On this day in 1985 West Indian batsman Sir Vivian Richards scored 322 for Somerset in a single day’s play against Warwickshire.
The Antigua-born all-rounder, who is regarded by many as one of the best cricketers to have played the game, broke the Somerset record. He walked in to bat at No 4 and soon raced to 300 of 244 balls in one of the most memorable innings seen in County cricket. That knock is Richards’ highest score in a first-class career that saw him amass 36 212 runs in 507 matches at an average of 49.40.
Richards’ Somerset first-class triple-century stood as the highest first-class score by a Somerset batsman for 21 years, before it was subsequently broken by former Australian Test batsman Justin Langer, who scored 342 of 416 balls against Surrey at Guilford in 2006.
