My Favourite Innings: Viv's Masterclass

Former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas has penned a fantastic article recalling Viv's magnificent knock of 164* against Hampshire in 1990.

Quote:I was always keen to set a game up by declaring a little earlier than most. There is no excuse for letting a game of cricket die. And anyway, three-day county cricket would have been boring without a few set up finishes. Glamorgan weren’t playing well at the time, but they had Viv, so I set something well within reach, on a flat pitch at Northlands Road – 364 in the whole day. They were about 140-5 at tea but Viv was still there and he was blocking. He’d got the strop on about something. I think he’d decided the others had played uselessly and, in protest, was going to block out the draw.
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We went in at tea. We were definitely going to win. Then, first ball after tea, Tim Tremlett bowling. Viv follows through on a forward defensive and hits it into the road! We thought, ‘F**king hell…here we go…’

Fast forward. With one over of the match left, Viv is 150 not out, they need 14 to win and Malcolm Marshall, the greatest fast bowler in the world, is bowling to the greatest batsman.

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Thanks for that article.

You know, I never got the chance to see the great man bat in his pomp.  I did see him in an exhibition game a year after he retired.  But this YouTube clip really brought home for me how powerful and awesome Viv Richard's strokeplay was.  Just listen to the sound of that ball off his bat.  Brilliant. 8)

One would not normally say Vivian had finesse but I think he was a combination of force but exceptional timing.

The hardest hitter of a cricket ball I have seen is Collis King.

[quote author=Mail link=topic=93015.msg590975#msg590975 date=1411945360]
One would not normally say Vivian had finesse but I think he was a combination of force but exceptional timing.

The hardest hitter of a cricket ball I have seen is Collis King.
[/quote]

Mail, did you witness King's 86 from 66 balls against England in the 1979 World Cup final?

Think we all witnessed Collis King :

never knew that was the last WC we would ever win to date  :-[

[quote author=ketchim link=topic=93015.msg591121#msg591121 date=1412013608]
Think we all witnessed Collis King :

never knew that was the last WC we would ever win to date  :-[
[/quote]

Take solace, at least you have two World Cup wins under your belt. England are still waiting for their first, despite three trips to the finals. Thinking about the '79 World Cup brings back painful memories of Boycott taking 17 overs to reach double figures  :o

Those were 60 overs Game 

[quote author=dillinger10 link=topic=93015.msg590976#msg590976 date=1411961006]
Mail, did you witness King's 86 from 66 balls against England in the 1979 World Cup final?
[/quote]

We were on the wrong end of the stick that day and yes I was there.

That partnership King had with Vivian turned it.

Collis King was on fire and that sort of strike rate was not heard of in those days and imperious even by todays standards.

mail  do you think lloyd dropped boycott on purpose.  boycott was batting to save a game  ::LOL::