Cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards appointed ambassador of His Majesty King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative

• One of cricket’s greatest batsmen joins the SMI as an ambassador, bringing a global platform and a lifetime of leadership in sport to the sustainable transition

LONDON, England – The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), founded by His Majesty King Charles III in 2020 when Prince of Wales, has appointed Sir Vivian (Viv) Richards, former West Indies captain and Antiguan cricketing icon, as an SMI ambassador in recognition of his commitment to championing a more sustainable future for sport.

The SMI ambassador Programme brings together distinguished global leaders across disciplines who serve as high-level representatives, storytellers, and advocates of the SMI and its guiding mandates: the Terra Carta and Astra Carta. Alongside the SMI’s founder and its CEO community, the ambassadors help to educate, inspire, and engage the world in accelerating the transition to a sustainable future.

Making his Test debut for the West Indies in 1974, Sir Vivian scored 8,540 runs in 121 Tests, including 24 centuries, and captained the West Indies in 50 Tests, winning 27. In 1976, he scored 1,710 Test runs in a calendar year, a record that stood for 30 years. In 1986, he scored a 56-ball Test century against England in his home country of Antigua, then the fastest in Test history. He was awarded a knighthood by the Antiguan government in 1999.

As CHOGM 2026 Envoy, Sir Vivian joins the SMI ahead of the 2026 four-day meeting, where he will captain a team in the ‘One Commonwealth, One Team’ Exhibition Cricket Match in Antigua and Barbuda.

Sir Viv Richards, said:

“Throughout my life, I have seen the extraordinary power of sport to bring people together, inspire ambition and create opportunities. I have been privileged to represent communities across the Caribbean and Commonwealth, and I know the positive impact that collective action can have – both on and off the field. I am honoured to become an ambassador of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, and I look forward to working with leaders across sport and business to create opportunities for communities to thrive, together as one team.”

Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, CEO of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, said:

“It is a privilege to welcome Sir Viv Richards as a Sustainable Markets Initiative Ambassador. Few figures command such respect across sport and communities worldwide, and his legacy extends far beyond cricket – embodying leadership, unity and demonstrating the power of sport to inspire positive change. Sir Viv’s voice and influence will help to accelerate the sustainable transition across the sporting ecosystem, in the Commonwealth and beyond.”

Sport reaches more than four billion fans worldwide, giving it a rare ability to shift behaviour and mobilise people at scale. As the private sector’s ‘go-to’ CEO platform for driving the sustainable transition, the SMI connects key stakeholders across the global sporting ecosystem, intersecting innovation, science, finance and beyond to accelerate private-sector progress in the industry.

The SMI’s Sport Pathfinder brings together leaders from across the sport value chain to address systems-level problems and opportunities that no one company or industry can solve alone. Its work highlights how sponsors, venues, broadcasters, and governing bodies can drive a default sustainable approach across global sport ecosystems and how the SMI is uniquely positioned to coordinate delivery.