I note with much pleasure that Viv Richards has been named by a very distinguished panel of 50 outstanding cricketers and writers about the game as the greatest ODI player of all time. He won their vote very easily over the other four very great players who were in top contention: Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram.
There was something mesmeric about Viv Richards. Charisma set a glow about him. It was not only the play, the array of gleaming shots, the speed of foot, the deftness that tended to be forgotten amidst the thunder-strikes. It was the supreme confidence. It was the bowler, however good, despatched from the presence. It was the composure of kings.
Once in Antigua, when I was much younger, I was sitting near three older men when Viv Richards came out to