Let's face it, if you're being compared with Lara or Viv, you're in pretty good company.
One thing to consider when comparing Lara and Viv is the strengths of the West Indian bowling attacks at the time they played. I can't recall who said this, but the feeling is Viv could have scored more runs than he did, but the West Indies didn't need a lot of runs to win a Test match. Viv would be more attacking early and more likely to get out, and when he did make runs (150, etc), the Windies generally already had enough runs. Lara needed to dig in and get as many as possible to give them any chance of victory. Viv was brutal, I loved the way he would pull quick bowlers on the front foot, but if you prefer the aesthetics, Lara would get my nod. Would be nice to have a choice
Back to Barry Richards. I've posted this before, but I had the rare pleasure of bowling to him. You saw how easily he handled Dennis Lillee, you can imagine what he did my bowling

I've posted this elsewhere, but Coca-Cola brought Richards and Greg Chappell to our school for a cricket clinic, and I was lucky to be chosen to bowl to them.
The thing that amazed me about Richards was how quickly he was able to pick up the line and length of the delivery. It felt as though the ball was still leaving my fingers and he was already moving into position to play his shot. His foot work was sublime. It was as though he almost had time to light a cigarette, take a puff, stamp it out, and then play his shot.
The entire idea from Richards was teach proper practice techniques, how to use the nets, and how to occupy the crease. He could teach contemporary players a thing or two.