Clive Lloyd revolutionized the way in which West Indies played their cricket, adding Calypso flair in addition to ruthless dominance in the sport.
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In his playing days, he personified intimidation to the hilt. The towering height of six foot five inches, the massive built which made a cricket bat look like a toy, that huge mustache and big glasses made him a separate personality. There was a story even behind those glasses. He suffered from eye damage when he apparently tried to break up a fight in school. In that fight, there was the seeds of a unifier who molded the West Indies into a dominating side.
One has to understand that the West Indies is an entity that has been made only for cricket. The entity consists of several island nations stretching from North America to the tip of South America. To keep this band of nations together was a difficult feat even for seasoned diplomats. But, or Clive Lloyd, the main task of making the West Indies one of the greatest sides in modern cricket was foremost.
The story of the domination had its roots in disaster. During the 1974/75 series in Australia, Clive Lloyd and the West Indies were humiliated 1-5. The likes of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson adopted a hostile style of bowling that put the West Indies off totally. Learning the lessons of that humiliation, Lloyd was determined that ‘never again’ would they be humiliated. Lloyd got his own bunch of bowlers that would instill fear in the opposition.
From the very beginning, Lloyd was destined for great things in his career. His interest in cricket was molded by the greatness of Sir Gary Sobers. During one of the Tests in 1958 against Pakistan, Lloyd had watched Sobers while sitting under a tree. In his formative years, Lloyd played for several England counties which ensured he had an all-round batting. His first foray with British Guyana, then later with Haslingden in the Lancashire County circuit proved to be crucial.
The exploits of Lloyd had already gotten the attention of the West Indies team and Warwickshire county. His Test debut for West Indies was superb, smashing 82 and 78 in West Indies’ win against India in 1966. The year 1968 put Lloyd’s career on the upswing. The left-hander scored three centuries in the season and it included his first centuries at home in Port of Spain and Barbados. His first overseas century was against Australia in Brisbane.
The year 1971 saw him named as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He scored over 1500 runs at an average of close to 50 in the County Circuit. He was part of the prestigious Rest of the World in their series against Australia. However, he suffered a back injury that would keep him on the sidelines for some time.
Lloyd was in dominant form with the bat from 1972 to 1974. He averaged 61 in 1972 and 41 in 1973. His efforts saw him getting the captaincy of the West Indies team. His first assignment, though, was a disaster. West Indies got brutally swept aside both on the field and off it in Australia as they were hammered 5-1. Scarred by that experience, the West Indies team decided to rebuild.
Lloyd wanted bowlers who could decimate batsmen and batsmen who could destroy bowlers. Armed with a vision, Lloyd decided to get in professionalism and discipline, an anti-thesis at that time of the laid-back Calypso style lifestyle. Flair, style was kept but at a price of big runs and big wickets. Everything came into place and it set the stage for the most dominant period in world cricket.
In Lloyd’s team, there would be the brilliance of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes at the top. In the middle order, the swag and intimidation of Lloyd plus the brilliance of the King in Viv Richards. There would then by the keeper Jeff Dujon like a wall. The West Indies arsenal would also include nuclear bombs in Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding. Roberts was fear, Marshall would be like the rhinoceros ready to barge, Holding was ‘Whispering Death’ and Garner was ‘Big Bird’. Along with Big C of Lloyd, West Indies were a formidable unit.
Armed with these superstars, the West Indies dominated world cricket from 1974 after the loss in Australia. Lloyd led from the front with a brutal knock of 102 in the final of the 1975 World Cup against Australia. In that same year, Lloyd managed to blast 242 against India that would become his highest Test score.
Lloyd’s captaincy saw West Indies inflict a blackwash on England in the 1980s. Australia, England and India were swept aside. Pakistan and New Zealand held firm for some instances but they too could not overcome the power of the West Indies. As captain, Lloyd was simply one of the best. As captain, he averaged 51. He also had a legendary run of 26 Tests without defeat, and 11 successive wins. He also became the first West Indian to win 100 Test caps.
Under his captaincy, apart from the series against Australia, West Indies never lost a series in his captaincy. He was at the helm when West Indies won the 1975 and 1979 World Cup in England. The 1980s was the pinnacle of West Indies domination, in which they lost only one series away and not a single at home for 20 years.
After retirement, Lloyd became one of the foremost statesmen in world cricket. He became an ICC Match Referee and is best remembered for awarding the 1996 World Cup semi-final to Sri Lanka after crowd trouble in Kolkata against India. He was a selector on tour but his importance grew in 2008 when he was appointed as the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. Even now, Lloyd is acknowledged for his wisdom and vision for cricket.
Lloyd’s contribution for cricket in the West Indies and world cricket is simply legendary. From the Ashes of West Indies humiliation in 1974/75, the empire of their domination was built. The first emperor was Lloyd. Fire in Babylon, the documentary that highlighted the domination of West Indies, is a testament to their dominance and a great tribute to Lloyd.
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