By Neto Baptiste
Former West Indies captain and legendary batsman Sir Vivian Richards, on his 73rd birthday on March 7, pointed to the unity within the team of the 70s, 80s and early 90s, as a major contributing factor to it’s success.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Sir Viv said that time spent off the field of play, as a unit, is just as important as the time spent together on the field, adding that he turned them into a formidable force.
“We all used to assemble together and especially if you were in places like Australia where you get some of the best Chinese food in Sydney and before every Test match or maybe on that particular rest day, we would all come together as a unit and really enjoy ourselves and that sort of kept us together. I see today that guys are having their own rooms and all that sort of stuff but there’s no one for you to communicate to. We were like a family then and we enjoyed a lot of things together. Around that time and because of the success of the team itself, we were attractive to a lot of ads and stuff,” he said.
Popularly known as “the Master Blaster,” Sir Viv went on to add that this unity extended beyond the players and spilled into the stands.
“Every team, don’t care who you are, you are going to have your little differences. But what I think was so important is that everyone identified exactly what we were representing and to me, that is the wider unit; so not just the guys on tour but the fans and West Indies cricket had a huge following. We had certain duties to live up to in terms of making sure that particular brand lasted,” the former batsman said.
Former West Indies fast bowling legend, Michael Holding, supported Sir Viv’s statement, adding that the bond shared by the players resulted in the team being almost appealing to even rival fans.
“We were a family and that is why people enjoyed watching us play and yes, we played good cricket but we also enjoyed the cricket that we played and that spilled off and spilled over into the stands and onto the television screens and that is why that everywhere we went around the world, people welcomed us. We were coming there to beat their team but they were still happy to see us because of the way we played our cricket and the way they saw us interacting on the field because we were a family,” he said.
Birthday greetings poured in for Sir Viv during the show with former teammate and the first Antiguan to play for the regional squad, Sir Andy Roberts, also joining the conversation. Another legendary fast bowler and Antiguan, Sir Curtly Ambrose, also made contributions during the show.
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Miss those days so much!🫶