Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer and title holder of the “Winningest Captain” in cricket history. He was born on August 31, 1944 in Georgetown Guyana and played for the Demerara Cricket Club before being selected for the Guyana national team.
He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s.
He is one of the most successful Test captains of all time: during his captaincy the side had a run of 27 matches without defeat, which included 11 wins in succession (Viv Richards acted as captain for one of the 27 matches, against Australia at Port of Spain in 1983–84).
He was the first West Indian player to earn 100 international caps. Lloyd captained the West Indies in three World Cups. They won the 1975 final (Lloyd scoring his own century) and the 1979 final. They were very strong favourites for the 1983 final but lost to India.
Clive Lloyd was a tall, powerful middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler. In his youth he was also a strong cover point fielder. He wore his famous glasses as a result of being poked in the eye with a ruler. He scored over 7500 runs at Test level, at an average of 46.67. He hit 77 sixes in his Test career, which is the sixth highest number of any player. He played for his home nation of Guyana in West Indies domestic cricket, and for Lancashire (he was made captain in 1981) in England. His Test match debut came in 1966. In 1971 he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He is a cousin of spin bowler Lance Gibbs.
His worst injury was his back. He was playing for a Rest of the World team at the Adelaide Oval in 1971-72. He was fielding in the covers when Ashley Mallett hit a lofted drive towards his area. He made an amazing effort to take the catch but it bounced out of his hands when he hit the ground awkwardly. When he went to get up, he felt a stabbing pain in his back and he was unable to move. He spent the next few weeks in an Adelaide hospital flat on his back.
Another example of how he was as a player comes from the 1975 Cricket World Cup Grand Final[1]. The team were deep in trouble at 3/50 when he strode to the crease. He duly made 102 from 88 balls with this being his only limited overs international century. With Rohan Kanhai they added 149 for them to win by 17 runs. Play ended at 8:40pm London time and was the longest days’ play ever at Lords.
Since retiring as a player, Lloyd has remained heavily involved in cricket, managing the West Indies in the late 1990s, and coaching and commentating. He was an ICC match referee from 2001–2006.
On 22 January 1985, Lloyd was made an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the sport of cricket, particularly in relation to his outstanding and positive influence on the game in Australia.
In 2005, Lloyd offered his patronage to Major League Cricket for their inaugural Interstate Cricket Cup in the United States, to be named the Sir Clive Lloyd Cup.
His son, Jason Clive Lloyd, is a goalkeeper for the Guyana national football team.
In 2007, his authorised biography, Supercat, was published. It was written by the cricket journalist, Simon Lister.
