KEY POINTS:
ST JOHN'S, Antigua - Diplomacy, which never came easily to Viv Richards in his playing days, is now the day job for Antigua's favourite son.
At 55, still every inch the athlete with the fierce stare which intimidated bowlers throughout the world, the man named as one of the Wisden almanac's five greatest players of the 20th century is an ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda.
Richards is charged with promoting the attractions of his lush tropical island with its 365 beaches. This week he took time off to host a six-hitting charity promotion for World Cup sponsors Johnnie Walker, the firm who paid a million dollars when Herschelle Gibbs struck six sixes in an over.
A burning issue in Antigua during the Super Eights second round has been the absence of local spectators at the new stadium, named after Richards, and the lack of a carnival atmosphere at venues generally throughout the Caribbean.
"Yes, we are very disappointed," Richards acknowledged.
"There's an old saying in the theatre business that even though there is an old man and dog inside the theatre, the show must go on. I think the show goes on."
The reply was worthy of a career diplomat. His response when asked why the unique Caribbean atmosphere of sound, spectacle and music was missing came from the heart. The problem, Richards said, was the perceived ban on musical instruments and banners.
"I am a Caribbean person who said from the first day that we had a match in Antigua that we are an exciting and vibrant people. The fact is that something seems to be missing," he said.
"We are a rather unique people. We are different to the way you live in Europe, or maybe in South Africa or in Australia. We are different in terms of our living style, our vibrant way of life and I just thought someone held them by the throat and said 'No, I don't want you to shout any more'."
Under Clive Lloyd, then Richards, and finally under another Antiguan Richie Richardson, West Indies ruled the world for 15 years.
At the heart of the team stood Richards, the best and most destructive batsmen in the world between 1976 and 1986 when his eye and reflexes began to dim and the strain of non-stop cricket began to tell.
Richards suffered with his team mates in the 1975-6 tour of Australia where the West Indies' 1975 World Cup triumph was given a different perspective as they folded under the relentless pace and aggression of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.
He was one of the few able to stand up to the barrage and his courage was rewarded by the end of the calendar year when he had scored a then record 1710 test runs with seven centuries in 11 tests.
England, whose South African-born captain Tony Greig had promised to make the tourists "grovel", felt the full wrath of Richards' flashing stroke play on grounds parched brown by weeks of endless sunshine, climaxing with 291 at The Oval.
Under Lloyd, West Indies won two World Cups and beat all-comers with the exception of a series in New Zealand, when Richards was absent.
As Lloyd's career drew to its close, Richards was the obvious candidate to succeed Lloyd, but to his frustration some among the West Indies' administration did not think he was captaincy material.
He finally took over in 1985 and in the next year led West Indies to a 5-0 home series win over England as well as hitting the fastest ever test century at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
Until he retired after the 1991 series in England, Richards never captained a losing team in a test series and he finished with 8540 runs at an average of 50.23.
Richards consistently rejected huge sums of money to play in apartheid South Africa and, in common with Learie Constantine before him, was an increasingly articulate spokesman for his race, his country and the West Indies islands.
As his 84 test sixes show, he was also a supreme entertainer. He never wore a helmet at time when great fast bowlers were common and his initial impulse was always to take the attack to the bowler.
Invited to comment on England's Kevin Pietersen, the top-ranked one-day batsman in the world at the moment, Richards gave what amounted to summary of his batting and cricket philosophy.
"I love to see entertaining people, people who are brash, I wouldn't call it arrogance," he said.
"Long may he live because I think in the sport we do need attractive people. We do need entertaining folks, we do need people with a sense of humour and all that.
"Characters, this is what the game is all about."
- REUTERS
