Sundial in the Shade

The Story of Barry Richards: the Genius Lost to Test Cricket

Andrew Murtagh

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785310676
• Year: 2015

As a former county player, Andrew Murtagh is often asked, "who is the best batsman he has ever played with or against?" His answer is always unequivocal—"Richards." And then comes the inevitable rider—"Barry, that is, not Viv." It is a travesty that the cricket world has largely forgotten Barry Richards—a cricketing genius. Debuting for South Africa in 1970, his run-scoring, technique, and audacious, extravagant strokeplay took the breath away. A glittering international career beckoned. However, the apartheid storm burst, and Richards had played his first and last Test series. Consigned to plying his trade for Hampshire, Natal, and South Australia, Richards became increasingly frustrated and disenchanted with the game he had loved. Following retirement, personal tragedy and professional controversy continued to stalk him, though he has now come to an uneasy acceptance that he will be forever known as the genius lost to Test cricket.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword by Tim Rice
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 A Singular Child
• 2 Nuffield Week
• 3 England, June/July 1963
• 4 Natal, 1964–70
• 5 Annus Mirabilis, 1970–71
• 6 Happy Hants, Hampshire 1968–73
• 7 Not So Happy Hants, Hampshire 1974–78
• 8 Natal Success 1973–76
• 9 The Packer Revolution, 1977–79
• 10 Those Two Imposters – Triumph and Disaster, 1984–2015
• Appendix Barry Richards’s Career Record
• Photographs