Vivian Richards Records

Issac Vivian Alexander Richards is one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played on a w24-yard cricket pitch. Born on 7 March 1952 in St. John’s, Antigua, he dominated the best of bowlers while batting at the number 3 spot for the West Indies.

Richards made his first international appearance in the Test match against India in November 1974. Although he failed in both the innings, scoring just single digits, Richards unleashed his true self in the next game played in Delhi.

He brought up his first Test hundred in that match and ended up scoring 192* in the one innings that the Windies played. The next three games were pretty average for his stature with only one fifty in the 4th Test at Chennai. This was just the beginning of a prolific career for Richards, as he rose to be the top-ranked batsman in the world and took West Indies to greater heights.

Vivian Richards played his first ODI game against Sri Lanka in June 1975 in Manchester. The game was a piece of cake for the Windies as they won by nine wickets and Richards had to wait for another match to finally play his first ODI innings. In his 7th ODI match, West Indies sent him at number 3 for the first time against England where he scored an undefeated 119 runs and registered his maiden ODI century.

He also received the player of the match award for his spectacular performance. From there on, he became a consistent player of the side, contributing heavily all-round. Richards was successful in making his place for the inaugural World Cup in 1975. Although he didn’t fire big with the bat but his contributions were vital in the final against Australia, which helped the Windies clinch the World title.

He ran out Aussie’s big guns, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, and Alan Turner which was a turning moment in the match. He later expressed this performance of his as the most memorable moment of his career. The following Word Cup played in 1979, he scored 217 runs in the 4 games with a match-winning 138* in the final against England. With this, West Indies went onto win their consecutive World Cup.

Richards was handed the responsibility of captaining the Windies side from 1984-91 and is undoubtedly one of the finest skippers to have lead the team till date. He received a number of accolades during his tenure as the captain.

It has been 31 years since Richards retired from international cricket, and today, we all know him as Sir Viv Richards! This is enough to state what a personality he is in the cricketing world. Let’s have a peek into his astonishing career spanning over 17 years.

Vivian Richards Test record

Viv Richards has one of the best numbers in Wolrd cricket in the longest format of the game. At the time when there were no protective gears, he smashed harcore bowlers with steaming pace, averaging over 40s and 50s against big teams. Viv has scored over 8500 runs in the format at a fantabulous average of over 50! He had a brilliant year in 1976 when he scored 1710 runs in 11 matches with 7 tons and 5 fifties to his name. He was amongst the few batsmen who could score well both at their home and overseas. He had an average of 49.77 at home and struck 5404 runs overseas at an average of 50.50.

Vivian Richards test stats

• 2nd highest number of test runs in a calendar year (1710 runs)

• 2nd highest number of tons in a calendar year (7 tons)

• 3rd most fifties in consecutive test matches (11)

• 3rd fastest to score 5000 test runs (95 innings)

• 9th highest number of sixes in career (84 sixes)

• Scored a century and a duck in the same Test

• Scored 5000 runs alongwith 50 fielding dismissals

Vivian Richards odi record

Close to 7000 ODI runs, a career average of of over 50 against Australia, England, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, a title winning hundred in the final of the 1979 World Cup, and the list goes on and on for the great Viv Richards. Uptill 2005, Richards held the record for being the only individual to score a century and pick up five wickets in the same ODI innings. Richards loved smacking the Australian, and English bowlers. He scored the most runs against these two teams in his career, with a combined 6 centuries and 31 half-centuries.

Vivian Richards odi stats

• Highest score by a batsman at the number 4 position in ODIs (189)
• Longest partnership for the tenth wicket in an ODI match (106*)
• Highest share of runs by percentage in a completed team innings (69.48 %)
• 2nd quickest to score 5000 ODI runs (114 innings)
• 2nd best ever bowling figures by a captain in ODIs (6-41)
• 5th oldest cricketer to take a five-wicket haul in an ODI innings (37 years 230 days)
• Scored a fifty and took five wickets in the same game
• Scored 1000 runs, took 50 wickets, and 50 catches in ODI career
• Scored 5000 runs alongwith 50 fieding dismissals

Vivian Richards combined record

• Highest number of fifties in consecutive games (12 )
• Scored the second-fastest Test century in history (56 balls)
• 3rd fastest to score 1000 ODI runs
• In the year 1986, Richards became the first ever to score a ton at a strike of 150 in Tests
• 9th most player of the match awards (41 awards)
• Held the record of scoring the most runs by a batsman in Tests in a single calendar year from 1976-2006.
• Second most and the only West Indies batsman to score 100 first-class centuries
• 7th highest individual Test score amongst West Indies batsmen (291)

Vivian Richards record as captain

Richards tookover the aptaincy of the side in 1984 until 1991. In this 7-year run, Richards established himself as a fierce opponent with a big will to win in any situation. Richards never lost a single Test series as captain and he is still the only West Indies skipper to do so. But with a lot of appreciation, he was also under the radar of controversies.

In the 1990 Barbados Test played against England, Viv Richards appealed in an aggressive manner with a “finger-flapping” gesture, which led to the incorrect dismissal of Rob Bailey. This incident was marked by Wisden as “at best undignified and unsightly. At worst, it was calculated gamesmanship". This act would now landa player into trouble according to Section 2.5. of the Rules of Conduct of the ICC Code of Conduct.

In the match against Zimbabwe played in the 1983 World Cup, Richards accidentally went on to take strike from the wrong end. He had come back to the crease after the play had stopped due to bad light. This was one of the rarest of scenarios.

Despite a few ups and downs, Richards is regarded amongst the best of captains in cricket. His record in both Tests and ODIs speak volumes of his leadership qualities, having lost only 8 tests in his entire career. He replicated his quality of leading his troops to victory under difficult circumstances on several occasions.

He has won 27 out of the 50 Tests that he captained in with a win % of 54. While in ODIs, he led the side in 105 matches, out of which he won 67 with a win % of 63.8.

Vivian Richards test captaincy record

Vivian Richards odi captaincy record

Vivian Richards record vs Australia

Out of all the teams that he played against, Australia was one of the toughest side in world cricket. Richards was a fierce competitor who liked to conquer down under, and he had staggering figures against the kangaroos in both Tests and ODIs.

It was Australia against whom he had scored the most runs in ODI with 2187 runs, followed by 2266 runs in Tests, his second most against a single nation.

Vivian Richards test record vs Australia

Vivian Richards test record in Australia

Vivian Richards odi record vs Australia

Vivian Richards odi record in Australia

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