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Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - chairman - 05-03-2014
In all of Cricketdom, I doubt there is anyone who would seriously challenge the view that Viv Richards was one of the best and most intimidating players to wield a blade. At the crease he played with a confidence and a swagger that suggested to all that he was in charge of proceedings, and the bowlers and fielders were serving at his pleasure.
I first saw him in the flesh during Packers World Series Supertest at Sabina Park, Jamaica in 1979. He didnt make all that many, 40-odd if I recall on the day I was there, but his stay in the middle was unforgettable. Of all the West Indian players on show I found him the easiest to spot, despite the presence of giants like Joel Garner and Colin Croft. Vividly etched in my mind were the Antiguans regal gait, the leisurely way he jogged a single -- as if daring the fielders to throw him out -- and, most importantly, the grandeur of his stroke-play.
To my juvenile and jejune mind, King Viv could do whatever he pleased. The great man could manhandle any attack, hit any delivery to the boundary, bring any bowler to his knees. As far as I was concerned he could make a hundred any time he liked, and only a proclivity towards boredom, or some sort of chivalry, prevented him from doing so. Whenever he was focused and in the mood, however, nothing could stop him.
This wasn't true, of course, not even Bradman was that good. But to me, and my schoolmates, fully consumed by the great game, there was nobody like Viv. Nobody had strode unto the scene and played with such fearlessness and such aplomb. To our way of thinking he could do no wrong.
The first time I believe I doubted his omnipotence was during the 1983 World Cup finals at Lords, when, despite starting his innings like a runaway locomotive, he failed to bring us the title we thought was ours by right. The West Indies had won the first two World Cup competitions, and being the worlds best team by some distance, we felt all we had to do to collect our third title was turn up.
We were sadly mistaken, and the Caribbean was plunged into mourning when our champion team failed to chase a paltry 183, falling 43 runs short, gifting India their first hold on the title.
Earlier that same year India toured the West Indies. The first test in Kingston was, for the most part, a rather pedestrian affair. West Indies replied to Indias 251 with 254; the fourth day was lost due to rain, and with 168/6 at tea on the last day the game seemed headed for a dull draw.
Andy Roberts had other ideas, however, and his highly effective post-tea spell, generously sprinkled with short, climbing deliveries proved too much for the visitors and they were dismissed for 174, leaving the West Indies a target of 172 runs in about 28 overs.
What followed was the most exciting session of cricket I have ever witnessed.
This was chiefly due to an innings of 61 made from 36 deliveries from Sir Viv. The innings he regards as the best of his career. The Master Blaster strode to the wicket with the score at 65/2, took his guard, and viewed the surroundings like a monarch surveying his domain. His first scoring stroke was a massive six, and he then proceeded to fire the crowd into a frenzy. Fielders were surplus to requirements; Viv simply bisected them, even with almost everyone manning the boundary. Boundary ropes were redundant; Viv simply lifted deliveries into the crowd.
When he fell, caught by Kapil Dev off Mohinder Amarnath, his team was 156/5 with 16 runs needed. A few minutes later Jeffrey Dujon blasted a full toss for six to achieve an impossible victory in fast-fading light.
Nocturnal listeners to the commentary in India, halted at tea in those days to be updated in the morning hours, were flabbergasted to find they had lost a game they thought would have been a lacklustre draw.
Vivs was a Twenty20 innings long before the genre was invented. His strike rate of 169.4, nothing to scoff at today, was unreal in 1983. Three years later, when he dismembered an England attack in his homeland, Antigua, he was even more brutal, hitting a century off just 56 deliveries, a record that stands to this day. If Sir Viv could wreak such havoc in his time, imagine how much more devastating he would have been with todays turbocharged bats and shorter boundaries.
How would he have measured up in todays Indian Premier League and the other T20 leagues that now dominate the cricket landscape?
Obviously, there is no way of knowing. But if I had to, I would guess that just as he ruled the world those years ago, he would still be King today.
cricbuzz.com
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - ketchim - 05-03-2014
[quote author=The Chairman link=topic=89380.msg561807#msg561807 date=1399129131]
The West Indies had won the first two World Cup competitions, and being the worlds best
team by some distance, we felt all we had to do to collect our third title was turn up.
[/quote]
Asked and Answered ....Look at the Inaugural WIN 1975 :
and name the REAL Master Blaster
NOT this fake Pan African....
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - ketchim - 05-03-2014
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65049.html
How would Clive Lloyd TON with and SR of 102 rate Today ?
Your label was looking on in AWE ::LOL::
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - TRINIDADDY - 05-03-2014
Here's a post on all WI World Cup International centuries:
http://www.westindiesforum.com/the-pitch/west-indies-odi-world-cup-stats/msg554784/#msg554784
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - boquiesse - 05-03-2014
Viv on the go:
![[Image: 94468.jpg]](http://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/94400/94468.jpg)
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - Mail - 05-03-2014
Objectively, the first master blaster, a cricketer with the X- Factor for West Indies was Rohan Kanhai.
Charismatic, an innovator, merciless, graceful and complete.
Kanhai must have been the first Windian superstar.
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - ramesh - 05-03-2014
The title of this thread is misleading . There is, was and in the foreseeable future be only one master Blaster and that is Sir Viv.
He never relinquished the title
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - Calypso - 05-04-2014
[quote author=Mail link=topic=89380.msg561893#msg561893 date=1399153859]
Objectively, the first master blaster, a cricketer with the X- Factor for West Indies was Rohan Kanhai.
Charismatic, an innovator, merciless, graceful and complete.
Kanhai must have been the first Windian superstar.
[/quote]
I agree he was. Very discreet gentleman and in no way the boisterous figure like Viv, but everything like you said above ....
Recall watching him back in the day at Bourda... unconsciously he must've been the catalyst for my interest in cricket and the allure of Windies Cricket
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - ketchim - 05-04-2014
102 with a SR of 120 and captures the Cup :-*
Da Man :
![[Image: 66581.jpg]](http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/66500/66581.jpg)
Re: Sir Viv: The original master-blaster by Garfield Robinson - ketchim - 05-04-2014
Ably assisted by Mail and Calypso's choice !!
Rohan Kanhai reaches his fifty with a cut :-*
Australia v West Indies, World Cup final, Lord's, June 21, 1975
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65049.html
![[Image: 119797.jpg]](http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/119700/119797.jpg)