Vivian Richards honoured with Order of the Caribbean Community

West Indies cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards has been honored with the Order of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and received the prestigious award at the 43rd Conference of Heads of Government in Suriname. The news has been officially announced by Cricket West Indies (CWI) on their social media handles.

Richards is regarded as arguably the most destructive batter of all times and was an integral part of the then mighty West Indies team in the 1970s and 80s. He was known for his ability to single-handedly take the match away from the opposition with his aggressive power-hitting techniques that also helped him excel at Test cricket.

Richards was an integral member of the Caribbean squad that won the first two editions of the World Cup in 1975 and 1979. He scored a match-winning 138 in the 1979 World Cup final against hosts England.

CWI congratulates @ivivianrichards on receiving Order of the Caribbean Community award🏅👏🏽

Read article here⬇️https://t.co/aYpDqEQrse pic.twitter.com/XiedzCczxB

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 4, 2022

It is a most fitting honor for a true hero of our region: CWI President

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of CWI and the entire West Indies Cricket community, I want to congratulate Sir Viv on this tremendous honor, which was conferred on him by CARICOM,” CWI President Ricky Skerritt said.

“It is a most fitting honour for a true hero of our region, a man who demonstrated to the world that Caribbean people are capable of punching above our weight by achieving excellence globally. Sir Viv took the baton from the pioneers of West Indies Cricket and established new levels of greatness and dominance for others to follow. He used his God-given talents, his mental and physical readiness, and his cricket bat, to bring glory to West Indians all around the world”, the CWI President added.

In an illustrious international career that lasted for almost two decades, Sir Viv represented the West Indies in 121 Tests and 187 One Day Internationals between 1974 and 1991 scoring 8540 runs in the longest format and  6721 runs in ODIs. The two-time world champion registered 24 Test centuries and 11 of them in One Day cricket.