Top 11 Batsmen against pace bowling in the last four decades

Sir Vivian Richards

It is hard to really say how good Vivian Richards was given he never had to face fast bowlers from his own team, probably the greatest that existed. However, given he never wore a helmet, flicked pace bowlers relentlessly and hooked them when they tried to intimidate him, it would be a travesty to leave him out of this list.

His numbers are impressive too – 47.56 in Australia, 42.76 in Pakistan and 64.28 in England, showing that he gave a good account of himself against genuine pace and swing. Overall, he averaged 50.23 and logically speaking, it would have been hard to make it to the West Indian team of the 70s and 80s, without knowing how to deal with their own pacers in domestic matches.

Richards has 1760 runs in Australia, fifth highest for a visiting batsman. In matches against Australia, that included both Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Richards scored 678 runs, the most by anyone, at 48.42. Proof enough that he was one of the greatest if not the greatest against genuine pacers.