Just How Good Was Barry Richards?

[fredfertang]

Just How Good Was Barry Richards?

Circumstances dictate that we will never know the answer to that question, but Martin believes he was a very special batsman indeed, and in this feature sets out to explain why

 

[Burgey]

Great piece mate.

When Richards made that 320 in a day, he played and missed at his first ball from Lillee and Rod Marsh said loudly "I thought this bloke was supposed to be able to bat".

Lillee bowled the last ball of the day to him, and he apparently one-two-oned down the pitch and hit him over the sight screen to end the days play, whereupon the first slip looked at Marsh and said "Rod, I think he can bat a bit".

 

[Riggins]

Why have you got a slip in the last over of the day when the opener is 320 not, the real question.

 

[Riggins]

"For half of Bradman's career he could not be out lbw to a delivery that pitched outside the off stump."

That was a thing?

 

[Howe_zat]

"For half of Bradman's career he could not be out lbw to a delivery that pitched outside the off stump."

That was a thing?

Yeah. Changed to what it is now in 1937.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Great piece mate.

When Richards made that 320 in a day, he played and missed at his first ball from Lillee and Rod Marsh said loudly "I thought this bloke was supposed to be able to bat".

Lillee bowled the last ball of the day to him, and he apparently one-two-oned down the pitch and hit him over the sight screen to end the days play, whereupon the first slip looked at Marsh and said "Rod, I think he can bat a bit".

Graham Mckenzie bowled the first ball I'm sure. He's had a cry a few times about how he almost got him first ball

 

[mullarkey]

.

I remember Richards' calling time on his county (championship) career and the bitterness that surrounded him at the time. I recall him saying that he was tired and bored with the same old routine and so on. The opinions, which lead to the disciplinary measures taken against him for his criticism of Boycott, were petty and did him (Richards) no credit at all. Political matters did indeed deprive him, and others of course, the opportunity to compete with the best but he became so bitter that I lost respect for him. After all he still had a good life and made a good living from the game and I don't remember Barlow or Proctor, for example, whinging to the same extent. Richards suffered a deep private tragedy a few years ago but the only person he feels sorry for is himself. BTW Bobby Stokes was offside.

 

[harsh.ag]

Can't add much than what I already have in the other threads, and that Martin hasn't addressed, but something in the article caught my eye - Bradman saying that "you could watch him all day and not get bored".

I want to elaborate on my take on this. For me, the "not being bored and watch him all day" aspect of batting has been very important, and perhaps that is my fascination with Barry Richards as well. But there is a caveat. Presumably, Gilchrist's batting will also provide the very same aspect. The difference is that Richards gave you the experience with an impeccable, beautiful and elegant attacking technique. A lot of times during a Gilchrist innings, you would cringe at the technique, or/and shot selection etc. Not so with Richards. It was a complete experience watching him bat. The same was true of Tendulkar during the years 1996-2003. I haven't seen Sobers, but from the things that are said, he seemed a similar kind.

P.S. Feel bad to be bagging on Gilly like that; he is one of my favorites

 

[harsh.ag]

Well I did see a bit of Sobers, but not enough, and those were certainly not his best days.

 

[Red]

I never cringed at Gilchrist. Beautiful stroke player.

 

[watson]

I never cringed at Gilchrist. Beautiful stroke player.

When Gilchrist batted it was pretty obvious that the bowling was getting hammered. Viv Richards and Sehwag were none too subtle either when they began to pulverise the bowling.

On the other hand, players like Barry Richards or David Gower tended to dominate without getting violent. I think that was the point that Harsh was trying to make. After all, Gilchrist was one of the cleanest hitters I've seen.

 

[kyear2]

Great piece on the great Barry Richards. While it was a shame he was deprived of a test career or somewhat plans I'm comparison to what the citizens and political prisons were subjected to. There were no winners from that period.
Regarding his greatness, he was the best batsman in the world between Sobers retirement and the other Richards emergence and by all account was the equal of both. Can't get much better than that.

 

[Migara]

Must have been good. Never saw him in his prime, and only time I saw him play was in a Master's cup somewhere in early 90s. He and G.Pollock both looked very aggressive against pacers, but spinners did pretty well against them. Can't get much information from such a tournament because they must have been 15 years past their prime by then. Although I believe that as almost as every SAF batsman we see, he also would have been less proficient against spin, especially on helpful conditions.

 

[Hurricane]

Richards is not alone in finding county cricket a chore after a while (Imran made a comment). Hadlee did manage to play nine seasons but injuries and tours limited him to 3 full seasons.gun article btw

 

[Riggins]

He coached South Australia for a while when he was pretty old. Apparently after a net session he'd occasionally go in and face the quicks, and everyone there said he would have been the best player in the team still.

 

[Debris]

Great piece on the great Barry Richards. While it was a shame he was deprived of a test career or somewhat plans I'm comparison to what the citizens and political prisons were subjected to. There were no winners from that period.
Regarding his greatness, he was the best batsman in the world between Sobers retirement and the other Richards emergence and by all account was the equal of both. Can't get much better than that.

There were definitely winners. Probably not the people you want to be winners though.

 

[Hurricane]

"For half of Bradman's career he could not be out lbw to a delivery that pitched outside the off stump."

That was a thing?

this has the history of the rule

Leg before wicket - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kyear2]

Yes a brilliant article, but the comments thereafter also really reinforces the genius of the man.

 

[Son Of Coco]

He used to pop up in a Facebook cricket group I was in. Unfortunately, he was eventually driven off by the usual bunch of desperate know it alls with zero experience to back them up that you find all over social media.

 

[Coronis]

He used to pop up in a Facebook cricket group I was in. Unfortunately, he was eventually driven off by the usual bunch of desperate know it alls with zero experience to back them up that you find all over social media.

He wouldn’t last long on this forum then.