Len Hutton(former English opening batsman and all-time great, one of the greatest opening batsman ever.) -- Barry Richards was a fine strokemaker of the highest class and a player I would hold up as an example for any schoolboy to try to emulate. (Hutton selected Barry as part of his top opening batsmen ever. He ranked him second to Jack Hobbs and ahead of the likes of Gavaskar and Suttcliff)
Basil D' Oliviera(former South African player, made more famous due to his skin colur controversy rather than his game. Played for England as well) -- Barry Richards sits atop at my list of greatest battlers in the game. As well as marvellous ability he was blessed with fighting qualities. Could break the heart of the bowlers with competitive spirit, battling regardless of what was thrown(at him). (D' Oliviera selected Barry Richards as part of his greatest battler of cricket selection. Other to make the cut included Sobers, Kanhai, Viv and Greg Chappell)
Ted Dexter(Known as ultimate buccaneer of English cricket, marvellous player in his own right.) -- Barry ws a delight to watch for the fluency and range of his strokes. The only better stroke player than him was Gary Sobers. (Ted selected Barry as part of greatest stroke makers list. The others to make the cut included Sobers, Graeme Pollock, Viv Richards)
Colin Milburn(English all-rounder known for his girth and hard-hitting, made more famous by loss of his one eye at peak of his career) --- He(barry) stands third in my list of greatest entertainers of the batsmen I have played with or against. The one and two are Gary Sobers and Viv Richards.
Keith Fletcher(former England and Sussex captain) -- The finest right-handed batsmen that I have played against are Barry Richards and Greg Chappell.
Graham Gooch(former England and Essex captain) -- Barry Richards is without question the best batsman I have played against. He had all the shots and made batting look extremely easy. His timing was perfect and he had power and precision all-around the wicket.It was a pleasure to watch him in action, even when having to chase his shots to the boundary.
Kim Hughes(Australian captain famous for his strokeplay, not wearing helmets while batting and resigning from captaincy in tears) -- To be perfect batsman you have to have the concentration and tecnique of Geoff Boycott and power,grace and dashing strokeplay of Viv Richards. The player who had the mixture of these two qualities was Barry Richards, the perfect batsman to me. In Australia cricket followers still recall the match in 1971 when he scored 325 in a day. He totalled 1538 runs that season at an average of 109.86. That was batting in the Bradman class.(at the time Barry was the batsman who had come closest to Bradman's 50 years record of 1690 runs in a season in Sheffield Shield)
John Lever(former English left arm bowler made more famous for Vaseline incident) -- Barry Richards is the closest to the most perfect batsman I have seen or bowled to. He can play shots all around the wicket, on all kind of pitches and has a very sound technique.
John Snow(English fast bowler, famous in India for butting into Sunny Gavaskar while he batsman ran for a quick single) -- Gary Sobers and Barry Richards are the perfect batsman I saw. Had Barry Richards had the challenge of more Test cricket, I feel he might hae reached the same heights and recognition as the genius Sobers.
Brian Johnston (arguably one of the greatest commentators ever, also known around the world for his hilarous laugh tete-a-tete with Aggers about "He couldnt get his leg over" incident regarding Botham) -- Barry Richards and Len Hutton are my dream team openers. Two absolute masters. (the rest of the team included Viv Richards,Bradman, Hammond, Compton, Sobers, Benaud/Laker, Evans, Lindwall and Lillee)
Dennis Lillee(former Australian great, the reason why Gavaskar tried to stage a walk-out during a test match) -- I have seen him play county cricket and WSC where he scored hundreds making them look so easy it made me wonder just how good he could have been. He was difficult to bowl to because he could play every shot in the book and then some. He was a magician. Like Viv, he created shots that I had never seen before but he was very elegant and brutal in effect. (Lillee included Barry Richards as one of the 10 greatest batsmen he bowled to, Barry coming 3rd in his ranks after Viv and Sobers).
Henry Blofeld(TMS commentator famous in India for his "marvellous earrings" comments while gams in Sharjah) -- All the years I have spent watching cricket I have never ever seen anyone make the art of batting look simpler. Had South African sporting isolation not happened, Barry Richards might have been the batsman to have come closest to Don Bradman. He(Barry) opened for Hampshire with Gordon Greendidge and there is no doubt that he was the better batsman.It would be impossible to play the ball as late as Barry did.I remember in a game where I was told by a bowler "Its got to the stage that when I come in to bowl to him he blocks the bad balls and hits only the good ones. It seems to amuse him more". I(Henry Blofeld) remember once being told that he(Barry) made a century in a game by playing all the shots with edge of the blade...he might very well could have.
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