Interviewing Viv Richards in Antigua - Behind The Scenes (Part 1).

Trip of a lifetime.

I peaked in 2015. Hopefully not as a writer, or any other creative endeavour I still have designs on, but as a sports journalist & a jammy bastard?

I’d say 2015 just about takes the biscuit.

Why? Because I somehow lucked out on an all expenses paid trip to Antigua to interview one of the legends of cricket.

A true great of the game.

And an absolute gentleman.

The ‘Master Blaster’ himself, Sir Vivian Richards.

As offices go….

Oh & the interview just happened to take place on a beach. The Valley Church beach to be exact.

But let me first back up a bit, to a cold, grey day in Feltham, sometime earlier that year. To the Perform offices - a squat building on an industrial park in Plane Tree Crescent. To its rather drab canteen, situated on the ground floor. One which, quite frankly, plenty of staff were forced to use because of a startling lack of alternatives.

The chef at the time was a chap named Gary, who I’d got to chatting to quite regularly. You see Gary was a Chelsea supporter &, much like myself, loved a natter about the football. But the other thing Gary was, which, at the time, I hadn’t quite realised the extent of, was a huge England cricket fan.

Not just the type to pitch up at Lords or the Oval a couple of times a year, but a paid up member of the Barmy Army, one who rarely missed a tour.

Our conversations had been endless & always brightened my day. We’d started to become friends.

But on this particular day Gary shared that his partner Sara ran a touring service for cricket fans, called International Cricket Tours, & it just so happened that the Antigua & Barbuda tourism board, in conjunction with the Lords’ Taverners charity, were looking for someone to publicise a trip to the island for the latter’s 65th anniversary, where they were set to gift local schools some cricket equipment, attend a fundraising auction hosted by Nick Hancock, & also play a charity Twenty20 match against an ex-West Indies XI.

But that wasn’t all - the star attraction on this excursion would be none other than Sir Vivian Richards.

I almost dropped my coronation chicken.

“Well Gary, if you’re looking for a journalist….” I beamed with a smile as wide as the Atlantic.

So he gave me Sara’s details, who duly put me in touch with a lovely press officer named Minty, who suggested I come & pitch to the board & share what Perform might be able to offer in terms of exposure….

Sharp cut to me getting off the tube at Victoria, with a few handwritten notes, some figures & a laptop, expecting a nice cosy discussion with Minty & someone from the board.

Imagine my shock when the door of an A&B office at Terminal House opened to a room of nigh on 20 people (It felt like 40), all eagerly awaiting my presentation.

Shit.

Desperately trying to dress up a sudden onset of imposter syndrome & suppress the one thought I had on loop - surely they’re going to see me as the chancer I undoubtedly am & nix this dream before it’s even wheels up? - I made my pitch.

Miraculously, I must have fumbled my way to some form of cognisance. Because a few days later I got the thumbs up. I was even allowed to take a cameraman, Jay, as I wasn’t as experienced behind the lens back then to do it all by myself.

The touring party included a host of - at that time - current & former cricketers, & a few celebs too.

Here we all are at the airport, after touching down.

You’ll be able to spot the likes of Andy Caddick, Mike Gatting, Luke Wright, Jade Dernbach, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Chris Nash, Mark Chapman, Nick Hancock, A Place In The Sun’s Jonnie Irwin (who sadly passed away last year) & McBusted’s Harry Judd.

A few members of the party had enjoyed the first class seats & hospitality on the way out there. One in particular, a little too much. So much in fact, that he left his wallet & passport on the plane, but only realised when he got to our resort, which needless to say caused a bit of a drama.

Jay & I, - despite, to our unbelieveable shock & delight, originally being handed two tickets with seat numbers 1A & 1B - had been relegated to economy when we told to swap with the late arriving Chris Nash & Jade Dernbach.

This happened as we got on the plane, just as our bums were about to hit leather, alas, so we really thought we’d got away with it.

Thanks guys.

At least we arrived sober… I think.

We were all staying at Sugar Ridge Resort. A wonderful place with a very gracious host. The itinerary looked fabulous, but the one question in my mind, beside the interviews we had agreed to do with the likes of Gatt, Luke, Ryan & Jade, was: when are we going to be talking to Viv?

This became a bit of a movable feast, with negotiations by myself, Minty & Cherrie, from the Antigua & Barbuda tourism board.

Originally the plan was to do it on Wednesday at the resort, where the bulk of other interviews were scheduled for that morning, or potentially at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, where the Twenty20 match between a Lord’s Taverners XI v Sir Viv All Stars was set to take place that night.

Monday evening (the day we arrived) there was a cocktail reception at Sugar Ridge, while Tuesday’s gold was a circumnavigation cruise around Antigua (I know, I know: tough) while Tuesday evening there was a black tie fundraising event at the hotel.

Matt, Jay, Gary & me. That’s Andy Caddick mid jump/photo-bomb in the corner…

It would be a night to remember.

Not only did we get to meet the legend himself, but I was on a table next to two players I’d grown up watching as part of the last great West Indian team.

And it just so happened I had a very specific bone to pick with one of them!

The cricketers & celebs have their picture taken with Lord’s Taverners.

Winston & Kenny Benjamin never quite got the plaudits of bowlers like Courtney Walsh & Curtly Ambrose, but were both fantastic players in their own right. With Kenny outshining Ambrose, Walsh & even Ian Bishop in the 1995 Test series with England (23 wickets at 22.00) which I had been glued to in rapture.

During that Test Robin Smith, AKA The Judge, doggedly made his way to relatively incredible scores of 46 & 41 in totals of 147 & 89, batting for nearly five hours against their sadistic front line, on a pitch where the bounce was so unpredictable that Smith, for one of the only times in his career, wore a full helmet & visor.

And still ended up in hospital after being peppered by Kenny & co!

England captain Mike Atherton later described it as the bravest innings he had ever witnessed as a player. Then dropped Smith. For good.

Might Kenny, I wondered, like to apologise for ending the career of my favourite-ever batsman?

The uproarious laughter & twinkle in his eye which ensued told me Kenny had quite enjoyed my comment. After chatting for a while I discovered he was coaching down at Liberta Sports Club, & he suggested we take the camera down & have a look. I’d love to I said - let me run it by Cherrie & get back to you.

The night went on.

The only other journalist on the trip, a chap called Matt Sommerford who Jay & I had instantly hit it off with, was luckily seated at Viv’s table & suggested we come & say hello ahead of the interviews later that week.

At that time, a little too deep in my cups, perhaps, I greeted Viv & asked him who the quite marvellous singer was fronting the night’s entertainment.

Viv leaned in close, & in his deep baritone whispered: “Just tell her Viv sent you.”

So, I thought I’d give that a try.

The moment I relayed this on the dance floor to the lady in question, she promptly, without a word, smiled & planted a kiss on my lips.

Turns out being one of the greatest batsmen of all times gives you a certain pull.

Next thing I knew, Viv had the mic in hand & was serenading the crowd with an impressive falsetto.

Jay & I, as you can see, were providing back up… of sorts.

Wednesday morning was all about splashing some cold water on our faces & remembering we had a job to do.

But there was an issue - Cherrie let me know that rather than do his interview at the hotel, Viv wanted to do his bit at the stadium after the game on Wednesday evening.

No problem.

Bar a slight issue with the sun in the background, the other interviews all went well. We got some good content from Gatt, Caddick, Luke, Ryan & Jade.

A lot of the questions centered on a new-look England, including an up & coming all-rounder named Ben Stokes, starting to play cricket in a style they’d picked up from a tour to New Zealand, who back then were captained by Brendon McCullum.

But my mind was already wandering to that evening at the stadium. Because there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years - you never have an interview with a sports star in the bag until you are actually sat in front of them asking questions….and I couldn’t help but wonder, given the amount of alcohol around at the fundraiser & the sheer number of times someone like him has to meet a new face, would Viv even remember who I was?

There was something else, too - a bit of tension had emerged between Sara, Gary & Cherrie, who was not too keen on including them in all the scheduled events.

And Cherrie was still yet to confirm that I could go & film at Kenny Benjamin’s sports club…

Find out what happens with Viv, Kenny, the Twenty20 match, Gary, Cherrie & co, & even a spot of beach cricket, in Part Two… coming soon.