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ANTIGUA. — West Indies cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards is in reflective mood.
“As the days go by you may not look your age but certainly you do feel it,” he says.
He is 70, but certainly doesn’t look it. The death of legendary Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne, a man he describes as “joyous’’, has moved him deeply.
But Richards has other reasons to reflect.
The impact of his batting went far beyond the runs he scored — 15,261, including 35 centuries, across 308 Tests and one-day internationals for West Indies. That’s only a statistical estimation of greatness.
Richards knows the way he played cricket, his poise and courage, was hugely influential, especially for black people.
“As a young man growing up, I was always reading about the struggles in America, the Black Panthers,” he says.
“I was conscious in that way, it was a message being sent. These were defenders of your race because of some of the stuff which was going on.
“I was pretty strong about that. Maybe that’s why some folks would look at me sometimes and say, “Wow, what an arrogant guy” in the way he walked out and stuff like that.
“It isn’t arrogance. I just believe in human beings and that’s the most important thing.”
We meet in the north of Antigua, not far from where Richards grew up and only 15 minutes from the stadium which carries his name.
During the three-Test series between West Indies and England, that started at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium yesterday, the two sides will play for the new Richards-Botham Trophy. His friendship with former England all-rounder and captain Lord Botham began in 1974 when they were team-mates at Somerset.
“He’s a guy who I’ve spent a great amount of time with in my life, sharing dressing rooms and being in opposition also,” says Richards of Lord Botham.
“Having the trophy with someone who you hold dear to your heart and you consider a friend — that is pretty good news in my opinion.”
Later, when they meet at the stadium, Richards and Botham embrace, banter and giggle together as if they were back in the flat they shared as young cricketers in Taunton.
Both men produced heroic displays for their countries over the years although, as Botham readily admits, West Indies utterly dominated England during his Test career.
Test cricket back then was, without doubt, the format that mattered. Yet some of Richards’ Test innings, like the 110 from 56 balls in Antigua in 1986, which featured one-handed sixes, practically invented T20 batting. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter