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WAS VIV RICHARDS THIS MEAN TO HIS OWN ? LARA SAID THIS.....
Emir
2023-01-12 03:32:12
Back in September, 2017 - BRIAN CHARLES LARA talked about his first time as part of the West Indies dressing room, the presence of the team in his father's funeral and how intimidated he was by Sir Vivian Richards in his Cowdrey lecture
I remember the first time I was a West Indian cricketer. It was 1989. The West Indies was coming to Trinidad for the next Test against India so I didn’t have to go anywhere.
I went to the Oval an hour before the team arrived. I had two of my brothers there. We went on to the field, and they started giving me a little bit of throw-downs.
You have to understand when the bus with the West Indies team pulled up, you’re talking about my idols. Viv Richards walked off the bus. Then Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, the late Malcolm Marshall, Jeffrey Dujon and Augustine Logie walked off the bus. I froze. I was out there, a little kid taking a knock.
And I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know whether to head towards the dressing-room or to head towards the bus. As the team went into the dressing-room, I thought I’ll try to join them and say hello. The cricket bag that I put down in the dressing-room came flying through the air in front of me.
I picked it up and walked inside. To my amazement, the same place that I sat for Trinidad, was the same place Sir Vivian Richards sat for the West Indies team. So I spent the first five days of my inter
national career in the bathroom, ducking the players as they came out of the shower. I had to move my bag left, move it right and that’s what I did. That first Test match I wasn’t selected in the playing XI. My dad came to the picket fence and asked me for few more tickets. I went to Clive Lloyd the manager and he gave me some tickets. He was off and I went back to the hotel.
At the hotel, I had a roommate, and I’m not going to call his name, and he said, “Brian, can I have some space?” I said, “No problem.” I knew what that meant. My little interaction at 19 with the opposite sex, I knew it was going to last a few minutes. So a few minutes later I called the room and he said, “Don’t call. I’ll call you.”
At 11 pm, the curfew was 12, I called again. He said, “I’m not ready yet.” I said, “You’re not ready yet, or you’re not finished yet?” He said, “Both.” I said, “Listen, I’m going to go home and see you early in the morning. Is that fine?” He was of course very happy with that. I went home. Oh sorry, I didn’t go home. Unfortunately, my dad got a heart attack that night and passed away.
I was by my girlfriend. So it took my brothers some time to find me. Clive Lloyd thought I was in bed, but I was not in bed. My roommate had no explanation and blamed everything on me.
Back in those days, Test cricket still had a rest day, and on that rest day my family decided to have my father’s burial and ceremony. And it could not have been the most amazing time for a man who gave his life to his last son when the entire West Indies team came to that little village in Santa Cruz called Cantaro, his son in a blazer, Sir Vivian Richards in a blazer and I remember that moment so vividly. Everyone just left my father’s casket, they walked towards the West Indies cricket team looking for autographs.
Of course on many occasions the senior players took advantage of me and I remember right here at Lord’s during the 1991 series, rain was falling and I made sure everybody had what they wanted and the rain just continued falling. And I thought that it was an opportunity for me to take a little nap.
I had my first MRI machine experience, you know something is too close to you and I opened my eyes and in front of me was Sir Vivian Richards, staring me in the eyes, his piercing look and big nose and he looked at me and said “Did you have a late night?” I was nervous by then, heart beating and I said, “No I didn’t. I just felt that everyone was okay and they didn’t need nothing, so I thought I will sleep.” He looked at me, and if he was any close the nose would have been resting on my cheeks. He said, ‘Listen, get your a** up, and go outside and watch the rain. You are not being paid to sleep.’
And I went outside on the balcony at Lord’s and I watched the rain. After an hour later, it was still drizzling when Lance Gibbs, the manager, came and he said, ‘Brian, I have a horse running at Doncaster, let’s go along the betting shop, and we have a winner’. So I got up and went inside, only to run into Sir Viv. Bareback, a towel around his shoulder and a meanest look on his face. I made a U-turn and went back to the balcony.
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Halliwell
2023-01-12 08:58:46
In reply to Emir
Lara never gave a judgment on The Viv’s actions, or did he? Why?
He was merely telling the story through the lens of a debutant’s eyes.
Viv talks about Lara in glowing terms often. Vice versa.
KTom
2023-01-12 09:59:12
In reply to Emir
A reminder that it took Lara four years to become a fixture in the side. Logie and Arthurton were in his way. Although Richards' last couple of years weren't that productive - in his last 20 Tests he averaged about 36 with only one hundred.
The reference to rest days surprised me - I thought they'd ended completely by the late 1980s. But the history - as usual - is a lot more involved: Link
Emir
2023-01-12 11:43:54
In reply to Halliwell
Lara never gave a judgment on The Viv’s actions
He did, he was obviously very hurt.
That Viv "talks of Lara in glowing terms" does not negate that fact, or "vice versa."
The point is that bullying is not supposed to be part of our culture, it is an American ting. And in today's world, Viv would not have gotten away with this bullying.
And what of the sexual escapade of the player whose name he did not tell?
Jumpstart
2023-01-12 15:53:38
In reply to Halliwell
err i don't know about that....maybe in private(its entirely possible). but i've never heard viv say anything positive about lara in public. I've even heard lara's biggest critic, whispering death, talk in glowing terms about lara's batting. In 2005, after he quit as head selector, viv attributed virtually all the WI's problems to Lara, despite this being the most consistent phase of lara's batting. He never even once mentioned that the teams that beat us during this period simply had more firepower. England had the best fast bowling quartet in the world, SA had Ntini and nel and Austraia were still the best team in the world. I found that particularly distasteful. Almost every Trinidadian who was alive in the late 80s and early 90s knows how mean viv was to lara. I remember reading an article in the UK guardian a few months ago from 1994 and he wrote about this
It was one of the most delicious of the myriad slices of irony that West Indies cricket regularly serves up: everyone watching knew that Richards, as captain, had done everything he could to keep Lara out of the crease when he could no longer keep him out of the side. Even Lara, at his most magnanimous, could not sidestep a truth every observer felt as keenly as his new world record.
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Link Text
Jumpstart
2023-01-12 15:56:36
In reply to KTom
A reminder that it took Lara four years to become a fixture in the side. Logie and Arthurton were in his way. Although Richards' last couple of years weren't that productive - in his last 20 Tests he averaged about 36 with only one hundred.
imagine that.....athurton, who scored his first hundred more than a year after iv had retired was keeping lara out of the side. ridiculous
Logic
2023-01-12 16:10:50
In reply to Emir
Viv wasnt just a great cricketer, he was a great man.... a larger than life figure. Its understand why a young cricketer would be intimidated by him.
But as far a demonstrating meanness, your story is a nothingburger.
analyst-kid
2023-01-12 16:14:13
In reply to Jumpstart
imagine that.....athurton, who scored his first hundred more than a year after iv had retired was keeping lara out of the side. ridiculous
WI cricket ain change...if Campbell was not banned....all like now he would be keeping Tage OUT OF THE SIDE.
analyst-kid
2023-01-12 16:15:15
In reply to Logic
Richardson to me more kept Lara out for Arthurton.
Halliwell
2023-01-12 19:40:11
In reply to Emir
If that is bullying by the standard in those days then it’s very much a West Indian thing
That stuff was perpetrated by and on tens of thousands in Halls of three UWI campuses! 
Narper
2023-01-12 20:37:59
In reply to Halliwell
That stuff was perpetrated by and on tens of thousands in Halls of three UWI campuses!
I had 1 week of 'grubbing' at Canada Hall on St Augustine campus.
It wasnt easy...btw there were about 140 yardie students [ out of 192]...and ah couldnt understand most of what they were saying....rassclaat and bumbaclaat were the order of the day
A young Lara was just a sheltered kid like most of us were when we joined UWI
camos
2023-01-12 21:44:57
some of that was standard treatment for new people, the real test is how people interact with you after that initial period.
Halliwell
2023-01-12 22:14:38
In reply to Narper
Indeed!
camos
2023-01-12 23:16:01
remember Viv telling a story of how he had to set bath for the pro when he joined Somerset!
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 02:05:27
In reply to analyst-kid
Richardson to me more kept Lara out for Arthurton. b
Highly unlikely. Richardson was the best batsman on the WI team in 1989, 19990 and 1991. Viv`s last hundred was against a weak Indian lineup(even though it was the best they had). I remember an interview 9 Sports had with Wes Hall, the then WI manager, during the Australia visit here in 1991 and he admitted the the WI middle order had been failing since 1986. How many times had the bowlers and Dujon had to bail the team out of trouble within those years.. I seriously doubt the management would have been thinking about positions when 1) Lara could make runs at any position and 2) Atherton was a failure and clearly not in Lara's class. If the WI were Australia, they would have found a way to get Lara in the team. Buy being from a small and quite frankly small minded region, lara's international career was in comatose for two years until Viv finally left
Emir
2023-01-13 02:25:19
In reply to camos
remember Viv telling a story of how he had to set bath for the pro when he joined Somerset!
Nonesense, when he joined Somerset, he was the star.
Emir
2023-01-13 02:27:46
In reply to Logic
Viv wasnt just a great cricketer, he was a great man.... a larger than life figure. Its understand why a young cricketer would be intimidated by him
No, he was a great cricketer. He is not larger than life post his cricket career, that individual was never clean during his career and the person closest to him can testify to that.
openning
2023-01-13 03:02:26
In reply to Emir
Lara was also a great cricketer, and was the biggest divider in the history of our cricket, one of the reason his captain record, cannot be compared to Viv or LLyod.
Tony Cozier saw it upfront and spoke about it.
Brerzerk
2023-01-13 03:04:53
camos
2023-01-13 03:21:24
In reply to Brerzerk
ok! I know my memory is still good.
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 03:29:48
In reply to openning
hoss....as i told you earlier....the bajans capacity to accept and regurgitate idiocy in cricket is unparalleled. Lara didn't win because he had the likes of talentless tino, talentless dave bernard jr, talentless dwight washington among others. When he had good players like walsh and ambrose or jerome taylor and fidel or jermmaine lawson, the WI were competitive.
Fact is clive and viv had the fastest, most skillful bowlers in history at their disposal. Andy Roberts had already cut a swathe in county cricket in his first season of county cricket. Holding is the most naturally gifted fast bowler from the WI, possibly ever in test cricket. You can't compare Wavell hinds or Sherwin Campbell with Gordon Greenidge. You can't compare Chris gayle or Adrian Griffith with Desmond HAYNES.
The fact is that at the end of the 90s, only two west indian batsmen averaged above 40(And chanders was injured relatively regularly).
One of the downsides of the WI extraordinary success from the 70s to the early 90s is that West Indians started to believe in a host of fairytales about the team's success. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you believe that clive and viv could turn water into wine and resurrect the dead.
Tony Cozier saw it upfront and spoke about it.
that insular moron.....he went to an indian newspaper saying lara was bad for cricket. for a dude who never played a day of FC cricket, he had way too much influence. While he was busy mercilessly criticizing lara, he rarely ever focused on the fact that hooper averaged 36, that stuart williams was too lazy to work on his craft and fulfill his potential, that sherwin campbell, while a good tryer had a technique that was essentially a bunch of loose moving parts
Brerzerk
2023-01-13 03:38:43
Viv lived in the house of the Somerset club guy (Secretary perhaps) who " identified him. The guy joked that had he known Viv would be that great he wouldn't have filled in and repainted the wall on which Viv carved his name. When Viv 1st joined Somerset he earned money assisting the Groundsman. Someone stole my copy of his original autobio so I can only "quote" from memory. But, "Having learned to bat in English conditions I got stuck in on a pudding of a pitch and made an important 60
When I got to the Pavillion Brian (Close) got the whole team to form a guard of honor for me"
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 04:20:44
In reply to Brerzerk
yes....he assisted as a groundsman....i think it was he, dennis Bracewell and guy the gorilla(Sir Ian Botham) who shared a flat next to the ground. And somerset had literally won nothing before those guys came. Which is why the sommerset committees decision to terminate viv and big bird's contract was so absurd.
openning
2023-01-13 04:36:51
openning
2023-01-13 04:49:26
In reply to Jumpstart
that insular moron, did you looked in the mirror before writing.
I am hoping you read Lara speaking and Holding expressing his praise for one of the region best.
Lara after his death spoke of the advise he got for Tony, and Mike saying they was none better in the region, he will speak his mind, because he had the knowledge, that's not your way.
You tend to mirror Lara's divisiveness as captain.
A person like you will never be successful, working with people.
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 05:06:30
In reply to openning
And? Doesn't mean he wasn't an insular moron.....which he was
And hoss....you could bad talk Lara all you want.....fact is no captain since Lara has achieved a positive result against the no 1 ranked team. Nobody has drawn or beaten Australia since lara and only Sammy can boast an ICC trophy.....not even Gayle and he was a better captain than lara. Although Gayle would have won a tournament as captain had hunte and Hillary not sabotaged WI cricket
And Lara has been the most magnanimous of all the WI cricketers after sobers and even Viv(whose stance towards the rebel cricketers is tinged with an understanding of their circumstances that many of his colleagues don't have). Lara does not even criticize holding, who he had a tempestuous relationship with or Steve Waugh for cheating a host of players including lara himself. He doesn't even criticize Ian Healy the biggest cheat in the game. And Lara said that right after cozier had died, I would not expect him to say anything negative
Brerzerk
2023-01-13 07:18:58
In reply to Jumpstart
Geniuses are usually flawed humans. In fact very few of us humans aren't flawed.
LARA AND JAMAICANS
When he replaced Walsh as cappo the angst was so intense that Cuddy had to walk out hugging him before he could do the toss. 2 1/2 days later Jamaicans were scrambling just to touch him. That double was his best innings much better than the 159 in Bim and only comparable to the Sydney 1st ton. The Samuels Brothers-We all saw the vid of him getting into Aussie faces to defend Robert. Marlon says of his debut series that in about his 4th knock when he came out Lara met him and asked " why isn't your collar turned up as usual?" Don't change your style, don't let themt hink they've got to you" Viv n Lara are 1st of all West Indians who would die on the pitch batting for us
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 13:01:00
In reply to Brerzerk
i agree with you. And yes Lara campaigned for the captaincy which to me was a terrible look. And Walsh showed why he was the preeminent senior statesman in WI cricket during that trying time. But even lara and especially the TTCB's campaigning for him to be captain as early as 1994 could be explained by the power vacuum created by the destruction of succession planning for the WI. It came about because Richardson, who was no kind of skipper(I'm sure you remember Sabina Park booing him to and from the pitch vs Pakistan in 1993) was appointed against Viv's expressed wishes to have his VC, and stand in captain, Dessie Haynes take over. When Lara broke all those records in 1994, there was no definite leader in that team to keep him grounded. Desmond had played what would be his last test for the WI the game before in Barbados. It's not like Tendulkar, who had Kapil Dev, possibly the most inspirational Indian cricketer, Ravi Shastri, and even a rival in Azharudin to keep him consistent. Lara had none of that. And when you're 25 years old, having broken batting's most visible records within three months and as result, becoming cricket's first millionaire cricketer, that must play havoc with your ego.
Jumpstart
2023-01-13 15:45:51
In reply to Brerzerk
the thing is....instead of criticizing the players who have performed during these dark years, we always seem to attack the players who did. So Gayle scored two masterful hundreds vs australia in 2009/2010 but nobody remembers the series because west indies lost on the back of some typically poor Billy Bowden decisions. Carl Hooper's lack of consistency resulting in a 36 average rarely arouses the ire that Lara's real and imagined infractions do. And as lara said in the red strip quarterly of 1998, there were batsmen in the team a long time who simply did not carry their weight. He never mentioned hooper but everybody knew those words had targets
FanAttick
2023-01-14 17:12:09
In reply to Narper
There is an esteemed Bajan pollster and statistician in Jamaica who was on Taylor Hall back in the day..he was subjected to the most egregious ragging to the effect that he hid in his room for days without eating or drinking…fearing for his life and limb…me and my brethren noticed that we hadn’t seen him for a while and we sent someone to check on him ..he was found lying on his back with his eyes rolled back in his head on the brink of extinction from starvation and dehydration …emergency life saving measures had to be solicited….he not only recovered but thrived after that experience…that was the order of the day back in my time..Lara’s experience is child’s play compared to what folks had to go through… 
XDFIX
2023-01-14 18:24:26
In reply to FanAttick
I was a victim of that egregious ragging at the secondary but not tertiary level! Once bitten, twice shy!
