Cricket Legends - Barry Richards

Robert 'Crash' Craddock speaks to Barry Richards, South African batting great

[@longjohn5322]

I watched Barry during WSC and he left a lifelong lasting impact on me. Played 9 holes with him in the mid 90’s and when he introduced himself I said that I knew who he was. Whenever asked I have always named him and Virender Sehwag as the two openers I would choose to represent my best ever team.

[@neilcarpenter2669]

What a player went to see him as a young boy with my late father, remember it like yesterday, scored a wonderful century in the second innings, I have never seen anyone make batting look so easy,in my opinion he's the greatest opening batsman of all time.

[@ganeshsubramanian9419]

He was a wonderful batsman. He could have easily played for England but chose otherwise.

[@marknorris1381]

A legend in the game. I saw him play live in Australia in WSC and proceed to take a West Indies attack apart - Barry Richards was every bit as good as everyone says he was. I think hardly anyone else made any runs of note for the World XI in that match due to the standard of the bowling and he was just smashing it everywhere. When Bradman picks someone in his greatest team, you take note, because Bradman hardly praised anyone.

[@RG-ja34sep]

Sir Donald Bradman, undisputedly the greatest batsman of all time, selected Barry in his all time best eleven. That obviously speaks volumes about his batting genius. Dickie Bird, one of the most experienced and legendary umpires of all time, who witnessed first hand every great player of his time, stated in his opinion that Barry was the greatest opening batsman of all time. Possibly two of the best talent judges of all time!

[@andrewashdown3541]

Viv & Barry - same surname but exemplifying 2 sides of sporting genius - explosiveness vs. elegance, aggression vs. ineffability, awesome power in both cases - the two greatest batsmen of the modern era

[@stephenwilliam3145]

Great interview and he’s aged really well. I watched him bat and field at first slip many times at Bournemouth. Happy days!

[@satinder2486]

The Greatest opening batsman alongside Sunil Gavaskar - a joy to watch

[@henryoosthui3495]

I will say best then Greame Pollock Garfield and Don Bradman

[@prateeksinghal92]

Bring Barry Richards back to commentary box.

[@colincorn8678]

Absolutely superb interview.Barry is so articulate.A true legend of the game.What a pity he missed out

[@ucantseeme7477]

I seen his clips ....awesome shots ...easy on eyes like they said about all the great cricketers they just have extra time

[@papprajoosachanarayana2834]

I was privledged to watch him play for his home province of Natal where he was born many times and then for South Africa No doubt the greatest opening batsman of all time Excellent slip fielding Thank you for the memories Barry Richards

[@lastmanstanding9389]

Barry was the best and as a youngster I was lucky to see him play in SA. We used to say that you could write a hundred next to his name even before he went in to bat.

[@longjohn5322]

Especially if it was the first innings.

[@johnholmes912]

Barry had more time to play his shots than any batsman I've seen

[@Godplayzdice]

He played the ball late and didn't hurry. That'll give you more time.

[@warrenjones4407]

Thanks for uploading this brother! greatly appreciated

[@waynegrobler7432]

What a true genius. Underrated. Probably the best batsman ever in S.A.

[@selena7596]

Pollock Richards De villiers

[@craigedwards2940]

He wasn't underrated. Not by anyone who saw him bat. Craddock was right, to watch him and Pollock bat would be a batsmen's dream. All the time in the world and smack to all parts of the ground.

[@longjohn5322]

Definitely not underrated. I watched him during WSC and have never forgotten how good he was. Definitely opening in my World XI.

[@ravikiranmusic]

So gallant in stating that Graeme Pollock the best left handed batsman of that era and Viv was the best right hander, though even great cricketers often used to place both Richards in the same league.

[@fjasdfjdsakfjalfsjdalksfakjlk]

Wish the interviewer had given him more time to respond... for example, he asked him about the toughest bowlers and basically prompted every name and didn't even let Barry expand on each one.

[@bilalbari8782]

Batting Genius.

[@bannedspencer]

Thanks for uploading these Roshan, really appreciated

[@roshanariyaratnam8225]

Glad you like them! Frustratingly, I’ve bee. Asked to take down videos. Please spread the word - the channel becoming popular will keep it surviving

[@kathleenpennington2447]

Probably the best ever opener

[@tvmraf]

By a country mile

[@johnholmes912]

Jack Hobbs was as good

[@absoluteb22]

World Series Cricket showed how great he was and unfortunately those Super tests don't even count as first class stats.

[@TheBillABCTV]

Bary Richards was awesome player. I wish he had of either chosen Australia or England to qualify for playing test cricket. only 4 tests. Had he known South Africa was going to be banned for a long time he should have in the 1970's either chosen for Australia or England like what Kepler Wessels did. I am glad Barry was part of World series cricket. for example if Barry had of chosen Australia in the early 1970's he could have qualified to play for Australia mid 1970's. I was born in 1975.

[@marknorris1381]

I was glad he was part of WSC as well. I saw him play live against the West Indies everyone else in the World XI hardly made runs but he was smashing them everywhere. One my best 'cricket fan' experiences, to see a true legend in action against the best and most intimidating bowlers.

[@thetrevorosborne]

great to see a programme dedicated to a true genius

[@roshanariyaratnam8225]

Check out the KP Genius Video - equally impressive kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3WsaZKamNmMetk

[@davidglow3]

He was eventually eligible to play for England,but he and Alan Donald were very proud South Africans and declined..Allan Lamb,Robin Smith played for England..How can you be proud of your country during apartheid is beyond me.

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@davidglow3 How can you suddenly become English just because you are granted a passport.

[@davidglow3]

@@sentimentalbloke185 A passport means you are a citizen of that country.This means you rank equally with everyone else within that country.. Citizenship is what legally defines your nationality..

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@davidglow3 It doesn't necessarily make you 'English.'

[@bigggdawg5599]

Class Act.

[@ramsha2000]

It was a pleasure to listen to Barry Richards.

[@gsprasanna6382]

I feel lucky to hear this legend speak!

[@sandrasassman-qw4hb]

Great interview well spoken decent guy

[@henryoosthui3495]

I think Barry Richards whas the best ever

[@myousafhingoro8974]

Greatest.cricketer

[@michaelhirst9220]

The best “modern day” white batsman without doubt

[@Godplayzdice]

Graeme Pollock was better. So were Greg Chappel and Ricky Ponting.

[@RG-ja34sep]

@@Godplayzdice Ricky Ponting cannot be classed in the same category as Barry Richards! Barry is the greatest opening batsman of all time, and technically, probably the most skilful! You just have to compare the size of the modern bats to the tiny one that Barry used in his heyday, with the smallest little sweet spot!

[@roybean7166]

Pollock and Richards were the best. Better than Ponting and Chappell by a long way. Roy b, CapeTown south africa 🇿🇦

[@ianoverll692]

His coach in Durban was an Alan someone

[@Ven369k]

Barry Richards was similar to Hershelle Gibbs in terms of batting talent .

[@rocknral]

Gibbs wasn't in the same league as this man. Barry was absolutely a genius.

[@cohenbeyers5912]

​@@rocknral difference was gibbs didnt make the most of his talent

[@marknorris1381]

Ah, I don't think so. Gibbs was no slouch of course but not in the same league as this man. You are looking at the top of the pyramid here.

[@johnholmes912]

@@marknorris1381 Bradman said that Barry was the best player of fast bowling ever! Now that's some accolade

[@zibtihaj3213]

Dickie bird said that he was number one and Viv Richard’s was number two he saw ! Wow that is something

[@RG-ja34sep]

Dickie Bird is possibly the greatest judge of anyone in international cricket as he witnessed first hand the absolute greatest players of his time. Also don’t forget that Sir Donald Bradman included Barry in his greatest ever eleven, incredible praise indeed!

[@rileysohier589]

One of THE GREATEST! I only seen him on highlights & WSC. He played an innings in Perth - B Richards - was joined by V Richards in. WSC Super Test! m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWGkgqyQoqyob6M (slide through the first 40 seconds) see a few shots - DK Lillee get smashed back over his head! B Richards scores 207 & V Richards 177 one of yeh best partnerships in my 53 years of watching test cricket! WOW!

[@bannedspencer]

As an 8 year old kid, i had no idea how good they were, I remember this match, it was like b grade cricketers bowling to Internationals, except they weren't b grade cricketers.

[@johnholmes912]

Barry was scoring at twice the rate of VIv; not bad for someone who felt his eyes had gone.

[@adventussaxonum448]

10 years batting for Hampshire, most of it opening with Gordon Greenidge. Same side as Andy Roberts. Remember the great John Arlott saying "Richards is beginning to make this look pathetically easy" in a One Day (John Player League) match against Derbyshire. Shame not one mention of Hampshire in the whole interview, though.

[@tonylove4800]

He mentioned Hampshire quite a bit.

[@beefy1986]

​@@tonylove4800 Did you hear the start of the interview?? He mentioned Hampshire quite a bit

[@briansukhu4392]

Great players from the apartheid era should not have their records air brushed out of history. Obviously there were non white players who had the talent to play cricket and unfairly denied an opportunity at international level. The majority of the players from the great team of the early 70's would have played in that team even if all races were considered for selection especially the all time great players. Their contributions, talents should be honored and appreciated

[@richardsharpe2966]

A great great shame he should have won more caps. England should have persuaded him to play for England

[@MrVishen7]

Clowns are in Kingsmead now

[@nickvegas2459]

Let's not get carried away with Richards and Pollock. There plenty of players that were world beaters in 1st class cricket but failed in test cricket....also interesting that nobody that faced Thommo thought he was anything else but the fastest bowler they had ever faced. The most reliable estimate I heard was that he bowled at 160kmh with the occasional ball being faster, so 162-3??? I don't think it is possible to bowl the 175kmh that Thommo boasted.

[@johnholmes912]

Barry slogged thommo all over the ground when he faced him in a tour match

[@ganeshsubramanian9419]

Very Very Unassuming. All Great characters are like that, I think.

[@Milton1079]

Peerless.

[@srivatsa227]

Thank you Roshan ❤️❤️❤️❤️. You have given the best

[@felipebendicho-cf1hx]

How is this guy a legend? He only played 4 tests against a very tired Australian team. OVERRATED.

[@jehanariyaratnam2874]

People get hit more because the helmets obscure peripheral vision

[@bannedspencer]

maybe, I have batted most of my life (2 seasons with a helmet) without a helmet and I think there is a bit of not allowing for the chance of the ball to hit you that creeps in. I think helmets are good to stop a top edge from a pull shot hitting you in the face but I have watched in my own cricket and proper cricket that they turn their back on a short pitched delivery and get in trouble. Even though I don't wear them, I think they are a good thing ( I have boxed for so many years I can spot danger a mile off and move out the way...in saying that though, top edge a pull shot and i am stuffed but that is my choice

[@jehanariyaratnam2874]

@@bannedspencer yeah I only thought of this recently but I've watched plenty of ex players saying helmets have changed techniques and players get hit more often because they don't look at the ball like they used to, and that they have it easy now with helmets, but when I look back at the old footage I realIsed they can watch it so much more closely because they don't have a lot of their peripheral vision blocked by the visor meaning they can get out the way at the very last second. With a helmet on it harder to judge but I obviously it's the safest way going forward. The best player of short pitched bowling I ever saw Ricky Ponting- even he got hit when the ball reared up at him from Harmison, so helmets have to be compulsory

[@bannedspencer]

@@jehanariyaratnam2874 I don't disagree on helmets being made compulsory, I guess I stopped using mine because sweat would get on my glasses...but laser surgery, really should put it back on. When I used a helmet, I never thought my vision was obscured but that is just me I guess.