Richie Richardson is one of the best batters that the West Indies has seen in the last 40+ years. He is in the list along with Sir Viv Richards, Gary Sobers etc. Richie Richardson was one who excelled equally in both test and ODI Cricket. He played 86 Test Matches for West Indies and he scored 5949 runs at an average of 44.40. He has scored 16 Test Hundreds in his career. He also played in 224 ODIs and in those Matches he made 6248 runs at an average of 33.41 with 5 ODI Hundreds. In total he made more than 12000 international runs and more than 20 hundreds.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Batting Performances of Richie Richardson
1) 194 vs India (1989)
This was the highest score by Richie Richardson in international cricket. It was unfortunate that he missed his double hundred by 6 runs. Still this was his best innings in his career. This was in the peak form of his career when he only scored hundreds for fun. In this match he made 194 runs from 367 balls. He had a strike rate of 53 in this innings and he hit 20 fours in this innings meaning 80 runs in boundaries. This means he ran for 114 of his runs which shows how fit he was and he could play a long test innings. This match was a draw.
2) 185* vs New Zealand (1985)
This was an innings of the highest quality because it came against a very good bowling attack which had Sir Richard Hadlee. This was an unbeaten in Innings. In this brilliant century he made 185 not out from 346 balls while having a strike rate of 53.4 in this innings. He smashed 26 fours all around the ground meaning 104 runs in boundaries. Richie Richardson was a player who was hard to dismiss as he had very few weaknesses. He was establishing himself as one of the best with each innings he played.
3) 160 vs England (1986)
He had no favorite team to score runs against and England was a country that had some of the best Bowlers and yet he tore them apart in this match. West Indies were batting first and he made a sublime 160 and he was playing in a more attacking manner than usual. He only took 278 balls to make 160 and he had a strike rate of 57.55. He hit 18 fours in this innings meaning 72 runs in boundaries. He ran for 88 of his runs and yet he had a good strike rate. This was the innings that won West Indies this test match by an innings and 30 Runs.
4) 182 vs Australia (1986)
This is the fourth different country that he has scored a test century against in this list and all the 4 in this list were the premier test playing Nations at that time. Richie Richardson was an all rounder in the sense that neither the opposition nor the pitch mattered much to him. In this match West Indies were batting after Australia and Richie Richardson absolutely destroyed Australia. He made 182 from 260 balls while having a very good strike rate of 70 in this innings. He smashed 26 fours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning 116 runs in boundaries. He was the reason that West Indies won this test match by a whopping 10 wickets.
5) 122 vs Pakistan (1991)
This match was the Richie Richardson show for the West Indies. Pakistan won this match by just 1 run but this was his best ODI innings without a doubt. West Indies were in all sorts of pressure in this match and he stepped up and he made an amazing 122 runs from 121 balls. He hit 7 fours and 3 sixes In this innings meaning 46 runs in boundaries. He ran for 76 of his runs and yet he had a strike rate of 101. He showed that he can play ODI Cricket equally well. This was a special player in action for West Indies.
Also Read | Greatest West Indies Cricketers
