Clive Lloyd – The Skipper
Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd was born on 31 August 1944 in Georgetown, British Guiana. West Indies cricket reached staggering heights under his leadership. He is considered one of the finest captains from the Caribbean islands. Lloyd was the first West Indian cricketer to play 100 Test matches. He went on and played 110 Test and 87 ODI matches and scored 7515 and 1977 runs respectively. An illustrious international career spanned almost two decades (1966 – 1985). He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1971.
The Childhood:
Lloyd’s father was a chauffeur and not much interested in cricket, but his mother had a keen interest in cricket. Lloyd damaged his eyes at the age of 12 and he had to wear thick glasses since then. He left school at the age of 14 to support the family and worked as a clerk in hospital before taking cricket professionally.
Test Cap:
Clive Lloyd made his debut against India in Bombay (now it’s called Mumbai) in 1966. He scored 82 runs in 1st Innings and unbeaten 78 in 2nd Innings.
Embed from Getty ImagesCaptaincy:
After the retirement of Sir Garfield Sobers, Rohan Kanhai took over the captaincy for a brief period during 1972-73. Soon Lloyd was appointed as a captain in 1974. The biggest achievement of Lloyd as a captain was, he united the players from different Caribbean islands. All the islands are separate countries and represent everything distinctly except cricket. He glued the team together and brought killer instinct in them. There had been a complete paradigm shift when he introduced 4 lethal quicks to the world. West Indies had a golden run under his captaincy. The team was undefeated for 27 Test matches, which included 11 successive wins. Lloyd captained the team in 74 Test matches and his tally was won 36, lost 12 and drawn 26.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe World Cups Triumph:
West Indies won the 1975 and 1979 ODI world cups and became runner up in 1983 under his captaincy. He scored a magnificent century in the final of 1975 world cup and was declared MoM. Denis Compton expressed, it was one of the greatest innings he had ever seen and could be compared with only the innings of 232 by Stan McCabe against England in 1938.
Cousin Gibbs:
The legendary off spinner Lance Gibbs is the cousin of Clive Lloyd. In 1966 when Lloyd made his debut, Gibbs was part of the West Indies squad. In 1976 when Gibbs played his last Test match, Lloyd was the captain of the West Indies team.
Embed from Getty ImagesFreaking old Lady:
Once an old Lady in Haslingden, Lancashire contacted local police after finding the windows were broken and smashed. She predicted the cause due to missiles hit. However, it was discovered that Clive Lloyd was playing in a nearby cricket ground and the destruction was caused by his rampage.
Post Retirement:
Clive Lloyd was an ICC match referee from 1992 to 2007. He was also involved in West Indies cricket management.
Clive Lloyd was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. He was knighted in 2020.