Viv Richards Becomes West Indies Captain — 1985

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.

“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.