Catching up with the master of blasters

Two significant things have happened to Vivian Richards in recent times. One is the addition of the 'Sir' prefix to his name. The other is his omission from the Dream XI of another 'Sir,' Donald Bradman. It was natural, therefore, that conversation would flow along these two tracks in interviewing him.

Now that he was a knight, how would Sir Vivian like to be addressed? The answer came back as strong as any of his booming drives. "Viv, as usual. I'm still your old friend Viv."

When asked whether it had affected his mental composure to be left out of Sir Don's Dream XI, Richards said that he was not at all grieved.

"Sir Don was a great, probably the greatest batsman, but his is not the last word. He was a man after all. And the love and affection I got from millions of people were far more important to me," said Antigua's greatest son, sitting in the press box on Sunday.

Richards has a soft corner for the original Indian little master, and that was evident when he repeated what he has said on so many occasions in the past. When quizzed about the best batsmen he had ever seen, Richards said, "Sorry, I can't pick any one of this generation. The man who batted so well against four intimidating Caribbean fast bowlers and scored runs consistently against them for so many days, that little but big fellow, Sunil Gavaskar, is my favourite."

"Gavaskar has 13 centuries against the likes of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Colin Croft and Sylvester Clarke," elaborated Richards. "Many batsmen do not even have 13 Test hundreds to their name, and he had that many against us. And during those periods, he was equally successful against the likes of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thompson, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee. I liked the way Greg Chappell, Martin Crowe and Aravinda De Silva batted too."

Richards also supported Gavaskar's comments on English cricket, made following Ashley Giles' negative tactics against Tendulkar in the India-England series. When asked about Gavaskar's choice of adjectives - monotonous and irritating - Richards said, with a big smile, "If they have problems with those two words, I would replace them with a single word - unattractive."

As a player who exuded aggressive cricket with every move on the field, Richards can well afford to say so. England, moreover, were always the team to suffer most heavily at his hands. Perhaps those are reasons for Richards' unwillingness to obtain a coaching degree from England to get the position of West Indian coach.

"Look, I have played 121 tests. That's my certificate," said Richards. "Whom should I approach a coaching degree? And a coaching degree means a certificate from England! Had it been something from Australia or South Africa, I would have given it a thought, since they are playing aggressive cricket. But tell me, which country has a longer tradition of attractive cricket than the West Indies?"

On the ongoing Tendulkar v Lara media-hyped contest, however, he reserved his comments saying, "I love both of them, and both are really good batsmen."

The fast bowlers of Clive Lloyd's all-conquering West Indian side may have no hesitation in declaring that it was their bowling that had made them the undisputed world champions. Richards, though, cheekily said, "I think we batsmen too scored a few runs, isn't it? Let me put it this way. Ours was a truly balanced team. It did not bother us if one or two of us failed."

Richards is now busy with his commentating schedules, shuffling between radio and television. Caribbean cricket acquired downhill momentum once he and his contemporaries retired. Does he see any light at the end of the tunnel for this team under Carl Hooper? "Yes, the team is improving under Carl," he said.

Michael Holding, however, does not think so. A former teammate of Richards, Holding avers that the West Indies board made a mistake by inviting Hooper to be captain. Richards begged to differ on this issue. "That is what he thinks, and again it is the comment of an individual. The team needed a senior player at the helm. Carl is cool and composed, and he is trying to solve the problems with his intellect," said Richards.