Leading world cricketer to speak at ChCh Casino

Leading world cricketer to speak at Christchurch Casino

Barry Richards, one of the world’s leading cricketers of all time, will be a special guest speaker at the Christchurch Casino on February 15.

He will talk about his cricketing experiences and his thoughts on the direction of cricket in the modern era.

The outspoken former South African batsman shortly arrives in New Zealand to commentate on the New Zealand – South Africa series. He was invited to speak at the casino by Canterbury Cricket chief executive and former New Zealand batsman Richard Reid.

Richards will be speaking at the Otago Player of the Year awards in Dunedin later next month.

Canterbury Cricket hopes to raise $12,000 from the function for their junior coaching and development.

An auction of sports gear and a replica mini Harley Davidson bike that actually goes and can be ridden will help raise funds.

He is going to talk about his experiences and his thoughts on the direction of cricket in the modern era.

The late Sir Donald Bradman said Richards was "the world's best-ever right-handed opener". He backed that up by including Richards in his best ever team, published after his death.

In an interview last March, Richards said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming needed to be a little bit more innovative than Australia’s Ricky Ponting because he Fleming did not have the same talent that Ponting had to work with. ``He has to think up new ideas, strategy, manage bowlers and that's probably why he has the edge in captaincy.’’

Richards was once described by top English batsman the late Colin Cowdrey as “one of the best batsman I have ever seen. The disappointment is that he has been denied an international stage upon which to exhibit his talents and demonstrate his power in the record book”.

Richards scored 29,956 runs at 56.27 in 313 first-class games for South Africa, Natal, Hampshire and South Australia. He scored 79 centuries including 25 of them over 150.

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