Viv Richards inherited the West Indies captaincy from Clive Lloyd in 1985 and led the side through a six-year peak in which he never lost a Test series — a captaincy distinction unique in modern cricket history.
Richards had been Lloyd's vice-captain through the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Lloyd retired after the 1984-85 Australia tour; Richards was the unanimous successor.
Richards took over from Lloyd in February 1985. His first home series was the 1985-86 Caribbean Blackwash of England, in which he made a 56-ball Test hundred at the Antigua Recreation Ground. Across his captaincy he led West Indies in 50 Tests, won 27, lost 8 and drew 15 — and crucially won every Test series he captained. He inherited the Lloyd-era pace battery and added Patrick Patterson, Courtney Walsh and the late-period Curtly Ambrose. Off the field he was a charismatic public figure who used cricket as a political platform — refusing rebel-tour money and articulating a Black Power consciousness through the game. His captaincy was less avuncular than Lloyd's and more confrontational, but his record speaks for itself: undefeated in series for six years. He stepped down only in 1991, after a 2-1 series loss to Australia in 1992-93 was on the horizon and Richie Richardson succeeded him.
Captaincy from Lloyd, Feb 1985
1985-86 Caribbean Blackwash 5-0
56-ball Antigua hundred (April 1986)
1988 Caribbean tour: drew with Pakistan 1-1
Steps down 1991
Feb 1985
Captaincy from Lloyd
1985-86
Caribbean Blackwash
1986
56-ball ARG Test hundred
1988
1-1 in Caribbean vs Pakistan
1991
Steps down
“I am here to win for my people. I take the captaincy seriously.”
“Smokey was the toughest captain I played for or against.”
Richards retired from Test cricket in 1991 with 8,540 runs at 50.23 and 24 hundreds.
A captaincy reign of unbroken series success — the only such record in modern Test cricket.
His captaincy record — undefeated in series — is unmatched in modern Test history.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.