Kapil Dev’s World Cup record innings by crashing 181 off the Sri Lankan bowling at Karachi.

He took over the captaincy of the West Indies after Clive Lloyd retired in 1985 and under him the West Indies continued to rule world cricket in both its forms. They, however, could not reclaim the World Cup after the shocking defeat at the hands of India in 1983. 

When he called it a day, Richards had surpassed Sobers’ highest Test aggregate for the West Indies, finishing with 8540 runs at an average of 50.23 with 24 hundreds. A brilliant fielder anywhere, he also overtook Sobers in terms of catches, clutching 122 of his own. Add to this 6721 runs in One-day Internationals with an outstanding average of 47, and a strike rate of 90.20, the first to aggregate 1000 runs in the World Cup, and we have inarguably the best batsman in both forms of the game put together until Sachin Tendulkar took over the mantle.           

Statistics, though, scarcely tell the tale of one of the most self-assured cricketers ever. Helmets came into the game early in Richards’ career but he shunned them even when confronted with the fastest of bowlers. He would walk out to the crease proudly wearing his maroon West Indies cap, head tilted at a jaunty angle, chewing gum, as if strolling in a park looking at the birds on the trees. He could have been a character straight out of wild-west movies, aware of the danger but playing it cool, mind ever alert for a swift draw of his pistol. And, man, did he shoot them down, his powerful frame steering that heavy bat with great speed.

His haughty stance itself would put the jitters in the hearts of all but the most strong-hearted of bowlers. And then he would stun them by firing a bullet from outside the off-stump, screaming to the mid-wicket boundary before the startled fielders could even react. Yes, it was like a shot from a gun, not a stroke off a bat.

Richards made stroke-making look so natural, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. He would spot the ball early and then either take a big stride forward or rock back, or even step away to leg and whack the ball away. His stunning drives and pulls would leave the bowlers looking on in despair. Richards made a virtue of backing away to leg and hitting inside-out through the line. The desperation of the bowlers and fielding captains can then be imagined. To a ball pitched on or outside the off-stump, Richards could cream it across the line to the on-side; and to the delivery on or outside the leg-stump, he might loft it through the line on the off-side. If he chose to, he would just as well slam it in orthodox fashion. That is why captains were confused as to the field to employ, and the bowlers confounded regarding the line to bowl. That is also the reason why he scored so rapidly. 

They said he was vulnerable early because he was not copybook. That is only an illusion thrown up by mere theorists. Which batsman is not vulnerable early in his innings? If he were that vulnerable, he would have been sorted out early in his career by the world’s best bowlers. Instead he sorted out the greatest bowlers through his long career. Vivian Richards was an original, just as Bradman was. That is why armchair critics picked holes in their techniques as if there were a law as to how one should bat. They would do well to remember that Bradman and Richards were a law unto themselves. Just look at the scorecards, and the outstanding results their teams achieved.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

Weight 480 grams

188 pages

Available on Amazon at an attractive price: 

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859  

Indra Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon:

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The big-hitting Clyde Walcott powered the legend of the great 3 Ws of West Indies cricket. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

Big and strong, Clyde Walcott was a savage hitter, renowned for his back-foot driving. C.L.R. James noted in his Beyond a Boundary: “For defence and power in putting away the length ball this is one of the greatest of all batsmen. Only Bradman can be mentioned in the same breath for commanding hooking of fast bowlers.”

Like Weekes, he revelled on the Indian tour of 1948-49, cracking 452 runs at an average of 75.33. His greatest run, however, was when Australia came calling in 1954-55. Walcott hit a century in each innings of not one, but two Tests - 126 and 110 at Port of Spain, and 155 and 110 at Kingston. No one else has achieved this feat in the same series. Before that he had scored 108 in another Test at Kingston. Not even Bradman had managed five hundreds in the same rubber. Walcott’s tally in that series was 827 at 82.70 per innings. This capped his consistent showing at home; during the previous two seasons he was a prolific scorer against England and India.

Along with Weekes, he feasted on the Indian bowling. Not to be left out, Worrell finally joined the party with his 237 at Kingston in 1952-53. Walcott eventually finished with 3798 runs at an average of 56.68 in 44 Tests, matching Weekes’ 15 tons, and his wicketkeeping abilities were a bonus.

One of the reasons why he retired in 1959 at the age of thirty-three was that, as the celebrated C.L.R. James noted in his Beyond a Boundary, he was frustrated at the continued appointment of only a white man as captain of the West Indies. So when his great mate Frank Worrell eventually led the West Indies shortly thereafter, the big hitter would have been a satisfied, if not totally contented, man. That feeling would have grown when Walcott himself went on to become president of the West Indies Cricket Board and chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).        

Overall, Worrell stood up to England, the best side for much of the 1950s before his own team turned the tables; Weekes was the scourge of India; and Walcott was awesome on home turf. Put together, they appeared in 143 Tests for the West Indies and amassed 12,113 runs at an average of 54.80, notching up 39 hundreds. For those times when much less Test cricket was played than at present, it was a phenomenal performance.

Few chapters in the game are as romantic and colourful. It was the three inimitable Ws, aided by the spin twins Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine who put Caribbean cricket on the high road to the summit that later outfits led by Gary Sobers, Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards scaled in the next three decades. George Headley was, of course, the pioneer, and the enormously talented Learie Constantine with his fellow speedster Manny Martindale had shown early glimpses of the fearsome pace battery that was to follow.

But it was Worrell, Weekes and Walcott who set the trend for top-class West Indies line-ups of succeeding generations - Hunte, Kanhai, Butcher, Sobers and Nurse; Lloyd, Rowe and Kallicharran; Greenidge, Haynes and Richards; Richardson, Lara and Chanderpaul to carry forward the tradition. The Ws propelled West Indies cricket towards glory, and that is their true contribution

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

Fully illustrated

Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches

188 pages

Chris Gayle and Martin Guptill hit up the first two World Cup double-centuries in 2015 after 40 years of the tournament

Sometimes it takes 40 years to bridge a schism of 29 runs. 

New Zealand skipper Glenn Turner hit up an unbeaten 171 on the first day of the World Cup, 7^th June 1975. It came against East Africa, a team never heard of again, except that one of its constituents Kenya emerged 21 years later to become part of the One-day International circuit. This monumental essay spanned 201 deliveries, the only 200-ball innings in One-dayers. Only 18 One-day Internationals had been played before this, and it was the highest score at the time.

The Indian captain Kapil Dev broke this record with his exhilarating 175 not out in the heroic rescue act, also against first-timers Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup.

In another rearguard strike, the supercilious marauder Vivian Richards smashed an unbeaten 189 off the English bowlers in 1984. This was now the high mark in all One-day Internationals. He took the record in the World Cup too, blasting the Sri Lankans for 181 in 1987. 

South African left-handed opener Gary Kirsten carved out 188 not out against unheralded United Arab Emirates in 1996, the highest in the World Cup till the 2015 tournament.

Meanwhile in 1997, another southpaw opening batsman, the Pakistani Saeed Anwar, hammered 194 versus India, taking the One-day record. Little-known Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe emulated the feat with an unbeaten knock against Bangladesh in 2009.

The first double century was smashed by the little champion Sachin Tendulkar, a round 200 off the South African attack in 2010. This set off a flurry of double centuries by Indian batsmen. Inevitably, it was the irrepressible Virender Sehwag who knocked up 219 against the West Indies the next year.

Rohit Sharma was fast becoming a phenomenon in the One-day game. He stroked 209 against Australia in 2013, and the following year hoisted a monumental 264 off the hapless Sri Lankans, still the One-day record.

A double-century in the World Cup was bound to come sooner than later, and it did in 2015. Not surprisingly, it was the belligerent Chris Gayle who was the first to the milestone. He tonked the Zimbabweans for 215 off 147 deliveries, the first non-Indian to hit up a double century in One-dayers. The 16 sixes that he rocketed are the maximum in a World Cup innings, equalling the feats of Rohit Sharma and A.B. de Villiers in all One-day Internationals. He also crashed 10 fours. These 136 runs in boundaries were the highest in an innings in the World Cup at that stage.

Gayle’s 372-run partnership for the 2^nd wicket with Marlon Samuels is the highest ever in the World Cup and in all One-day Internationals. It bettered the 318-run stand between Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for the same wicket against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup. Gayle had a dream match. Besides his historic double century and record partnership with Samuels, he also grabbed two wickets for 35 runs off his 6 overs and pouched a catch.

In all One-day Internationals, Gayle and Samuels beat the 331-run association between Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid versus New Zealand, also for the 2^nd wicket in 1999. In May 2019, John Campbell and Shai Hope came close to the Gayle-Samuels record when they posted an opening stand of 365 off the Irish attack. The only other triple century partnership in One-day Internationals is the 304 raised for the first wicket between Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman against Zimbabwe in 2018.

Less than a month after Gayle blasted his double-century, New Zealand opening batsman Martin Guptill racked up an unbeaten 237 off 163 balls, ironically against Gayle’s team West Indies in the quarter-final. This was a consecutive hundred by Guptill, following his 100-ball 105 off the Bangladesh bowling. He became the 14^th batsman to carry his bat through a completed World Cup innings, scoring over 60 percent of his team’s total, with no other batsman scoring even a half-century.

The 162 runs in boundaries, comprising 11 sixes and 24 fours, hammered by Guptill are the most in a World Cup match, surpassing Gayle’s 136 (16 sixes, 10 fours) in his own double-century earlier. Guptill’s 24 fours are the most in a World Cup innings, two more than Tillakaratne Dilshan against Bangladesh at Melbourne in this 2015 tournament. The 11 sixes smashed by Guptill are the second-highest in a World Cup knock after the 16 rocketed by Gayle.

Chris Gayle’s record may have fallen, but he was not completely put in the shade in this match. He smashed 61 off 33 balls, racing to his fifty off just 26 deliveries. There were 8 sixes and 2 fours in his blitzkrieg, 56 runs in boundaries, an amazing percentage of 91.80.

Gayle’s double century helped the West Indies pile up a total of 372 for two, their highest in the World Cup and also, at the time, in all One-day Internationals. Similarly, Guptill’s knock raised New Zealand’s biggest World Cup score of 393 for six.

Amazingly, Rohit Sharma smashed a third double hundred in 2017, an unbeaten 208 against Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman knocked up the eighth double century in One-day Internationals with his 210 not out versus Zimbabwe in 2018 in that huge stand with Imam-ul-Haq.

Will the swinging and seaming conditions in the first half of the English summer of 2019 permit a World Cup double ton? Sourav Ganguly came close with his 183 at Taunton twenty years ago. 

The schism is just 17 runs now.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).

Follow his blogs:

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Indra Vikram Singh’s books are available at attractive prices on Amazon:

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket 1975-2011

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166840

Crowning Glory

Published by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-6-7

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166867

Don’s Century

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859

A Maharaja’s Turf

Published in India by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166832

Indra Vikram Singh’s latest books:

Indian Spring, on India’s triumph in the cricket World Cup 2011

Wonder Down Under, special souvenir on the cricket World Cup 2015