Happy 60th birthday, Sir Viv! I remember the early-eighties glory days of the indomitable West Indies cricket team. I am proud of this handsome, charming, uber talented and passionate Antiguan “Son of the Soil”, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards.
In the words of King Short Shirt:
Vivi is the name, cricket is the game
Brother I don’t know how he could play cricket so
But his batting, bowling, fielding, catching is breathtaking
Sometimes I does wonder if he’s a next Sobers In the making
That man Richards Could really bat
Is something him on the attack
Plundering bowlers again and again
It’s remarkable how he does dictate the game
CHORUS
No bowler holds a terror for Vivian Richards
Not Thompson and Lillee, nor Bedi nor Chandrasakar
Perfect co-ordination of body and mind
That brother is really dynamite
Pace or spin, he don’t give a France what you bowling him
Fast or slowly, you going back to the boundary
England, here they come, this hunk of a man
This classical player and his fellow Antiguans
Andy Roberts, wreaking havoc once again in your country
Vivian Richards wrecking bowlers boundary after boundary
Watch the scoreboard ticking on
When Vivian batting, the machine must run
And people applauding for runs like bread
And another splendid Richards century again!