Arthur Crabtree wrote:Viv seems entrenched as the great of his era. Maybe Greg Chappell could be competition, but practically everyone would say IVA. Lara is less obviously the dominant batter of his time, though is arguably so.
Because he was the best batter of the Windies history to that time, and a player who was most feared with the bat in a team that never lost.... so of course, people had nightmares playing against him and the talent around him. I think that is both unfair on Lara and a key point to the argument... did Viv Richards ever have the pressure that Lara faced?
Simply put, there isnt an argument at all. Viv played in a team where the bowling attack left people crushed to dust, and he then he came to the crease after Haynes/Greenidge/Richardson, all great established batsman who scored runs. To a certain extent you can say that of Ponting, of Tendulkar and of Kallis.... they all played in teams with either considerable batting might, or with successful bowlers(or both), and all 4 played in a team that could be considered the best in the business.
When Lara was at his peak in 1994-95, at times he played with Keith Athurton(aver 29), Phil Simmonds(over 22 test matches opening with 22 aver), Stuart Williams (aver 24 in 31 tests as opener), Sherwin Campell... these were the poorest of poor line ups.
Did Viv ever do something so special as the 1999 Australia series, where Lara averaged 91 against the best team in the world, and with the entire line up below him averaging 25 or less?
Did Viv ever make spin bowlers as good as Warne and Murali look like children?
If Lara had the team around him that any other great had, he may have had done even better without being the sole focus of talent.... he only played in 32 test wins out of 131, Viv only lost 19 in 121 games!!!