The Master Blaster — arguably the most intimidating batsman in cricket history. His sledging comeback to Greg Thomas is cricket folklore.
22 incidents documented
New Zealand vs South Africa
2004-03-12
New Zealand opener Mark Richardson celebrated his Test centuries with a pre-planned robotic dance routine that became one of cricket's most endearing traditions.
Australia vs India
12 December 2003
Brett Lee peppered Rahul Dravid with a sustained short-pitched assault in Adelaide 2003, targeting the Indian number three's technique against the short ball. Dravid absorbed blow after blow — including a painful hit to the body — before anchoring India's innings. Their battle epitomised the great paceman-technician duel of the era.
West Indies vs Australia
28 April 1995
Curtly Ambrose got in Steve Waugh's face after being told to go back to his mark. Richie Richardson had to pull Ambrose away. Ambrose then bowled a devastating spell.
West Indies vs Australia
21 April 1995
Curtly Ambrose got face-to-face with Steve Waugh during the 1995 Trinidad Test after Waugh told him to 'get back to the f***ing crease.' Ambrose had to be physically restrained by WI captain Richie Richardson. Ambrose channelled his fury into taking 7/25 — one of the greatest hostile fast-bowling spells in Test history.
India vs West Indies
October 1994
Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were repeatedly denied plumb LBW appeals by Indian home umpires throughout West Indies' 1994 tour of India. The era of home umpire bias was at its height before neutral umpires became mandatory in 2002.
England vs South Africa
1994-08-20
After being hit on the helmet by Fanie de Villiers, Devon Malcolm told South Africa 'You guys are history.' He then took 9/57 — the best bowling figures by an England fast bowler in Test history — to bowl South Africa out for 175.
West Indies vs England
18 November 1993
Curtly Ambrose refused to remove his white wristbands when asked by the umpire, leading to a standoff that required captain Richie Richardson's intervention.
England vs South Africa
22 March 1992
A farcical rain rule calculation left South Africa needing 22 runs off 1 ball in the World Cup semi-final, robbing them of a realistic chance of reaching the final.
Australia vs Various
28 December 1991
Merv Hughes was legendary for his creative and often hilarious sledging, engaging in memorable verbal battles with Javed Miandad, Viv Richards, and many others.
Pakistan vs West Indies
1988-04-02
Imran Khan and Viv Richards — two captains who embodied their nations' cricketing cultures — locked horns across multiple contests in the late 1980s with Imran using reverse swing and intelligent variation against Richards's supreme attacking instincts.
West Indies vs New Zealand
1986-02-21
Richard Hadlee's intelligent use of swing, seam, and variation against Viv Richards — who dominated every other bowler on earth — produced one of cricket's most compelling bowler-batsman contests: craft against raw genius.
England vs West Indies
1986-07-03
After Greg Thomas told Viv Richards he'd missed the ball, Richards smashed the next delivery out of the ground and told Thomas to go find it.
India vs West Indies
1983-06-25
Kapil Dev's stunning running catch to dismiss Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup Final at Lord's — off the bowling of Madan Lal — was the moment that turned cricket history, removing West Indies' most dangerous batsman and enabling India's improbable victory.
India vs West Indies
1983-06-25
India, 175-run underdogs, bowled out West Indies for 140 to win the 1983 World Cup at Lord's — a victory that transformed cricket's global landscape, made India the sport's financial superpower, and inspired a generation of cricketers.
England vs West Indies
1980-06-05
Bob Willis's sustained fast bowling at Viv Richards throughout the 1980 Test series in England — where Richards scored with imperious power against everything Willis delivered — produced one of the era's clearest demonstrations of batting genius overcoming England's best pace attack.
West Indies vs England
1979-06-23
Viv Richards made 138 not out — the highest score in a World Cup final until 2003 — as West Indies defended their 1975 title by beating England at Lord's in a match that confirmed West Indian dominance of world cricket.
Multiple (WSC vs Establishment Cricket)
24 November 1977
Media mogul Kerry Packer signed 51 of the world's best cricketers to a rival competition after being denied TV broadcast rights, fundamentally transforming professional cricket.
England vs West Indies
3 June 1976
Tony Greig infamously said he intended to make the West Indies 'grovel,' a comment with racial undertones that provoked an incredible West Indian response.
England vs West Indies
1976-06-03
Andy Roberts's ferocious response to Tony Greig's 'grovel' statement — combined with Viv Richards's batting dominance — turned the 1976 England-West Indies series into an emphatic West Indian statement about the cost of underestimating them.
England vs West Indies
1976-07-22
45-year-old Brian Close, recalled to face West Indies' pace onslaught, took blow after blow from Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, and Wayne Daniel at Old Trafford without complaint — walking toward the ball, refusing to take evasive action, in one of cricket's most extreme acts of physical courage.
West Indies vs England
1976-08-12
West Indies' 1976 tour of England introduced the most feared fast bowling quartet in cricket history — Holding, Roberts, Daniel, and Holder — as they beat England 3-0 in a series defined by pace, aggression, and the emergence of Viv Richards as the world's best batsman.
Australia vs West Indies
December 1975
Dennis Lillee targeted Viv Richards with relentless short-pitched bowling in the 1975-76 series, attempting to intimidate the young West Indian. Richards refused to flinch, absorbing every bouncer and hitting Lillee for boundaries. Their duel defined the series and shaped Richards' fearless batting identity.