Sir Viv Richards, the legendary West Indian batsman, was an integral member of Glamorgan`s side that won the AXA Sunday League in 1993.

The 41 year old “Master Blaster” was in his final season of county cricket, but the lithe West Indian excelled in the field and during the summer played several cameo innings with the bat. Indeed, the presence of Viv boosted the confidence of Hugh Morris` team and he helped the youngsters to believe in their abilities. It was no coincidence that the 1990`s were the club`s most successful decade in both Championship cricket and limited overs games.

Viv played for the county during 1990, 1992 and 1993, and despite being in the twilight of his career, he scored 12 centuries in first-class and one day matches. His most prolific season was 1993 as he made an unbeaten 162 against Oxfordshire in the NatWest Trophy at Swansea, before sharing a partnership of 425 for the fourth wicket with Adrian Dale against Middlesex at Sophia Gardens whilst making an unbeaten 224 – their partnership remains the highest for any wicket in the Club`s history.

But his finest innings in Glamorgan colours undoubtedly came in the Championship match at Southampton in 1990. Hampshire had set the Welsh county a target of 364 off 102 overs, and after slumping to 139-5 with 42 overs remaining, a Glamorgan victory looked out of the question. But the West Indian had other ideas, and with the support of Nigel Cowley and Colin Metson, Viv turned the game around in Glamorgan`s favour with a stunning and at times savage attack on the tiring Hampshire bowlers. In the final over Colin Metson scrambled a single off Malcolm Marshall`s first delivery, before Viv imperiously hit the next three balls for 4, 6 and 4 to see Glamorgan to victory with two  balls to spare.

Viv had an illustrious career with Somerset, guiding them to several one day titles, and scoring over 14,000 runs, including a career best 322 against Warwickshire in 1985. The Antiguan appeared in 121 Tests and 187 One Day Internationals, besides captaining the West Indies from 1986 until 1991. In 1988/89 he also became the first Caribbean batsman to score a hundred hundreds in first-class cricket.

RICHARDS, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander

Born – St. John’s, Antigua, 7^th March 1952.                                  

Best performances for Glamorgan:

In first-class cricket – 224* v Middlesex at Sophia Gardens, 1990; 3/22 v Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens, 1993.

In List A cricket – 162* v Oxfordshire at Swansea, 1993; 3/12 v Hampshire at Portsmouth, 1992.

	M	I	NO	RUNS	AV	100	50	CT	ST
First-class	49	83	11	3382	46.97	10	14	43	–
List A	61	58	10	1921	40.02	3	9	27	–

	Balls	M	R	W	AV	5wI	10wM
First-class	1398	46	695	9	77.33	–	–
List A	1934	16	1463	55	26.60	–	–