Clive Lloyd-amongst the all-time great batsmen?

[Harsh Thakor]

There were few more spectacular sights than seeing Clive Lloyd carrying a bat like a bludgeon.On his day he could rip apart the cover of a cricket ball with a most spectacular exhibition of strokeplay.The best bowlers would simply be hapless against Lloyd's strokeplay which displayed the brutality of a lion devouring flesh.Few people looked less like a cricketer with his characteristic stoop.Clive was also a spectacular fielder in the covers who took some mind boggling catches.Above all he was a great leader of men who displayed the aura of a great political statesman. Clive made his debut in 1966 in India scoring 82 and 78 and revealing his batting mastery from the very beginning.He gave shades of his ability in the 1968-69 Frank Worrel Trophy in Australia.He scored consistently for the Rest of the World team versus England in 1970.In 1973 he showed great consistency in series at home against Australia in 1973 and in England in 1973.Lloyd ably supported the likes of Sobers and Kanhai.Ironically his career nearly came to an end with a back injury on the tour of Australia in 1972 but a series of treatments saved him. It was as a skipper that Lloyd batted at his best.In 1974-75 he was granted the leadership post for the tour of India.Lloyd's batting was the highlight of the series where he amassed 563 runs at an average of 79 including scores of 163 and 242 n.o.In full flow Lloyd looked like a prince in command.At Bangalore he strode out of the crease to torment the likes of Bedi,Chandrashekar and Prasanna to score 163.It looked like sheer murder.At Mumbai in the same series his double hundred set the base for his taem to clinch the test and the series by a 3-2 margin.Lloyd revealed his ability to play for the team's cause.His leadership too played a great role. In the inaugural Prudential world cup played in 1975 in England Lloyd scored a majestic 102 in the final against Australia.It was one of the finest innings played in any form of cricket and arguably the best century ever scored in a world cup.I would rank it as the best innings ever in an O.D.I.tournament final.Lloyd tackled the likes of Dennis Lillee and Thomson like a tiger tearing apart his prey.Lloyd's spectacular driving,puling and hooking made the Australians look like pawn son a chessboard.Even the good balls were sent tossing over the boundary ropes.The knock won West Indies their 1st World cup.It was simply a sight to behold seeing Clive Lloyd hold aloft the 1st ever Prudentialworld cup trophy. On the 1975-76 tour of Australia ,billed as the test world championship Lloyd's team succumbed by a 5-1 margin.However Lloyd topped the batting averages averaging 46.90 with 2 centuries.No batsman stood up to Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson at their fastest as Clive Lloyd.He majestically drove,cut and hooked those great bowlers. From 1976-1979 Clive Lloyd reminded you of a great military commander re-organizaing a battered army batallion into an an invincible army.He ressurected the spirit a bunch of wounded soldiers with exemplary skills.Although overshadowed by Gordon Greenidge and more so by Viv Richards as a batsman his leadership was instrumental in his team's 2-1 triumph at home versus India,3-0 win in England in 1976 and 2-1 triumph against Pakistan at home in 1977.The 3-0 series win in England in 1976 was the best ever performance by a West Indian team in a series in England till then.Lloyd made Tony Greig eat his words who had stated before the start of the series"We will make grovel out of them.'Lloyd superbly commanded his all pace attack. In Kerry Packer World series cricket in 1977 Lloyd marshalled his resources to enable his team to capture the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy against hosts Australia by a 2-1 margin and thus enable his country to win their first ever international series in Australia.In 1979 at home in world series cricket against Australalia he score a spectacular 197 at Kingston which won the game for his country.The series was drawn at 2-2 as rain prevented the Calypsos from beating the Aussies. In 1979 Lloyd led his team to their 2nd Prudential world cup triumph.Later in 1979-80 he led West Indies to win their first ever test series win in Australia and avenge their 5-1 defeat in 1975-76.Lloyd led his team with the aura of a great emperor and the Aussies were all at sea against the 4 -pronged pace attack and the batting of Viv Richards.Lloyd had inculcated a spirit of vengeance that was displayed by his team on the field.Loyd's 121 at Adelaide in the 3rd test set the tone for his team's majestic victory.He made a brilliant return to form in the most appropriate time.The same Aussie team had just vanquished a Mike Brearley led English team by a 3-0 margin.Under Lloyd the West Indies also won the Benson and Hedges triangular tournament beating England in the final.Lloyd's tactical mastery as a leader played a crucial factor in a series of hard -fought games against England and Australia Sadly his team lost 1-0 in New Zealand in the start of 1980 where Lloyd blamed the umpiring.A 1 wicket margin defeat in the 1st test at Dunedin cost West Indies the series with the Kiwis needing a mere 102 runs to win.Inspite of a magnificient resurgence by the Calypsos, with the Kiwis struggling at 73-8 ,their tail saw them through .It was ironic that the weakest test team had defeated the world champions. In 1980 he led his team to a 1,-0 win in series in England scoring 56 at Lords and 101 at Old Trafford.He went on to lead West Indies to a 1.-0 series win in Pakistan and a 2-0 win in a home series against England in 1981.In the 1981 home series versus England he won the 'man of the series' award averaging 76.80 with the highest run aggregate by any batsman on either side.Loyd's consistency was a revelation. In 1981-82 in Australia his captaincy and batting played a major role in his team retaining the Frank Worrel trophy.His 55 and 77 not out in the 3rd test at Adelaide. had an important bearing on his team's spectacular comeback to clinch the game by 5 wickets to level the series.He also average 57 in the One day Triangular tournament wich played a major role in his team's clinching the title. In 1983 Lloyd was at his consistent best in a home series against India.He saved his team at Trinidad scoring 143 and also scored a century at Antigua.Sadly his team let him down in the 1983 prudential world cup final and arguably his demise was the turning point.Remember Lloyd was injured and needed a runner. In India in 1983-84 he was the best batsman from either side and led his team to avenge their world cup final defeat at the hands of India.Lloyd reminded one of an emperor seeking revenge and his men looked like gladiators.They literally looked like walking out to seek revenge and triumphed by a 3-0 margin..Lloyd's 102 at Delhi and match-winning 161 not out at Calcutta proved he was as good as ever.I can never forget his lofted drives at Calcutta executed with majestic power.He took his team from 212-8 to reach a score of 369.with a most controlled exhibition of hitting.Lloyd superbly;y inspired Malcolm Marshall. In 1984 Lloyd's men had literally become an invincible army.The tone was set after a spectacular win at Barbados versus Australia dismissing the Kangaroos for a paltry.97.West Indies were now on a Blitzkreig winning 11 test matches in a row against England and Australia.After beating the Aussies 3-0 at home the West Indies put up the best performance by any touring test team in England ever.Lloyd's men won by a 5-0 margin exhibiting an aura of invincibility that even Bradman's Australian team did not exude.One was reminded of an army annexing territory after territory or a bomber destroying an enemy airbase.A majestic win coming from behind at Lords set the tone for the Calypsos. Down under West Indies won the 1st 3 tests to regain the Frank Worrel Trophy.Sadly Lloyd ended his great career on a losing note when his team was beaten by a huge margin in the final test at Sydney.In the previous test at Melbourne Lloyd's late declaration had cost his team victory.Lloyd marched back after being dismissed to receive one of the most emotional farewells in the history of sport.We were reminded of an emperor greeting his subjects for the last time ,relinquishing his thrown or the masses seeing a great political leader for the final time.Neverthless Clive Lloyd had ressurected his team to the status of undisputed world champions.He instilled a spirit in his team that few leaders could instill in their followers. His big scores always made a great contribution to his team's performances. Clive Lloyd to me has been under -rated as a batsmen.Many term him 'very good' and do not rank him with the 'all-time great' batsmen.To me in a crisis Clive Lloyd was the best batsman of his team and in the early 1980's was more consistent than Gordon Greenidge or Viv Richards.Personally I would categorize Lloyd in the 'all-time great' category in the bracket of Brian Lara or Gary Sobers with his exta-ordinary range of strokes.He always played in accordance to the situation the side faced.In his era he was very close to the class of Barry and Viv Richards,Gavaskar or the Chappel brothers.The consistency he displayed in the later part of his career from 1980 is something rarely seen in cricket.At the age of 40 in 1984 he averaged over 50 in India,Australia and England in his final series.Even Greenidge or Viv Richards did not emulate that. As a captain he would rank amongst the top 5 of all time,winning 36 out of 74 test matches.He converted his team into arguably the strongest test match team ever in the history of cricket.He inspired the likes of Viv Richards,Malcolm Marshall,Andy Roberts or Michael Holding.At their peak I feel Lloyd's contribution as a cricketer to his team was marginally more than Viv Richards or Malcolm Marshall if you ***** his role as a leader.He set the base for West Indies position at the top of the pedestal in test cricket, unbeaten for a period of 15 years,with Viv Richards and Richie Richardson continuing the legacy.No nation has exhibited domination for such a long reign in sport,let alone cricket. I would love readers to share their views on whether Lloyd could be classed with Viv Richards,Brian Lara ,Greg Chappell or Sachin Tendulkar as a batsman .Lloyd averaged 46.67 amassing 7.110 runs,including 19 centuries.Amongst the best cricketers of all time I would place Clive Lloyd in the top 50.Bar Gary Sobers no cricketer held the mantle of West Indian cricket like Clive Lloyd.In the modern age he would probably have averaged around 52.

[King Tendulkar]

Yes he is whats your point Next you will start a thread saying is Holding ATG? Answer is yes so dont start such a thread please

[saneindian]

HT why do you never ever reply to views shared by posters in threads created by you? I have seen at least 20-25 threads of yours where at max 4-5 replies are there and then no one posts as the discussion never moves ahead. Would love to see you engage the posters for further conversations.

[Harsh Thakor]

HT why do you never ever reply to views shared by posters in threads created by you? I have seen at least 20-25 threads of yours where at max 4-5 replies are there and then no one posts as the discussion never moves ahead. Would love to see you engage the posters for further conversations.

I have recently started.Please see my recent posts.

[saneindian]

I have recently started.Please see my recent posts.

Oh, Thanks a lot. Apologies I have missed those posts.