Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards is probably the Bradman of fearless cricket ever since making his debut against India in 1974. In an era when teams and cricketers were looking to come to grips with truly fast pace bowling, Richards was slamming world-class pacers to all parts of the ground.
Richards was always an attacking batsman who went after the best of the bowlers from the opposite side to break their morale and the confidence he oozed in his swagger while coming out to bat, the way he chewed gum while eyeballing the opponent and his habit of not wearing a helmet, were all intimidatory tactics that worked.
Sir Viv Richards reveals why he never liked wearing helmet in Shane Watson's podcast
The same thing was on display on this day, April 15 in the year 1986, when Richards pummeled a hapless England side on his way to the then fastest Test century in just 56 balls.
The venue was Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua and West Indies came into this fifth Test of the five-match series with a lead of 4-0, looking for a whitewash. The home side won the toss and batted first, making 474 in the first innings with Desmond Haynes making 131. England replied with 310 with skipper David Gower making 90 and openers Gooch and Slack making half-centuries.
In the second innings, West Indies were looking for quick runs and Haynes made 70* in 96 balls, but the limelight was stolen by Sir Viv Richards, who slammed a 56-ball century against the likes of Sir Ian Botham, Neil Foster, and John Emburey.
The sequence of Viv’s scoring shots in the innings: 3,6,1,2,6,1,4,1,2,1,1,1,4,1,2,1,1,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,6(53 in 35 balls),2,4,4,4,1,1,2,6,6,4,6,1,2,2,1,4(103 in 56 balls),6,1.
Viv remained unbeaten on 110 off 58 balls with 7 fours and 7 sixes to his name and gave Windies a lead of 410 runs. West Indies bundled England out for 170 and won the Test by 240 runs and won the series 5-0, with Richards claiming Man of the Match.
This record was equaled by Pakistan’s Misbah-Ul-Haq, who achieved the feat against Australia in 2014 during the Abu Dhabi Test. However, the record was shattered by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, who was playing his 101st and last international match, against Australia in Christchurch and slammed 145 in 79 balls with 21 fours and 6 sixes, with his century coming off just 54 balls.
However, it was still Sir Viv Richards who made a record during an era when such a style of aggressive batting was not the norm and awed everyone with his swashbuckling strokeplay.
Catch his whole innings here:
