1984: Viv Richards' 189

"I think that's the greatest ODI innings," Australian skipper Pat Cummins said, regarding Glenn Maxwell's stunning unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup. "It's the best I've ever seen, probably the greatest ODI innings ever." Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and commentator Ian Smith seemed to agree. "I've never seen anything like it."

Sport naturally sets itself up for debates about the greatest or worst, be it competitor, match, series, tournament, goal, try, shot, insert as appropriate. As soon as anything happens in the sporting arena, you can be fairly confident that within minutes or hours pundits and social media experts will be discussing the merits of what we have just seen.

Was Ben Stokes' innings against Australia at Headingley in 2019 the greatest Test match knock of all time? Was the first half of France-South Africa at 2023 World Cup the greatest 40 minutes of rugby union ever? Is Lionel Messi the greatest footballer? Who is better - Federer or Djokovic?

Maxwell's innings sparked similar debate. Was it the greatest ODI of all time? Context is important. Australia were not guaranteed a place in the top four as they struggled to overhaul Afghanistan's 291/5, and with Maxwell's body completing cramping up, his innings was the very definition of match winning. Without Maxwell, Afghanistan were set for a famous victory.

One innings that drew immediate comparison with Maxwell's double hundred was that of Viv Richards at Old Trafford in May 1984. Scoring an unbeaten 189 out of a West Indian total of 272/9, Richards' effort against England was at least ten years ahead of its time. The Master Blaster simply could not be stopped on this day of destruction.

Again we have to return to context. As this was the first in a three-match series for the new Texaco Trophy, you could argue that Richards' innings was not played in a do-or-die encounter. But isolating his contribution in the context of this match alone, there can be no doubting the importance and quality of Richards 220 minutes at the crease.

Appointed England captain at the start of the summer, David Gower must have been delighted with the start of his permanent reign. With the gates shut and a crowd of 21,274 in attendance, a brilliant Ian Botham run out saw the back of Desmond Haynes, and when England's star all-rounder dismissed Gordon Greenidge, the West Indies were wobbling on 11/2.

Three wickets for spinner Geoff Miller on a slow turning pitch ripped the heart out of the West Indies innings, and when Malcolm Marshall was run out by wicketkeeper David Bairstow, the tourists were 102/7 and in danger of not batting out their 55 overs. At lunch - yes, kids, that used to be a thing in ODIs in England - the West Indies were 114/7.

Through it all, Richards remained. A brooding presence, leaning on his bat as he watched colleagues come and go, he had scored 65 out of the West Indian total of 102 by the time Marshall departed. In the eighth over of the match he had struck his Somerset teammate Botham for 16 runs, a warning of what was to come. But surely he would run out of partners.

"I remember feeling confident and in good nick at lunch and I told Eldine Baptiste to stick with me as long as possible because we had 29 overs left," Richards revealed after his remarkable innings. Thankfully for Richards, Baptiste listened, scoring 26 in stand of 59 that steadied the bleeding. But when Baptiste and Joel Garner went in quick succession all looked lost.

At 166/9 it looked as if the best hope for the West Indies was to try and post something over 200 and hope that their bowlers could dig them out of a hole. They would achieve this and some more. Richards decided there was only one way out of this mess, and that was to forcibly shape the game using his mighty force.

"It is hard to find a historical parallel for what happened next, but it sure as hell was not Agincourt," Matthew Engel wrote in the Guardian. "Perhaps it was Gallipoli, where a false sense of security was also followed by a murderous burst of fire." England were powerless to thwart the genius at work.

Richards was on 96 as Michael Holding joined him in the middle. Soon he would reach his hundred from just 112 balls - a rapid strike rate in this era, even more so considering the wickets tumbling around him - and this is when Richards truly put his foot down. His next 50 would come from just 35 balls.

Sixes flowed from the great lump of willow Richards wielded, as the crowd ducked for cover. Botham was nonchalantly flicked over the midwicket boundary. Stepping outside of leg stump, Richards sent a Neil Foster delivery over long off. "Absolutely magnificent," Jim Laker commented on the live BBC coverage, as it was slowly becoming apparent that everyone was witnessing greatness.

Derek Pringle was the next to suffer, dispatched over long on for another maximum, but it was the next six from Richards' bat that was the sweetest, a shot that "soared away into the far distance" to use the words of Laker. Richards had reached his 150 and was thirsty for more.

The ease in which Richards stepped back to launch Bob Willis over long off was bordering on arrogant, yet all great athletes have that infuriating ability to make the difficult look so simple. Fittingly Richards hit the last ball of the innings for four, with bowler Botham the first to congratulate a batsman that had played a different game to the rest the batting line-up. As one, the Old Trafford crowd stood.

The statistics back up the argument that this was the greatest ODI innings. Richards ended unbeaten on 189 from just 170 balls, striking 21 fours and five sixes; he scored 69.48% of the West Indian 272/9 total; the other seven batsmen in the top eight scored just 31 runs; Richards and Holding put on 106 for the tenth wicket, with Holding contributing 12 runs.

This was another factor to consider when assessing Richards' innings. The tenth wicket stand - still the highest in ODI matches - saw Richards successfully manipulate the strike, meaning Holding faced just 27 balls in their 81 deliveries together. Setting a new record for ODIs, surpassing Kapil Dev's 175 against Zimbabwe, Richards' mark stood for 13 years until Saeed Anwar surpassed it.

With a chilling inevitability, England folded in their reply. Allan Lamb top scored with 75 but England managed 21 runs fewer than Richards alone. The 104 run defeat was disappointing, if not unexpected. But there would be no post mortem regarding this particular England defeat. The next day there was simply appreciation for a great artist.

Engel described it as "an innings of awesome grandeur", adding thoughts that were surely shared by the vast majority of the Old Trafford crowd. "Indeed any of us will be lucky if we see anything quite like it in our lifetime." 

The Times' John Woodcock drew comparisons with another great. "Just as Bradman used to do, Richards spoilt the game. He turned what might otherwise have been a close match into a runaway victory. There can never have been a batting genius with greater strength than Richards. His forearms are like a brace of 6lb trout, in the pink of condition."

To their credit, England bounced back at Trent Bridge to win the next match in the series. But an unbeaten 84 from 65 balls from the bat of Richards helped the West Indies clinch the Texaco Trophy at Lord's. 

It is interesting to note Engel's opinions on how English cricket fans viewed ODI matches at the time. "Here they attract large crowds but remain somehow peripheral and unmemorable," he wrote prior to the one day series opener in Manchester. There is surely some truth in this, even today. Outside of major tournaments, many ODI series blur into one another, with very few magical moments to recall.

That is why an innings such as the one played by Viv Richards in May 1984 stick in the memory. A truly great ODI knock, only 11 men have since exceeded Richards' unbeaten 189. The fact that this innings was mentioned as soon as Maxwell's heroics had got Australia over the line emphasises just how significant it was.

An innings ahead of its time and one that is still being talked about in the modern age of bloated strike rates, small boundaries, and bats that simply do not compare to those used in the 1980s. Whether it is the greatest ODI innings ever is up for debate. But IVA Richards proved back in 1984 that if you had to pick an all-time ODI XI then he would be the first name on many a team sheet.