Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
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- Oct 1, 2012
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Even if he did not average 50 and was statistically superseded by Sachin Tendulkar and by Brian lara in terms of aggregate and centuries I consider Viv Richards the best batsmen to have ever performed in test cricket in Australia.No batsmen has been a greater scourge in the eyes of the best of Aussie paceman or taken a bowling attack as much to the shreds.He exuded the command of a great emperor on the field .Often the opposing bowlers looked like cattle walking to a slaughterhouse.No batsmen changed the complexion of game more than Viv who at his best looked like a bomber destroying an enemy airbase.The most lethal of bouncers would not deter Viv who would move on the front foot even against the bouncers.I can never forget the contempt with which he destroyed Lillee in Packer cricket.Since Bradman no batsmen looked so head and shoulders above his contemporaries as Viv from 1976-79.In that era it almost looked like Bradman was ressurected.I doubt even the Don faced treated pace with such disdain as Viv.Gary Sobers,Rohan Kanhai ,Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar were more technicaly correct,Brian Lara more artistic but none took domination to the zenith Viv did.Viv was at his best in 1977 in the Kerry Packer supertests averaging 86.2 scoring 3 centuries,including classic 170 and 177.Adjectives cannot describe the way Viv simply blazed away.He continued this trend when averaging 96.50 in the 1979-80 Frank Worrel trophy.Although not at his best in 84-85 and 88-89 he gave flashes of his past brilliance like when scoring 208 at Melbourne in 1984-85 and a superb century at Brisbane in 1988-89.Still no batsmen could surpass the conviction in Viv's batting.He displayed a great sense of responsibility when averaging over 55 on the 1988-89 tour.
Amazingly some of Viv's best knocks were his 70's which surpassed his great hundreds.His 76 and 74 at Adelaide in 1979-809 and 79 in the 1977 1st supertest was batting at it's classical height.Viv did not score as many hundreds of fifities as Tendulkar or Lara but in terms of sheer impact he surpassed both of them.Adding world series cricket averages Viv would have averaged above 50 in Australia.Viv also stood upto Lillee and Thomson at their quickest in 1975-76 in Australia.In late 1970's Imran Khan thought Viv was in a class even above the likes of Barry Richards and the Chappell brothers.
The closest to Viv would be Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Lara ,Gary Sobers,Graeme Pollock and Rohan Kanhai amongst overseas batsmen after the war and maybe Rahul Dravid at his best.I do not envisage Walter Hammond surpassing Viv's batting in Australia in the same period.Never also forget his classical batting in O.D.I's,particularly in 1979-80.
I won't disrespect a classic Lara 277 at MCG.or a Tendulkar 115 at Perth but still it was Viv who took genius to it's deepest depth.
VIV RICHARDS OFFICIAL STATISTICS IN AUSTRALIA
Career summary Grouping Ascending Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 0
in Australia 1975-1989 22 39 2 1760 208 47.56 4 11 4 view innings
VIV RICHARDS IN WORLD SERIES CRICKET
Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
14 25 1281 58.23 4 4
In 1977 in 6 Supertests Viv averaged a phenomenal 86.2 scoring 862 run sin 10 innings.
VIV RICHARDS IN ODIS IN AUSTRALIA
areer summary GroupingAscending Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave
in Australia 1975-1989 73 67 5 2769 153* 44.66 3275 84.54 3 24
Amazingly some of Viv's best knocks were his 70's which surpassed his great hundreds.His 76 and 74 at Adelaide in 1979-809 and 79 in the 1977 1st supertest was batting at it's classical height.Viv did not score as many hundreds of fifities as Tendulkar or Lara but in terms of sheer impact he surpassed both of them.Adding world series cricket averages Viv would have averaged above 50 in Australia.Viv also stood upto Lillee and Thomson at their quickest in 1975-76 in Australia.In late 1970's Imran Khan thought Viv was in a class even above the likes of Barry Richards and the Chappell brothers.
The closest to Viv would be Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Lara ,Gary Sobers,Graeme Pollock and Rohan Kanhai amongst overseas batsmen after the war and maybe Rahul Dravid at his best.I do not envisage Walter Hammond surpassing Viv's batting in Australia in the same period.Never also forget his classical batting in O.D.I's,particularly in 1979-80.
I won't disrespect a classic Lara 277 at MCG.or a Tendulkar 115 at Perth but still it was Viv who took genius to it's deepest depth.
VIV RICHARDS OFFICIAL STATISTICS IN AUSTRALIA
Career summary Grouping Ascending Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 0
in Australia 1975-1989 22 39 2 1760 208 47.56 4 11 4 view innings
VIV RICHARDS IN WORLD SERIES CRICKET
Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
14 25 1281 58.23 4 4
In 1977 in 6 Supertests Viv averaged a phenomenal 86.2 scoring 862 run sin 10 innings.
VIV RICHARDS IN ODIS IN AUSTRALIA
areer summary GroupingAscending Span Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave
in Australia 1975-1989 73 67 5 2769 153* 44.66 3275 84.54 3 24
