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[fineleg]

When The King refused to budge

Posted by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan 1 day, 16 hours ago in India in West Indies 2006
John Bowry finds time to narrate the tale © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
 
It has been more than 36 years but John Bowry remembers the day vividly. He was playing for St Kitts in the 1969-70 Leeward Islands tournament in Antigua when he came against a fella called Viv Richards. Read on for an interesting anecdote:

"It was his first tournament and when we reached in Antigua, we were told he was going to kill us. Antigua won the toss and elected to bat. We didn't breach with the new ball and my captain called on me to bowl. In the first over I dismissed a batsman by the name Pat Martin and Richards came in and on my second ball to him he was caught bat-pad at leg slip. I bowled a straighter one and it bounced. He pushed forward and it came off his glove and the guy at leg-slip took it.

"He stood up as if he had not played the ball, but in my opinion he had played and in the umpires opinion he played it and the umpire raised his finger. He did not walk off immediately and the crowd charged into the ground because in that season he was in the most terrific form and a big favourite there; we all had to run off.

"After about an hour's delay, they decided to allow him to come back. That time I felt, it was bad for cricket because the umpire had given you out; he should have walked; he stood his ground and that provoked the crowd. And, I was told by a broadcaster that his father beat him the same night saying that when the umpire gave him out he should have walked"

[RicePlateReddy]

he stood his ground and that provoked the crowd. And, I was told by a broadcaster that his father beat him the same night saying that when the umpire gave him out he should have walked"

Thanks for posting that snippet, applause given.

His father should have also disciplined him when he had an affair with Neena Gupta (while he was married back home) and having a child that he appears to have marginal contact with. The fact that the child is a girl makes it a close miss for the Indian cricket lover 

[Libran]

he stood his ground and that provoked the crowd. And, I was told by a broadcaster that his father beat him the same night saying that when the umpire gave him out he should have walked"

Thanks for posting that snippet, applause given.

His father should have also disciplined him when he had an affair with Neena Gupta (while he was married back home) and having a child that he appears to have marginal contact with. The fact that the child is a girl makes it a close miss for the Indian cricket lover 

He did not seem to learn or was he following his father's instructions to the T...walk only if given out...In his Second test in Delhi, he was out Caught behind off Venkat w/o scoring...but was not given...went on to make 192...and the rest as we all know is history....Maybe a boon, because there was every possibilty that he would have been dropped in the subsequent test with single digit scores in his first two innings and we would not have got to witness one of the finest batting displays ever in World cricket  from '74-75 till he called it a day