King of pain
Being forward short leg for Viv Richards
17-Oct-2009
Viv Richards: had it in for the guy on the hill • Getty Images
One of my all-time heroes is Viv Richards. To me he is the godfather of one-day cricket. His power and finesse were awesome, and bowlers - and fieldsmen as well - stood in fear of his presence.
The first time I experienced that fear was in my second Test, in Antigua in 1984. Viv was belting us to all parts when our captain, Kim Hughes, brought on the inexperienced left-arm orthodox spinner Tom Hogan. Just when Hogan was about to bowl his first ball to Viv, Kim stopped everything and asked me to field bat-pad. I thought it was going to be the last 10 minutes of my life.
Viv sensed my fear and said: "I won't hurt you, Deano. You see that guy on the hill with the red t-shirt? I'm going to hurt him, maan!"
Viv proceeded to take 32 runs off Hogan's next two overs. As for me, I did not see even one of those shots as I had my eyes closed for fear that he would fill me in!
As told to H Natarajan. This article was first published in Wisden Asia Cricket magazine