Sir Richie Richardson

A wide-brimmed maroon sun hat, worn in place of a cap or helmet even against the fastest bowling of his era, became as much a part of Richie Richardson's identity as any innings he played. Born in Five Islands, Antigua, he broke through as an opener for the Leeward Islands, which earned him a call-up to tour India with West Indies in 1983. He made his Test debut there that November, aged 21, and he became part of a side already stacked with senior stars. He struggled early, going without a fifty until his fourth Test brought a maiden century against Australia.

That innings, an unbeaten 131 in a big partnership with Desmond Haynes, opened the floodgates. He followed it with further centuries against Australia that same season, and went on to build one of the most prolific records in the world against Australian bowling. He eventually amassed nine Test centuries against them, more than against any other side. Even so, a reputation as a poor player of the moving ball on English pitches followed him for years, not helped by being left out of the XI throughout the 1984 tour of England in favour of the more experienced Larry Gomes. He used the following county season with Swansea to sharpen his game against seam and swing, and by the time he returned to England in 1991 he had shed the label for good, scoring the most runs of any West Indian batter in that series.

Along the way, he played two of the standout innings of the 1987 World Cup, and it was around this period that he adopted the wide-brimmed sun hat, sent to the team by a sponsor, in place of his old cap. In 1991, Viv Richards announced his intention to retire after the following year's World Cup, having publicly backed Haynes as his successor. When the West Indies board chose Richardson instead, it caused lasting ill-feeling in Antigua, the shared home island of both men, even though Richardson backed the decision himself. His first assignment as full-time captain was that 1992 World Cup, a tournament remembered as much for a frightening blow he took to the face from a rising delivery against Sri Lanka as for the side's results.

He went on to captain the side in 24 Tests, winning 11 and overseeing a run of ten straight wins over England, but his four years in charge are best remembered for what was eventually lost. A 1994-95 series defeat to Australia that ended West Indies' unbeaten run stretching back to 1980. He retired soon after, in 1995, finishing with 5,949 Test runs from 86 matches at an average of 44.39, and 6,248 runs in 224 ODIs. Alongside his international career, he also played domestic cricket for Yorkshire in England, and later for Northern Transvaal and Windward Islands, having captained Leeward Islands for much of his time there.

After retiring, he stayed close to the game, serving as West Indies team manager from 2011 before joining the ICC's Elite Panel of Match Referees in 2015 and crafting a long career in that role. He was knighted by the Antiguan government in 2014 alongside fellow greats Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose, and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies in 2022, the same year he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame.