“Who will forget Si Viv’s swagger as he approached the wicket? Who will not cherish those moments when with a flick of his wrist, even the most feared bowlers sat back as their deliveries soared for six? Who will not recall with admiration the boost that he brought to cricket and the joy that we all felt when he was at the crease?
Vivian Richards gave to cricket worldwide, a standing and a following matched by only a few in the world.
And, if from all that I have said, you get the impression that I, and the people of Antigua and Barbuda whom I represent, place Sir Vivian in a special category of citizen, you would be perfectly right.
We have honoured him with a Knighthood and we have all – unanimously and collectively – made him one of our National Heroes.
But, we know that no honour we give him, no recognition that we accord him, can repay him for the sheer joy and the absolute pride that he has brought to our small nation.
Sir Vivian is a proud Antiguan who played cricket for the honour of the West Indies and for his country.
It must have been a great burden to know that every time he ventured onto the field of play, he carried the expectations and hopes of all the West Indian people.
But if it was a burden, he never showed it.
Indeed, he undertook his task as a heroic soldier for his nation, never faltering in his duty.
Beyond, his responsibility to the West Indian team and to the West Indian people, was his sense of obligation to the beautiful game of cricket itself.
He played cricket for the joy of the spectators; for the enthusiasm of school boys; for the pleasure of its most ardent fans.
In doing so, he kept the flame of cricket burning brightly, and maintained its place as a sport of choice and of enjoyment for millions of people around the world.
It is fitting that Sir Vivian is being honored by Lord’s Taverners because he adored Lord’s, not only because it is a superb ground on which to play cricket, but because it is redolent with the history of cricket and the spirits of its greatest players reside within it.
Playing cricket at Lords was not just a game for Viv Richards; it was tribute to the magnificence of the sport itself, and to the greatness of superb cricketers of every nationality who performed their craft with brilliance in this hallowed place.
He played in eight Lord’s finals.
As he said “When I was batting at Lord’s I wanted to make sure that no one else was going to come in. It was my stage.”
It is therefore with pride and pleasure that on behalf of the people of Antigua and Barbuda I’m here with you this evening to witness the great honor that is being bestowed on Sir Viv….
He may have given up his bat in Cricket, but he continues to bat for Antigua and for the West Indies.
Antigua and Barbuda is a premier tourist destination today in part because Vivian Richards never let people forget that it is the county of his birth, and his home.”
– Excerpts from remarks made at the Lord Taverner’s Dinner by The Honourable Asot Michael, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Tourism, Economic Development, Investment & Energy.
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