History of the West Indian cricket team
Encyclopedia
The history of the West Indian cricket team begins in the 1880s when the first combined West Indian team was formed and toured Canada and the United States. In the 1890s, the first representative sides were selected to play visiting English
sides. Administered by the West Indies Cricket Board ("WICB"), and known colloquially as The Windies, the West Indies cricket
team represents a sporting confederation of English-speaking
Caribbean
countries.
The WICB joined the sport's international ruling body, the Imperial Cricket Council, in 1926, and played their first official international match, which in cricket is called a Test
, in 1928. Although blessed with some great players in their early days as a Test nation, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s, by which time the side had changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the late 1970s, the West Indies had a side recognised as unofficial world champions, a title they retained throughout the 1980s. Their team from the 1970s and 1980s is now widely regarded as having been one of the best in test cricket's history, alongside Don Bradman's Invincibles. During these glory years, the Windies were noted for their four-man fast bowling
attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world. The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984, which was part of a still-standing record of 27 tests without defeat (the other tests being draws), as well as inflicting two 5–0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England
. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, in part due to the rise in popularity of athletics
and football in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory.
In their early days in the 1930s, the side represented the British colonies of the West Indies Federation
plus British Guyana. The current side represents the now independent states of Antigua and Barbuda
, Barbados, Dominica
, Grenada, Guyana
, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis
, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
and Trinidad and Tobago
, and the British dependencies
of Anguilla
, Montserrat
and the British Virgin Islands
along with the U.S. Virgin Islands
and St. Maarten. National teams also exist for the various islands, which, as they are all separate countries, very much keep their local identities and support their local favourites. These national teams take part in the West Indian first-class competition, the Stanford 20/20
, the Carib Beer Cup
(earlier known as the Busta Cup, Shell Shield and various other names). It is also common for other international teams to play the island teams for warm-up games before they take on the combined West Indies team.
player Robert Slade Lucas
toured
the West Indies with a team in 1894–95, and two years later Arthur Priestley
took a team to Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica, which included, for the first time, a match against a side styled "All West Indies", which the West Indians won. Lord Hawke's English team, including several English Test
players, toured around the same time, playing Trinidad, Barbados and British Guiana (now Guyana). Then in 1900
the white Trinidadian Aucher Warner
, the brother of future England captain Pelham Warner, led a touring side to England, but none of the matches on this tour were given first-class status. Two winters later, in 1901–02, the Hampshire
wicketkeeper Richard Bennett
's XI went to the West Indies, and played three games against teams styled as the "West Indies", which the hosts won 2–1. In 1904–05, Lord Brackley
's XI toured the Caribbean – winning both its games against "West Indies".
The tours to England continued in 1906
when Harold Austin
led a West Indian side to England
. His side played a number of county teams
, and drew their game against an "England XI". However, that England XI only included one contemporary Test player – wicketkeeper Dick Lilley
– and he had not been on England's most recent tour, their 1905–6 tour of South Africa
. The Marylebone Cricket Club
, which had taken over responsibility for arranging all official overseas England
tours, visited the West Indies in 1910–11, and 1912–13 but after that there was no international cricket of any note until the West Indian team went to England in 1923
. This tour did not include a game against an England team, but there was an end-of-season game against HDG Leveson-Gower's XI against a virtual England Test side at the Scarborough cricket festival, a traditional end-of-season game against a touring side at the English seaside resort of Scarborough, which Leveson-Gower's XI won by only four wicket
s. 1925–26 saw another MCC tour of the West Indies.
The MCC was eager to promote cricket throughout the British Empire, and on 31 May 1926 the West Indian Cricket Board, along with their New Zealand
and Indian
counterparts, was elected to the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC), which previously consisted of the MCC and representatives of Australia
and South Africa
. Election to full membership of the ICC meant the West Indies could play official Test matches
, which is the designation given to the most important international games, and the Windies became the fourth team actually to play a recognised Test match on 23 June 1928 when they took on England at Lord's in London. They did not, however, enjoy immediate success – the West Indies lost all three 3-day Tests in that 1928 tour
by a long way, failing to score 250 runs in any of their six innings
in that series. They also failed to dismiss England for under 350 runs in a series completely dominated by England.
The West Indies played 19 Tests in the 1930s in four series against England
and one against Australia
. The first four of these were played against an England team led by the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe
that toured in 1929–30. However, as Harold Gilligan
was leading another English team to New Zealand
at exactly the same time, this was not a full-strength England side. The series ended one-all, with the West Indies first ever Test victory being recorded on 26 February 1930. West Indians George Headley
scored the most runs (703) in the rubber and Learie Constantine
took the most wickets (18).
The Windies toured Australia in 1930–31. They lost the Test series 4–1. The fifth and final Test showed some promise – batting first, the West Indies spent the first three days earning a 250-run lead with five wickets down in their second innings. A bold declaration
was backed up by their bowlers, as Herman Griffith
took four wickets and West Indies won by 30 runs to their first overseas Test victory. By the time the team left, they had left a good impression of themselves with the Australian public, although at first the team were faced with several cultural differences – for example, their hosts did not at first appreciate that the tourists' Roman Catholic beliefs would mean they would refuse to play golf on Sundays or engage in more ribald behaviour. The West Indian sides of the time were always led by white men, and the touring party to Australia comprised seven whites and eleven "natives", and the West Indian Board of Control wrote to their Australian counterparts saying "that all should reside at the same hotels". Australia at the time had in place its "White Australia" policy, with the Australian Board having to guarantee to the Government that the non-whites would leave at the end of the tour. When the West Indians arrived in Sydney, the whites were immediately given a different hotel from the blacks. They complained, and thereafter their wishes were met. The tour lost a lot of money, part of which was due to the Great Depression
then affecting Australia. The West Indians won four and lost eight of their 14 first-class fixtures.
1933
saw another tour of England. Their hosts had just come back from defeating Australia in the infamous Bodyline
series, where England's aggressive bowling at the body with a legside field attracted much criticism. England won the three-Test series of three-day Tests against the Windies 2–0. The second, drawn, Test at Old Trafford
, Manchester, provided an intriguing footnote to the Bodyline controversy when Manny Martindale
and Learie Constantine
bowled Bodyline – fast, short-pitched balls aimed at the body – against the Englishmen, the only time they faced it in international cricket. The tactic did not work, as Douglas Jardine
, the English captain
who ordered his players to bowl it against the Australians, did not flinch as he scored his only Test century, making 127 out of England's 374.
Another England tour of the West Indies followed in 1934–35. England won the first Test in Barbados on a poor pitch, affected by rain, and in a match where 309 runs were scored, England took a four-wicket victory. Both sides declared
one of their innings closed to have their bowlers take advantage of the poor pitch. The second Test saw the Windies win by 217 runs, and a drawn third Test saw the series go to a decider at Sabina Park
in Jamaica. A massive 270 not out from George Headley
saw the Windies declare on 535 for 7. Despite a century from Les Ames
, England could not avoid going down by an innings and 161 runs – the West Indies had secured their first Test series victory.
The West Indies toured England in 1939. England won the first Test at Lord's easily by 8 wickets, then there was a rain-affected draw in Manchester, and finally a high-scoring draw at the Oval
in mid-August. The highlight of the series for the West Indies was George Headley scoring hundreds in both innings in the Lord's Test. With the clouds of World War II seemingly about to envelope Europe, the rest of the tour was cancelled and the Windies returned home. They would play no more Tests until 21 January 1948 saw the start of the first Test the West Indies played since the War, which resulted in a draw against the MCC side from England. The second Test was also drawn, with George Carew
and Andy Ganteaume
both making centuries. Ganteaume was then dropped, ending with a Test average of 112 – the highest in Test history. The West Indies won the final two Tests chasing sub-100 totals, and wrapped up the series 2–0, their first away-series victory.
In 1948, West Indies toured newly independent India
for the first time for a five Test tour. The tour was preceded by a non-Test tour of Pakistan
and followed by a similar short tour of Ceylon
. After three high-scoring draws against the Indians, the West Indians wrapped up the fourth by an innings before a thrilling fifth Test, which left the Indians six runs away from victory with two wickets in hand as time ran out, so that the West Indies thus won the rubber 1–0. Carrying on from his hundred in the series against England, Everton Weekes
set a record of scoring hundreds in five successive Test innings.
and Alf Valentine
. England won the first Test by 202 runs, but Valentine and Ramadhin's bowling would win the series for the visitors. The second Test saw the Windies put on 326 thanks to 106 from Allan Rae before Valentine (4 for 48) and Ramadhin (5 for 66) skittled England in the first innings. A mammoth 168 from Clyde Walcott
saw England set a theoretical target of 601. Ramadhin's 6 for 86 and Valentine's 3 for 79 dismissed the hosts for 274. The spinning duo took 12 wickets, Frank Worrell
made 261 and Everton Weekes
129 as the third Test went the Windies way by 10 wickets, the fourth saw 14 wickets from Valentine and Ramadhin and centuries from Rae and Worrell as England were defeated by an innings. The West Indies won the series 3–1.
In 1951–52 the Windies visited Australia
. The first Test saw a narrow defeat by three wickets, with the two spinners seemingly continuing their form with twelve wickets between them. The second Test was lost by seven wickets, as Australia replied to the Windies 362 and 290 with 567 (which included centuries from Lindsay Hassett
and Keith Miller
) and 137 for 2. 6 wickets from Worrell in the third Test saw Australia dismissed for only 82, and the Windies eventually won by six wickets to pull back to two-one down in the series. The fourth Test saw the series lost in a narrow defeat. Worrell, batting with an injured hand, scored 108 and helped the Windies to 272 before Australia made 216 in reply. 203 from the Windies left Australia a target of 260. 5 wickets from Valentine helped reduced the Aussies to 222 for 9, 38 short with 1 wicket remaining. It didn't happen, as some brilliant running between the wicket for Australia by Bill Johnston
and Doug Ring
saw West Indies lose their composure and the match. The fifth Test saw three batting collapses, as Australia (116 and 377) beat Windies (78 and 213) by 202 runs to finish the rubber four-one winners. The West Indies then went on to New Zealand
. In the first Test encounter between the two teams, the visitors to scored a five wicket victory. In the second and final Test, Allan Rae scored 99, Jeffrey Stollmeyer 152, Frank Worrell
100 and Clyde Walcott
115 as the West Indies put on 546 for 6 declared. There wasn't enough time to bowl out the opposition twice though, as the hosts made 160 and were following-on at 17 for 1 when stumps were drawn, leaving the Windies series winners.
The Indians
toured at the beginning of 1953. The Windies won the second of the five Tests that were played, with the others all being draws. The highlight of these games we Frank Worrell
's 237 in the fifth Test, where all the three W's scored hundreds, as the West Indies scored a 1–0 series victory. Len Hutton
led an MCC (England) side to the islands in 1953–54. Sonny Ramadhin
again starred for the Windies taking 23 wickets (no other West Indian took more than 8), as Walcott's 698 runs was more than 200 higher than second-placed West Indian, Everton Weekes. The five match rubber was drawn two-all.
Australia came and conquered in 1954–55. After the Aussies made 515 in the first innings of the first Test, the Windies went down by 9 wickets. Then the Windies 382 was put in the shade by 600 for 9 declared by the visitors as the second Test was drawn. A low-scoring third Test saw Australia (257 and 133 for 2) beat the hosts (182 and 207) by 8 wickets. After Australia scored 668 in the fourth Test, the series was lost, although a double century from captain Denis Atkinson
and a world-record stand for the seventh wicket allowed the Windies to reach 510 and draw the Test. The fifth Test saw the West Indies win the toss and bat. Walcott's 155 was the highest score of their 357. The Australians then batted and batted, in total for 245.4 overs in the 6-day Test, as they put on 758 for 8 declared, with five players making centuries. 319 in the West Indies' second innings left them defeated by an innings and 82 runs in the Test, and by three games to nil in the series. Walcott set records by scoring five hundreds, and hundreds in both innings of a match twice. A four-Test tour of New Zealand
followed in February 1956. After two wins by an innings and one by 9 wickets, the Windies were surprised by the Kiwis in the fourth, dismissing them for 145 and 77 as they recorded their first ever Test win in their 45th Test.
John Goddard
returned to captain the West Indians for a five-Test tour of England in 1957, which was lost three-nil, with England having the better of the two draws. Then 1957–58 Gerry Alexander
led a team that defeated Pakistan
three-one. It was in this series in Jamaica
that Garry Sobers scored 365 not out to record what was then the highest score in Test match
cricket. Alexander went on to lead the West Indies to a three-nil win over five Tests in India
, and a two-one defeat to Pakistan
in a three match rubber in the following winter. In 1959–60 he led as West Indies went down one-nil at home in a five-match series with England
.
and others called for a black captain. Constantine himself had stood in for Jackie Grant
in the field against England on the 1937–38 tour, and George Headley
captained the West Indies in the First Test against England in 1947–48 when the appointed, white captain, John Goddard
was injured. However, no black was appointed as captain for a whole series until Frank Worrell
was chosen to lead West Indies in their tour of Australia in 1960–61
. In his three years as captain, Worrell moulded a bunch of talented but raw cricketers into the best team in the world.
In 1960, Australia
were the best team in the world but on their way down, while West Indies were on their way up. It so happened that when they met, the two teams were of almost equal strength. The result was a series that has been recognised as one of the greatest of all time. The first Test in Brisbane
was the first Test ever to end in a tie
, which in cricket means the side batting last has been dismissed with scores level. The teams shared the next two Tests. In the fourth, Australia's last pair of Ken Mackay
and Lindsay Kline
played out the last 100 minutes of the match to earn a draw, while Australia won the final Test and the series by two wickets. One of the days of play was attended by a world-record crowd of 90,800. Such was the impression created by Worrell's team that the newly instituted trophy for the series between the two teams was named the Frank Worrell Trophy
. Half a million people lined the streets of Melbourne to bid them a ticker-tape farewell.
West Indies beat India
5–0 at home next year, and in 1963, they beat a fine English team
by three matches to one. The Lord's Test of this series saw a famous finish. With two balls left, England needed six runs to win, and West Indies one wicket. The non-striker was Colin Cowdrey
, who had his left arm in a sling, having fractured it earlier in the day. However, David Allen
safely played out the last two balls and the match ended in a draw. Worrell retired at the end of the series. The selectors picked Garry Sobers to succeed him.
Worrell did, however, serve as the team manager when West Indies hosted Australia in 1964–65. The matches against Australia were bitterly fought, with accusations about Charlie Griffith
's action (he was accused of throwing, which is banned in the laws of cricket) and bouncer
wars. The West Indies won this series 2–1 to be the unofficial world champions. Sobers was not as good at man-management as Worrell and cracks soon began to appear. Often it was his individual brilliance that made the difference between a win and a loss. Throughout the sixties, West Indies bowling was led by Wes Hall
, Griffith, Lance Gibbs
and Sobers himself. Hall and Griffith faded and then retired by the end of the decade, but WI could find no replacement for them till the mid-seventies.
Sobers was at his best in England in 1966, scoring 722 runs and taking 20 wickets in the five Tests. Three times he topped 150, and the 163* at Lord's turned a certain defeat into a near victory. West Indies won 3–1. England toured the West Indies in 1967–68 for a series that became noted for England's deliberate slow play. West Indies were forced to follow on in the first Test but saved it without difficulty. The second Test was played on an underprepared wicket at Kingston
. England won an important toss and scored 376. The bounce of the wicket having become very uneven, West Indies collapsed to 143 and followed on. On the fourth day in the second innings, a disputed decision led to a crowd riot, and the match had to be stopped for some time. In a curious decision, the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) agreed to add a 75-minute sixth day to compensate for the lost time. Sobers played an outstanding innings of 113 not out, which allowed West Indies to set England a target of 159 in 155 minutes. England just about saved the game, losing eight wickets for 68. In the fourth Test West Indies gained a first innings lead of 122 at Port-of-Spain
, but with the second innings score at 92 for 2, Sobers, frustrated by England's slow over rates and wanting to give himself a chance, albeit a small one, to win, surprisingly declared the innings, a decision for which he was widely criticised at the time. England were set a target of 215 in 165 minutes and they achieved it with 3 minutes to spare. West Indies made one last effort to win the final Test, but England drew it with only wicket left in their second innings. West Indies lost the series 0–1, the first defeat since 1960–61.
Australia and Bill Lawry
had their revenge in 1968–69, when West Indies lost the away series 1–3. New Zealand
managed to draw the series that followed, and then in 1969 West Indies were defeated 0–2 in England.
for the first time. In the next year, a five Test series against New Zealand cricket team
ended with no team coming close to winning one. A major find in the New Zealand series was Lawrence Rowe
, who started off with a double century and century on his debut. Under Rohan Kanhai
's captaincy, West Indies showed the first signs of revival. Australia won the closely fought 1972–73 series in the Caribbean by two Tests. With Sobers back – but Kanhai still the captain – West Indies defeated England
2–0 in 1973. This included a win by an innings and 226 runs at Lord's, their biggest win against England. The return series in West Indies ended 1–1, though the home team was the better side. Rowe continued his run scoring three centuries including a 302 at Kingston. The final Test of this 1973–74 series marked the end of an era in West Indies cricket – it was the last Test of both Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, and marked the emergence of fast bowler Andy Roberts.
The new captain Clive Lloyd
had made his first appearance in Test cricket in 1966 and had since become a fixture in the side. His avuncular, bespectacled appearance and a stoop near the shoulders masked the fact that he was a very fine fielder, especially in the covers, and a devastating stroke player. Lloyd's first assignment was the tour of India in 1974–75. West Indies won the first two Tests comfortably. Gordon Greenidge
started his career with 107 and 93 in the first Test. Vivian Richards failed on his debut, but scored 192* in his second. India fought back to win the next two, but Lloyd hit 242* in the final Test to win the series.
West Indies won the inaugural World Cup
in England in 1975, defeating Australia
in the final. Then in 1975–76 they toured Australia, only to lose 1–5 in the six-Test series, and then beat India at home two-one in a four Test series later that same winter. It was in Australia that the quick bowler Michael Holding
made his first appearance. Colin Croft
and Joel Garner
made their debut the next year, and Malcolm Marshall
two years after. In the span of about four years, West Indies brought together a bowling line-up of a quality that had rarely been seen before. The tour of India had seen the debut of Vivian Richards, arguably the finest West Indian batsman ever, and Gordon Greenidge
, who joined a strong batting line-up that already included Alvin Kallicharran
and opener Roy Fredericks
in addition to Rowe and Lloyd. These players formed the nucleus of the side that became recognised as world Test match champions until the beginning of the 1990s.
Next came a tour of England
in 1976. In a TV interview before the series, English captain Tony Greig
commented that the West Indies tend to do badly under pressure and that "we'll make them grovel". This comment, especially as it came from a South African-born player, touched a raw nerve of the West Indians. Throughout the series, the English batsmen were subjected to some very hostile bowling. After the first two Tests ended in draws, West Indies won the next three. Of the many heroes for West Indies, Richards stood out with 829 runs in four Tests. He hit 232 at Trent Bridge and 291 at the Oval. Greenidge scored three hundreds, two of which were on the difficult wicket at Old Trafford. Roberts and Holding shared 55 wickets between them, Holding's 8 for 92 and 6 for 57 on the unhelpful wicket at the Oval being a superlative effort.
West Indies won a home series against a tough Pakistan side in 1976–77. A few months later, the World Series Cricket
(WSC) controversy broke out. Most of the West Indian players signed up with Kerry Packer
, an Australian TV magnate who was attempting to set up his own international cricket competition. The Australian team that toured West Indies the next year included no Packer players. West Indies Cricket Board fielded a full-strength team under the argument that none of the West Indies players had refused to play, but disputes arose in the matter of payment and about the selection of certain players. Before the third Test, Lloyd resigned his captaincy. Within two days all the other WSC-contracted players also withdrew. Alvin Kallicharran
captained the team for the remaining Tests of the series, which the Windies won three-one.
WICB allowed the WSC players to appear in the 1979 World Cup
, and the West Indies retained the title with little difficulty. By the end of 1979, the WSC disputes were resolved. Kallicharran was deposed after losing a six-match series one-nil in India
and Lloyd returned as captain for a tour against a full-strength Australia
(where the Windies won two-nil, with one draw) and New Zealand
. The latter tour was full of controversy. New Zealand won the first Test at Dunedin
by one wicket, but West Indies were never happy with the umpiring. West Indian discontent boiled over the next Test at Christchurch
. While running into bowl, Colin Croft
deliberately shouldered the umpire Fred Goodall
. When Goodall went to talk to Lloyd about Croft's behaviour, he had to walk all the way to meet the West Indian captain, as the latter did not move an inch from his position at the slips. After tea on the third day, West Indies refused to take the field unless Goodall was removed. They were persuaded to continue, and it took intense negotiations between the two boards to keep the tour on track. The Kiwis won the three match series after the second and third Tests ended in draws. Nevertheless, the defeat proved to be the West Indies last Test series loss for the next 15 years.
The 1980s started with a one-nil victory away to England over five Tests, one-nil away to Pakistan over four Tests, two-nil home to England over four Tests and a one-all draw away to Australia. Then in 1982–83, a West Indian rebel team toured apartheid South Africa. It was led by Lawrence Rowe
and included prominent players like Alvin Kallicharran
, Colin Croft
, Collis King
and Sylvester Clarke
. WICB banned the players for life (which was later revoked), and some were refused entry back home. However, the rebels managed another tour the next year, which included most of the players of the original team. Despite this loss of talent, the official Windies side continued to dominate. During this time, the West Indies established themselves as one of Test cricket's all-time great sides, peaking perhaps on their tour of England in 1984, where they won the series 5–0, the only time in Test cricket history the touring side has whitewashed a five-test series. This was followed by a second "blackwash" against England at home in 1985–86. At the same time, the West Indies established the then-record of 11 consecutive Test victories, which was part of a still-standing record of 27 Tests without defeat. In the period from 1980 to 1985–86 they won 10 out of 11 Test series, the 1981–82 series in Australia being drawn 1–1. The West Indies' only notable defeat in this period was in the one-day arena, when, to general surprise, they lost to India
in the final of the 1983 World Cup
.
West Indian captain Lloyd
retired from Test cricket at the end of the 1984–85 series against Australia. In total Lloyd had captained West Indies in 74 Test matches, winning 36 of them. Vivian Richards was Lloyd's successor, and continued the run of success. Meanwhile, a change of old guard was also happening. Joel Garner
and Michael Holding
had retired by 1987. A major find was Curtly Ambrose
, who was as tall as Garner and equally effective with the ball. Courtney Walsh
, who made his first appearance in 1984, bowled with an action that resembled Holding. Ian Bishop also had a similar action, and was as good a bowler till injuries interrupted his career. Patrick Patterson
was faster than all the rest, but had a short career. Marshall still was the finest fast bowler in the world. But batting was beginning to show signs of weakness. West Indies failed to qualify for the semifinal of the 1987 World Cup
. By the end of the eighties, while still the best team in the world, they had lost the aura of invincibility that they had till the middle of the decade. Finding good replacements for senior players was again becoming a problem.
, Clive Lloyd
, Gordon Greenidge
Malcolm Marshall
, Joel Garner
, and Michael Holding
and when Viv Richards
retired in 1991 it was an end of an era. This left a youthful and inexperienced side. Indeed after Richards' retirement the only players with significnant experience were Richie Richardson
(the captain), Desmond Haynes who was soon dropped, Gus Logie
, who was recalled and Roger Harper
who came and went. However, this did not immediately affect their performance. Richie Richardson capably picked up the captaincy from Richards and Brian Lara
was waiting in the wings, as were a new crop of young players such as Ian Bishop, Jimmy Adams
, Carl Hooper
, Phil Simmons
, Keith Arthurton
and Winston Benjamin
. It was five more years before the West Indies lost a series, but they had a number of close shaves before then. Making a comeback to international cricket, South Africa
played its first Test match in Bridgetown
, a match which was attended by fewer than 10,000 people because of a boycott. Needing 201 to win on the last day, South Africa reached 123 for 2 before Curtly Ambrose
and Courtney Walsh
took the remaining 8 wickets for 25 runs. In 1992–93
, the West Indies defeated Australia
by one run in Adelaide
, where a loss would have cost them the series. In 1994–95, the West Indies salvaged a draw in India when, after losing the first Test and drawing the second, they secured a win in the third. In 1992, the West Indies once again failed to qualify for the World Cup
semi-finals.
Australia finally defeated the West Indies 2–1 in 1994–95 to become the unofficial world champions of Test cricket. The 1996 World Cup
ended with a defeat in the semi-final, which forced Richie Richardson
to end his career. The captaincy passed over to Courtney Walsh and then in 1998 to Brian Lara. The West Indies made their first ever official tour to South Africa in 1998–99. It was a disaster, starting with player revolts and ending with a 5–0 defeat. The 1999 World Cup
campaign ended in the group stages. The next year, England won a series against the West Indies for the first time in thirty-one years. The West Indies ended the decade with another 5–0 defeat, this time in Australia.
For most of the 1990s, the West Indian batting lineup was dominated by Brian Lara
. Lara became a regular in the side after the retirement of Viv Richards in 1991. In 1993–94, he scored 375 against England in Antigua
, breaking Sobers' world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket. He continued his fine form playing for Warwickshire
in the 1994 English County Championship
, posting seven first-class hundreds in eight innings (including the Test match 375). The last of these was a 501 not out
against Durham
, which improved upon Hanif Mohammad
's thirty-five-year-old record as the highest score in first-class cricket. The West Indian bowling attack was spearheaded by Curtly Ambrose
and Courtney Walsh
, the latter setting a then world record of 519 wickets. However, these two had both retired by 2001, and their successors failed to maintain the high standards that Ambrose and Walsh had set. Despite the emergence of some good batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul
and Ramnaresh Sarwan
, Brian Lara remained the crucial figure of the side.
After a 2–0 defeat to New Zealand
in 1999–00, Lara was replaced as captain by Jimmy Adams
, who initially enjoyed series wins against Zimbabwe
and Pakistan
. However, a 3–1 defeat to England
and a 5–0 whitewash by Australia
saw him replaced by Carl Hooper
for the 2000–01 visit by South Africa
. By the time Lara was restored to the captaincy in 2002–03, series had been lost to South Africa
, Sri Lanka
, Pakistan
, New Zealand
and India
. The only series win of note was against India (although Zimbabwe
and Bangladesh
were also beaten) as the West Indies plummeted to eighth place in the world-rankings, below all the other established Test nations.
After losing the first series of his second captaincy period to world champions Australia
, Lara secured success against Sri Lanka
and Zimbabwe
, before another poor run saw 3–0 defeats in 4-Test series against both South Africa
and England
. In the drawn fourth Test against England, Lara became the only man to regain the world record for highest individual Test score by scoring 400 not out, once again in Antigua, bettering Matthew Hayden
's 380 against Zimbabwe the previous year. The West Indies were then whitewashed 4–0 in England
. Lara's last act as captain was to win the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy
, a one-day competition second only to the Cricket World Cup, at the Oval
, London – a win that was a welcome surprise for the Caribbean which had just been hit by Hurricane Ivan
.
This joy was short-lived as a major dispute broke out in 2005 between the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) and the Cricket Board. The point of contention was clause 5 of the tour contract which gave WICB the sole and exclusive right to arrange for sponsorship, advertising, licensing, merchandising and promotional activities relating to WICB or any WICB Team. Digicel
were the sponsors of the West Indian Team, while most of the players had contracts with Cable & Wireless. This conflict, coupled with a payment dispute meant that the West Indies initially announced a team absent Lara and a number of other leading West Indians for South Africa's visit in 2004–05, leading to Shivnarine Chanderpaul
becoming captain. Some of these players did, in the end, compete. However, the dispute had not been resolved and rumbled on, leading to a second-string side being named for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2005. A resolution did not arise until October 2005, when a full-strength side was finally named for the 2005–06 tour of Australia
. It was on this tour that Brian Lara
overtook Australian
Allan Border
as the highest run-scorer in Test match
cricket, despite the West Indies losing the series 3–0.
more so than spin bowlers
. This is partly because the Caribbean pitches tend to be very hard and fast. The West Indian team at any one time will generally consist of four fast bowlers (as opposed to a mixture of fast and spin bowlers). They have on occasion played spin bowlers however, they tend to be batting All-Rounders
. Examples include Gus Logie
, Carl Hooper
, etc. One famous example of their "four-pronged" pace attack (as it has been dubbed) was during the 1980s when the attack generally included :
Their current attack includes:
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
sides. Administered by the West Indies Cricket Board ("WICB"), and known colloquially as The Windies, the West Indies cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team represents a sporting confederation of English-speaking
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
countries.
The WICB joined the sport's international ruling body, the Imperial Cricket Council, in 1926, and played their first official international match, which in cricket is called a Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, in 1928. Although blessed with some great players in their early days as a Test nation, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s, by which time the side had changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the late 1970s, the West Indies had a side recognised as unofficial world champions, a title they retained throughout the 1980s. Their team from the 1970s and 1980s is now widely regarded as having been one of the best in test cricket's history, alongside Don Bradman's Invincibles. During these glory years, the Windies were noted for their four-man fast bowling
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world. The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984, which was part of a still-standing record of 27 tests without defeat (the other tests being draws), as well as inflicting two 5–0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, in part due to the rise in popularity of athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and football in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory.
In their early days in the 1930s, the side represented the British colonies of the West Indies Federation
West Indies Federation
The West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom...
plus British Guyana. The current side represents the now independent states of Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
, Barbados, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, Grenada, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, and the British dependencies
British overseas territories
The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
of Anguilla
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
, Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
and the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
along with the U.S. Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
and St. Maarten. National teams also exist for the various islands, which, as they are all separate countries, very much keep their local identities and support their local favourites. These national teams take part in the West Indian first-class competition, the Stanford 20/20
Stanford 20/20
The Stanford 20/20 Tournament was a cricket tournament in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was held first in July and August 2006 in the West Indies at the Stanford Cricket Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda and the same place the year after...
, the Carib Beer Cup
Carib Beer Cup
The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first class cricket competition in the West Indies, it is administered by the West Indies Cricket Board...
(earlier known as the Busta Cup, Shell Shield and various other names). It is also common for other international teams to play the island teams for warm-up games before they take on the combined West Indies team.
Early tours
The first major international cricket played in the West Indies was between local, often predominantly white, sides and English tourists – the MiddlesexMiddlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
player Robert Slade Lucas
Robert Slade Lucas
Robert Slade Lucas was an English cricketer who played for Middlesex. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium paced bowler...
toured
RS Lucas' XI cricket team in West Indies in 1894-95
A team of Amateurs under the captaincy of Mr. R. Slade Lucas toured the West Indies in the 1894-95 season playing matches between January and April 1895. They played a total of 16 matches of which 8 are regarded as first-class.-Touring team:...
the West Indies with a team in 1894–95, and two years later Arthur Priestley
Arthur Priestley
Sir Arthur Alexander Priestley was an English Liberal Party politician and cricketer. After three unsuccessful candidacies he held a seat in the House of Commons from 1900 to 1918...
took a team to Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica, which included, for the first time, a match against a side styled "All West Indies", which the West Indians won. Lord Hawke's English team, including several English Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
players, toured around the same time, playing Trinidad, Barbados and British Guiana (now Guyana). Then in 1900
1900 English cricket season
The 1900 English cricket season saw Yorkshire finish the season unbeaten in the County Championship, the first time this had happened since the start of the official championship in 1890. They therefore became county champions, while defending champions Surrey finished in the middle of the pack in...
the white Trinidadian Aucher Warner
Aucher Warner
Robert Stewart Aucher Warner was a West Indian cricketer. He was known as Aucher Warner...
, the brother of future England captain Pelham Warner, led a touring side to England, but none of the matches on this tour were given first-class status. Two winters later, in 1901–02, the Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
wicketkeeper Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett (cricketer)
Richard Alexander Bennett was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1896 to 1899...
's XI went to the West Indies, and played three games against teams styled as the "West Indies", which the hosts won 2–1. In 1904–05, Lord Brackley
John Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere
Lieutenant-Colonel John Francis Granville Scrope Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere MVO KJStJ was a British peer and soldier, known as Viscount Brackley before 1914....
's XI toured the Caribbean – winning both its games against "West Indies".
The tours to England continued in 1906
1906 English cricket season
The 1906 English cricket season saw the Championship decided on the very last day with Kent just pipping Yorkshire for the title. George Hirst achieved the unique feat of a "double Double", i.e...
when Harold Austin
Harold Austin
Sir Harold Bruce Gardiner Austin OBE was a West Indian politician and cricketer. He was known as H.B.G.....
led a West Indian side to England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
. His side played a number of county teams
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
, and drew their game against an "England XI". However, that England XI only included one contemporary Test player – wicketkeeper Dick Lilley
Dick Lilley
Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer who played in 35 Tests from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper...
– and he had not been on England's most recent tour, their 1905–6 tour of South Africa
English cricket team in South Africa in 1905-06
England faced South Africa during their tour of South Africa over winter of 1905 to 1906. England played five Test matches against the home team, and the Marylebone Cricket Club played seven first-class games against various teams of the South African domestic leagues, including Western Province...
. The Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
, which had taken over responsibility for arranging all official overseas England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
tours, visited the West Indies in 1910–11, and 1912–13 but after that there was no international cricket of any note until the West Indian team went to England in 1923
1923 English cricket season
-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - Buckinghamshire*Wisden - Arthur Gilligan, Roy Kilner, George Macaulay, Cecil Parkin, Maurice Tate-External sources:*...
. This tour did not include a game against an England team, but there was an end-of-season game against HDG Leveson-Gower's XI against a virtual England Test side at the Scarborough cricket festival, a traditional end-of-season game against a touring side at the English seaside resort of Scarborough, which Leveson-Gower's XI won by only four wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s. 1925–26 saw another MCC tour of the West Indies.
The MCC was eager to promote cricket throughout the British Empire, and on 31 May 1926 the West Indian Cricket Board, along with their New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
and Indian
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
counterparts, was elected to the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC), which previously consisted of the MCC and representatives of Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
and South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
. Election to full membership of the ICC meant the West Indies could play official Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, which is the designation given to the most important international games, and the Windies became the fourth team actually to play a recognised Test match on 23 June 1928 when they took on England at Lord's in London. They did not, however, enjoy immediate success – the West Indies lost all three 3-day Tests in that 1928 tour
West Indian cricket team in England in 1928
The West Indian cricket team that toured England in the 1928 season was the first to play Test cricket. The team was not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five of the 30 first-class matches played....
by a long way, failing to score 250 runs in any of their six innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
in that series. They also failed to dismiss England for under 350 runs in a series completely dominated by England.
The early Tests (1930s and 1940s)
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
and one against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
. The first four of these were played against an England team led by the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe
Freddie Calthorpe
Frederick Somerset Gough Calthorpe , styled The Honourable from 1912, was an English cricketer....
that toured in 1929–30. However, as Harold Gilligan
Harold Gilligan
Alfred Herbert Harold Gilligan was a cricketer who played for Sussex and England. Gilligan captained England on their four-Test tour of New Zealand in 1929-30, which England won 1-0...
was leading another English team to New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at exactly the same time, this was not a full-strength England side. The series ended one-all, with the West Indies first ever Test victory being recorded on 26 February 1930. West Indians George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
scored the most runs (703) in the rubber and Learie Constantine
Learie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
took the most wickets (18).
The Windies toured Australia in 1930–31. They lost the Test series 4–1. The fifth and final Test showed some promise – batting first, the West Indies spent the first three days earning a 250-run lead with five wickets down in their second innings. A bold declaration
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
was backed up by their bowlers, as Herman Griffith
Herman Griffith
Herman Clarence Griffith was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in their inaugural Test tour of England and was one of the leading bowlers on that tour....
took four wickets and West Indies won by 30 runs to their first overseas Test victory. By the time the team left, they had left a good impression of themselves with the Australian public, although at first the team were faced with several cultural differences – for example, their hosts did not at first appreciate that the tourists' Roman Catholic beliefs would mean they would refuse to play golf on Sundays or engage in more ribald behaviour. The West Indian sides of the time were always led by white men, and the touring party to Australia comprised seven whites and eleven "natives", and the West Indian Board of Control wrote to their Australian counterparts saying "that all should reside at the same hotels". Australia at the time had in place its "White Australia" policy, with the Australian Board having to guarantee to the Government that the non-whites would leave at the end of the tour. When the West Indians arrived in Sydney, the whites were immediately given a different hotel from the blacks. They complained, and thereafter their wishes were met. The tour lost a lot of money, part of which was due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
then affecting Australia. The West Indians won four and lost eight of their 14 first-class fixtures.
1933
1933 English cricket season
In the 1933 English cricket season, Yorkshire's dominance continued with a third successive championship.-Honours:*County Championship - Yorkshire*Minor Counties Championship - undecided...
saw another tour of England. Their hosts had just come back from defeating Australia in the infamous Bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
series, where England's aggressive bowling at the body with a legside field attracted much criticism. England won the three-Test series of three-day Tests against the Windies 2–0. The second, drawn, Test at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
, Manchester, provided an intriguing footnote to the Bodyline controversy when Manny Martindale
Manny Martindale
Emmanuel Alfred Martindale was a West Indian cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1933 to 1939. He was a right-arm fast bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman....
and Learie Constantine
Learie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
bowled Bodyline – fast, short-pitched balls aimed at the body – against the Englishmen, the only time they faced it in international cricket. The tactic did not work, as Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
, the English captain
English national cricket captains
This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any...
who ordered his players to bowl it against the Australians, did not flinch as he scored his only Test century, making 127 out of England's 374.
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
one of their innings closed to have their bowlers take advantage of the poor pitch. The second Test saw the Windies win by 217 runs, and a drawn third Test saw the series go to a decider at Sabina Park
Sabina Park
Sabina Park is the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica and is often referred to as "The Holiday Home of Cricket"....
in Jamaica. A massive 270 not out from George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
saw the Windies declare on 535 for 7. Despite a century from Les Ames
Les Ames
Leslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...
, England could not avoid going down by an innings and 161 runs – the West Indies had secured their first Test series victory.
The West Indies toured England in 1939. England won the first Test at Lord's easily by 8 wickets, then there was a rain-affected draw in Manchester, and finally a high-scoring draw at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in mid-August. The highlight of the series for the West Indies was George Headley scoring hundreds in both innings in the Lord's Test. With the clouds of World War II seemingly about to envelope Europe, the rest of the tour was cancelled and the Windies returned home. They would play no more Tests until 21 January 1948 saw the start of the first Test the West Indies played since the War, which resulted in a draw against the MCC side from England. The second Test was also drawn, with George Carew
George Carew
George Carew was an English diplomat and historian.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Carew of Antony and brother of Richard Carew. He was educated at Oxford and entered the Inns of Court before travelling abroad. At the recommendation of Queen Elizabeth I, who conferred on him the honour of a...
and Andy Ganteaume
Andy Ganteaume
Andrew Gordon Ganteaume is a West Indian former cricketer who played as an opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago...
both making centuries. Ganteaume was then dropped, ending with a Test average of 112 – the highest in Test history. The West Indies won the final two Tests chasing sub-100 totals, and wrapped up the series 2–0, their first away-series victory.
In 1948, West Indies toured newly independent India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
for the first time for a five Test tour. The tour was preceded by a non-Test tour of Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
and followed by a similar short tour of Ceylon
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
. After three high-scoring draws against the Indians, the West Indians wrapped up the fourth by an innings before a thrilling fifth Test, which left the Indians six runs away from victory with two wickets in hand as time ran out, so that the West Indies thus won the rubber 1–0. Carrying on from his hundred in the series against England, Everton Weekes
Everton Weekes
Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...
set a record of scoring hundreds in five successive Test innings.
The post-War period (1950s)
1950 saw another tour of England, the series saw the emergence for the West Indies of their great spinning duo, Sonny RamadhinSonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.- Biography and career :...
and Alf Valentine
Alf Valentine
Alfred Louis Valentine, April 28, 1930–11 May 2004 , was a West Indian cricketer in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the Victory Calypso.-The 1950 tour:...
. England won the first Test by 202 runs, but Valentine and Ramadhin's bowling would win the series for the visitors. The second Test saw the Windies put on 326 thanks to 106 from Allan Rae before Valentine (4 for 48) and Ramadhin (5 for 66) skittled England in the first innings. A mammoth 168 from Clyde Walcott
Clyde Walcott
Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott, KA, GCM was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barbados, born within a short distance of each other in Bridgetown, Barbados in a period of 18...
saw England set a theoretical target of 601. Ramadhin's 6 for 86 and Valentine's 3 for 79 dismissed the hosts for 274. The spinning duo took 12 wickets, Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...
made 261 and Everton Weekes
Everton Weekes
Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...
129 as the third Test went the Windies way by 10 wickets, the fourth saw 14 wickets from Valentine and Ramadhin and centuries from Rae and Worrell as England were defeated by an innings. The West Indies won the series 3–1.
In 1951–52 the Windies visited Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
. The first Test saw a narrow defeat by three wickets, with the two spinners seemingly continuing their form with twelve wickets between them. The second Test was lost by seven wickets, as Australia replied to the Windies 362 and 290 with 567 (which included centuries from Lindsay Hassett
Lindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...
and Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
) and 137 for 2. 6 wickets from Worrell in the third Test saw Australia dismissed for only 82, and the Windies eventually won by six wickets to pull back to two-one down in the series. The fourth Test saw the series lost in a narrow defeat. Worrell, batting with an injured hand, scored 108 and helped the Windies to 272 before Australia made 216 in reply. 203 from the Windies left Australia a target of 260. 5 wickets from Valentine helped reduced the Aussies to 222 for 9, 38 short with 1 wicket remaining. It didn't happen, as some brilliant running between the wicket for Australia by Bill Johnston
Bill Johnston (cricketer)
William Arras Johnston was an Australian cricketer who played in forty Test matches from 1947 to 1955. A left arm pace bowler, as well as a left arm orthodox spinner, Johnston was best known as a spearhead of Don Bradman's undefeated 1948 touring team, well known as "The Invincibles"...
and Doug Ring
Doug Ring
Douglas Thomas Ring was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia in 13 Tests from 1948 to 1953...
saw West Indies lose their composure and the match. The fifth Test saw three batting collapses, as Australia (116 and 377) beat Windies (78 and 213) by 202 runs to finish the rubber four-one winners. The West Indies then went on to New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
. In the first Test encounter between the two teams, the visitors to scored a five wicket victory. In the second and final Test, Allan Rae scored 99, Jeffrey Stollmeyer 152, Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...
100 and Clyde Walcott
Clyde Walcott
Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott, KA, GCM was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barbados, born within a short distance of each other in Bridgetown, Barbados in a period of 18...
115 as the West Indies put on 546 for 6 declared. There wasn't enough time to bowl out the opposition twice though, as the hosts made 160 and were following-on at 17 for 1 when stumps were drawn, leaving the Windies series winners.
The Indians
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
toured at the beginning of 1953. The Windies won the second of the five Tests that were played, with the others all being draws. The highlight of these games we Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...
's 237 in the fifth Test, where all the three W's scored hundreds, as the West Indies scored a 1–0 series victory. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
led an MCC (England) side to the islands in 1953–54. Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.- Biography and career :...
again starred for the Windies taking 23 wickets (no other West Indian took more than 8), as Walcott's 698 runs was more than 200 higher than second-placed West Indian, Everton Weekes. The five match rubber was drawn two-all.
Australia came and conquered in 1954–55. After the Aussies made 515 in the first innings of the first Test, the Windies went down by 9 wickets. Then the Windies 382 was put in the shade by 600 for 9 declared by the visitors as the second Test was drawn. A low-scoring third Test saw Australia (257 and 133 for 2) beat the hosts (182 and 207) by 8 wickets. After Australia scored 668 in the fourth Test, the series was lost, although a double century from captain Denis Atkinson
Denis Atkinson
Denis St Eval Atkinson was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches as an all-rounder, hitting 922 runs and taking 47 wickets. He also played first-class cricket for Barbados and Trinidad...
and a world-record stand for the seventh wicket allowed the Windies to reach 510 and draw the Test. The fifth Test saw the West Indies win the toss and bat. Walcott's 155 was the highest score of their 357. The Australians then batted and batted, in total for 245.4 overs in the 6-day Test, as they put on 758 for 8 declared, with five players making centuries. 319 in the West Indies' second innings left them defeated by an innings and 82 runs in the Test, and by three games to nil in the series. Walcott set records by scoring five hundreds, and hundreds in both innings of a match twice. A four-Test tour of New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
followed in February 1956. After two wins by an innings and one by 9 wickets, the Windies were surprised by the Kiwis in the fourth, dismissing them for 145 and 77 as they recorded their first ever Test win in their 45th Test.
John Goddard
John Goddard
John Douglas Claude Goddard was a cricketer and one-time captain of the West Indies Test side.Goddard was born in Fontabelle, St Michael, Barbados. He captained the West Indian team through several tours, including West Indies' maiden tours of India and New Zealand. His first stretch as a...
returned to captain the West Indians for a five-Test tour of England in 1957, which was lost three-nil, with England having the better of the two draws. Then 1957–58 Gerry Alexander
Gerry Alexander
Franz Copeland Murray "Gerry" Alexander was a Jamaican cricketer who played 25 Tests for the West Indies...
led a team that defeated Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
three-one. It was in this series in Jamaica
Sabina Park
Sabina Park is the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica and is often referred to as "The Holiday Home of Cricket"....
that Garry Sobers scored 365 not out to record what was then the highest score in Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
cricket. Alexander went on to lead the West Indies to a three-nil win over five Tests in India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
, and a two-one defeat to Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
in a three match rubber in the following winter. In 1959–60 he led as West Indies went down one-nil at home in a five-match series with England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
.
A period of mixed fortunes (1960s)
Despite being a region where whites are a minority, until 1960 West Indies were always captained by white cricketers, though this was more social than racial discrimination. Throughout the fifties, social theorist CLR James, the increasingly political former cricketer Learie ConstantineLearie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
and others called for a black captain. Constantine himself had stood in for Jackie Grant
Jackie Grant
George Copeland Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained the side through several series.Grant was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He captained the West Indies' team in the 1930-31, 1933, 1934-35 series...
in the field against England on the 1937–38 tour, and George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
captained the West Indies in the First Test against England in 1947–48 when the appointed, white captain, John Goddard
John Goddard
John Douglas Claude Goddard was a cricketer and one-time captain of the West Indies Test side.Goddard was born in Fontabelle, St Michael, Barbados. He captained the West Indian team through several tours, including West Indies' maiden tours of India and New Zealand. His first stretch as a...
was injured. However, no black was appointed as captain for a whole series until Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...
was chosen to lead West Indies in their tour of Australia in 1960–61
West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1960-61
The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1960-61 season under the captaincy of Frank Worrell. Both Worrell and his opposing captain, Richie Benaud, encouraged their teams to play attacking cricket. The first Test of the five match series ended in a dramatic tie, the first of only two...
. In his three years as captain, Worrell moulded a bunch of talented but raw cricketers into the best team in the world.
In 1960, Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
were the best team in the world but on their way down, while West Indies were on their way up. It so happened that when they met, the two teams were of almost equal strength. The result was a series that has been recognised as one of the greatest of all time. The first Test in Brisbane
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
was the first Test ever to end in a tie
Tied Test
Tied Test refers to a rare result in Test cricket. Only two ties have occurred in the 2,000 Tests played since 1877. The first was in 1960 and the second in 1986...
, which in cricket means the side batting last has been dismissed with scores level. The teams shared the next two Tests. In the fourth, Australia's last pair of Ken Mackay
Ken Mackay
Kenneth Donald Mackay was an Australian cricketer who played in 37 Tests from 1956 to 1963....
and Lindsay Kline
Lindsay Kline
Lindsay Francis Kline is former Australian and Victorian cricketer. He played in 13 Tests for Australia and 88 first-class matches between 1955/56 and 1961/1962...
played out the last 100 minutes of the match to earn a draw, while Australia won the final Test and the series by two wickets. One of the days of play was attended by a world-record crowd of 90,800. Such was the impression created by Worrell's team that the newly instituted trophy for the series between the two teams was named the Frank Worrell Trophy
Frank Worrell Trophy
The Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded for the winner of the West Indies - Australia Test match series in cricket.The trophy is named after the former West Indies captain Sir Frank Worrell, and was first awarded at the end of the 1960-61 series...
. Half a million people lined the streets of Melbourne to bid them a ticker-tape farewell.
West Indies beat India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
5–0 at home next year, and in 1963, they beat a fine English team
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
by three matches to one. The Lord's Test of this series saw a famous finish. With two balls left, England needed six runs to win, and West Indies one wicket. The non-striker was Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...
, who had his left arm in a sling, having fractured it earlier in the day. However, David Allen
David Allen (cricketer)
David Arthur Allen is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire between 1953 and 1972. He also played 39 Test matches for England.-Life and career:...
safely played out the last two balls and the match ended in a draw. Worrell retired at the end of the series. The selectors picked Garry Sobers to succeed him.
Worrell did, however, serve as the team manager when West Indies hosted Australia in 1964–65. The matches against Australia were bitterly fought, with accusations about Charlie Griffith
Charlie Griffith
Charles Christopher Griffith is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 28 Tests from 1960 to 1969. He formed a lethal fast bowling partnership with Wes Hall during the 1960s...
's action (he was accused of throwing, which is banned in the laws of cricket) and bouncer
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
wars. The West Indies won this series 2–1 to be the unofficial world champions. Sobers was not as good at man-management as Worrell and cracks soon began to appear. Often it was his individual brilliance that made the difference between a win and a loss. Throughout the sixties, West Indies bowling was led by Wes Hall
Wes Hall
Wesley Winfield Hall is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969...
, Griffith, Lance Gibbs
Lance Gibbs
Lancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...
and Sobers himself. Hall and Griffith faded and then retired by the end of the decade, but WI could find no replacement for them till the mid-seventies.
Sobers was at his best in England in 1966, scoring 722 runs and taking 20 wickets in the five Tests. Three times he topped 150, and the 163* at Lord's turned a certain defeat into a near victory. West Indies won 3–1. England toured the West Indies in 1967–68 for a series that became noted for England's deliberate slow play. West Indies were forced to follow on in the first Test but saved it without difficulty. The second Test was played on an underprepared wicket at Kingston
Sabina Park
Sabina Park is the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica and is often referred to as "The Holiday Home of Cricket"....
. England won an important toss and scored 376. The bounce of the wicket having become very uneven, West Indies collapsed to 143 and followed on. On the fourth day in the second innings, a disputed decision led to a crowd riot, and the match had to be stopped for some time. In a curious decision, the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) agreed to add a 75-minute sixth day to compensate for the lost time. Sobers played an outstanding innings of 113 not out, which allowed West Indies to set England a target of 159 in 155 minutes. England just about saved the game, losing eight wickets for 68. In the fourth Test West Indies gained a first innings lead of 122 at Port-of-Spain
Queen's Park Oval
Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the...
, but with the second innings score at 92 for 2, Sobers, frustrated by England's slow over rates and wanting to give himself a chance, albeit a small one, to win, surprisingly declared the innings, a decision for which he was widely criticised at the time. England were set a target of 215 in 165 minutes and they achieved it with 3 minutes to spare. West Indies made one last effort to win the final Test, but England drew it with only wicket left in their second innings. West Indies lost the series 0–1, the first defeat since 1960–61.
Australia and Bill Lawry
Bill Lawry
William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...
had their revenge in 1968–69, when West Indies lost the away series 1–3. New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
managed to draw the series that followed, and then in 1969 West Indies were defeated 0–2 in England.
World dominance (1970s)
West Indies' woes overflowed into the seventies. At home in 1970–71, they lost to IndiaIndian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
for the first time. In the next year, a five Test series against New Zealand cricket team
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
ended with no team coming close to winning one. A major find in the New Zealand series was Lawrence Rowe
Lawrence Rowe
Lawrence George Rowe is a former West Indian cricketer.Lawrence, also known as "Yagga", was an elegant right-handed batsman described by Michael Holding, his team mate, as "the best batsman I ever saw". It was felt that his ability was so extraordinary that Sobers believed he could have been the...
, who started off with a double century and century on his debut. Under Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...
's captaincy, West Indies showed the first signs of revival. Australia won the closely fought 1972–73 series in the Caribbean by two Tests. With Sobers back – but Kanhai still the captain – West Indies defeated England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
2–0 in 1973. This included a win by an innings and 226 runs at Lord's, their biggest win against England. The return series in West Indies ended 1–1, though the home team was the better side. Rowe continued his run scoring three centuries including a 302 at Kingston. The final Test of this 1973–74 series marked the end of an era in West Indies cricket – it was the last Test of both Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, and marked the emergence of fast bowler Andy Roberts.
The new captain Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. 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...
had made his first appearance in Test cricket in 1966 and had since become a fixture in the side. His avuncular, bespectacled appearance and a stoop near the shoulders masked the fact that he was a very fine fielder, especially in the covers, and a devastating stroke player. Lloyd's first assignment was the tour of India in 1974–75. West Indies won the first two Tests comfortably. Gordon Greenidge
Gordon Greenidge
Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...
started his career with 107 and 93 in the first Test. Vivian Richards failed on his debut, but scored 192* in his second. India fought back to win the next two, but Lloyd hit 242* in the final Test to win the series.
West Indies won the inaugural World Cup
1975 Cricket World Cup
-Group B:-Knockout stage:-Semifinals:In the best World Cup performance to date by a bowler, Gary Gilmour took six wickets as England were bowled all out for 93 , after falling to 37/7...
in England in 1975, defeating Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in the final. Then in 1975–76 they toured Australia, only to lose 1–5 in the six-Test series, and then beat India at home two-one in a four Test series later that same winter. It was in Australia that the quick bowler Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
made his first appearance. Colin Croft
Colin Croft
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.-Cricket career:...
and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
made their debut the next year, and Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall
By 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings...
two years after. In the span of about four years, West Indies brought together a bowling line-up of a quality that had rarely been seen before. The tour of India had seen the debut of Vivian Richards, arguably the finest West Indian batsman ever, and Gordon Greenidge
Gordon Greenidge
Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...
, who joined a strong batting line-up that already included Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Isaac Kallicharran is a former West Indian batsman of Indo-Guyanese ethnicity who played from 1972 to 1981. His elegant, watchful batting style produced some substantial innings for a West Indian team very much in its formative years in the seventies...
and opener Roy Fredericks
Roy Fredericks
Roy Clifton Fredericks was a West Indian cricketer who played from 1968 to 1977....
in addition to Rowe and Lloyd. These players formed the nucleus of the side that became recognised as world Test match champions until the beginning of the 1990s.
Next came a tour of England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
in 1976. In a TV interview before the series, English captain Tony Greig
Tony Greig
Anthony "Tony" William Greig is a former English Test cricketer and currently a commentator.Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. He became captain of the...
commented that the West Indies tend to do badly under pressure and that "we'll make them grovel". This comment, especially as it came from a South African-born player, touched a raw nerve of the West Indians. Throughout the series, the English batsmen were subjected to some very hostile bowling. After the first two Tests ended in draws, West Indies won the next three. Of the many heroes for West Indies, Richards stood out with 829 runs in four Tests. He hit 232 at Trent Bridge and 291 at the Oval. Greenidge scored three hundreds, two of which were on the difficult wicket at Old Trafford. Roberts and Holding shared 55 wickets between them, Holding's 8 for 92 and 6 for 57 on the unhelpful wicket at the Oval being a superlative effort.
West Indies won a home series against a tough Pakistan side in 1976–77. A few months later, the World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket was a break away professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 and organised by Kerry Packer for his Australian television network, Nine Network. The matches ran in opposition to established international cricket...
(WSC) controversy broke out. Most of the West Indian players signed up with Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
, an Australian TV magnate who was attempting to set up his own international cricket competition. The Australian team that toured West Indies the next year included no Packer players. West Indies Cricket Board fielded a full-strength team under the argument that none of the West Indies players had refused to play, but disputes arose in the matter of payment and about the selection of certain players. Before the third Test, Lloyd resigned his captaincy. Within two days all the other WSC-contracted players also withdrew. Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Isaac Kallicharran is a former West Indian batsman of Indo-Guyanese ethnicity who played from 1972 to 1981. His elegant, watchful batting style produced some substantial innings for a West Indian team very much in its formative years in the seventies...
captained the team for the remaining Tests of the series, which the Windies won three-one.
WICB allowed the WSC players to appear in the 1979 World Cup
1979 Cricket World Cup
The 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the tournament and was won by the West Indies. It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had remained unchanged from 1975. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4...
, and the West Indies retained the title with little difficulty. By the end of 1979, the WSC disputes were resolved. Kallicharran was deposed after losing a six-match series one-nil in India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
and Lloyd returned as captain for a tour against a full-strength Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
(where the Windies won two-nil, with one draw) and New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
. The latter tour was full of controversy. New Zealand won the first Test at Dunedin
Carisbrook
Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it has also been used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. Carisbrook has also hosted a Joe Cocker concert and frequently hosted pre-game...
by one wicket, but West Indies were never happy with the umpiring. West Indian discontent boiled over the next Test at Christchurch
Jade Stadium
Lancaster Park, formerly Jade Stadium and currently known as AMI Stadium through sponsorship rights, is a sports stadium situated in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand....
. While running into bowl, Colin Croft
Colin Croft
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.-Cricket career:...
deliberately shouldered the umpire Fred Goodall
Fred Goodall
Frederick Robert Goodall is a former international cricket umpire from New Zealand who officiated in 24 Tests and 15 one-day internationals between 1965 and 1988...
. When Goodall went to talk to Lloyd about Croft's behaviour, he had to walk all the way to meet the West Indian captain, as the latter did not move an inch from his position at the slips. After tea on the third day, West Indies refused to take the field unless Goodall was removed. They were persuaded to continue, and it took intense negotiations between the two boards to keep the tour on track. The Kiwis won the three match series after the second and third Tests ended in draws. Nevertheless, the defeat proved to be the West Indies last Test series loss for the next 15 years.
Dominance, rebels and blackwashes (1980s)
| WI Test series in the 1980s | ||||||
| SEASON | Vs | HOSTS | P | W | L | D |
| 1979–80 | NZ | NZ | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1980 West Indian cricket team in England in 1980 The West Indian cricket team toured England in 1980, spending virtually the whole of the 1980 English cricket season in England. West Indies also played two matches in Ireland and two in Scotland.... |
ENG | ENG | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 1980–81 | PAK | PAK | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1980–81 | ENG | WI | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1981–82 West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1981-82 The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1981-82 season and played 3 Test matches against Australia. The series was drawn 1-1.-Test series summary:* at Melbourne Cricket Ground – Australia won by 58 runs... |
AUS | AUS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1982–83 | IND | WI | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 1983–84 | IND | IND | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1983–84 | AUS | WI | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 1984 West Indian cricket team in England in 1984 The West Indian cricket team in England in 1984 played three One Day Internationals and five Tests. West Indies beat England 2-1 in the ODI series and then whitewashed England in the Test series, winning 5-0... |
ENG | ENG | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984–85 West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1984-85 The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1984-85 season and played 5 Test matches against Australia. West Indies won the series 3-1 with one match drawn. The West Indies won the first three Tests quite easily against a very weak Australian team. Then captain Kim Hughes lost the... |
AUS | AUS | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 1984–85 | NZ | WI | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1985–86 | ENG | WI | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986–87 | PAK | PAK | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1986–87 | NZ | NZ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1987–88 | IND | IND | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1987–88 | PAK | WI | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1988 West Indian cricket team in England in 1988 The West Indian cricket team played 16 first-class cricket matches in England in 1988, under the captaincy of Viv Richards. The West Indies enjoyed tremendous success during the tour, while England endured a "disastrous summer" of continuous change.... |
ENG | ENG | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1988–89 West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1988-89 The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1988-89 season and played 5 Test matches against Australia. West Indies won the series 3-1 with one match drawn.-Test series summary:* 1st Test – West Indies won by 9 wickets... |
AUS | AUS | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 1988–89 | IND | WI | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 1989–90 | ENG | WI | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| After losing their first series of the 1980s in March 1980, the West Indies went throughout the rest of the decade undefeated. | ||||||
The 1980s started with a one-nil victory away to England over five Tests, one-nil away to Pakistan over four Tests, two-nil home to England over four Tests and a one-all draw away to Australia. Then in 1982–83, a West Indian rebel team toured apartheid South Africa. It was led by Lawrence Rowe
Lawrence Rowe
Lawrence George Rowe is a former West Indian cricketer.Lawrence, also known as "Yagga", was an elegant right-handed batsman described by Michael Holding, his team mate, as "the best batsman I ever saw". It was felt that his ability was so extraordinary that Sobers believed he could have been the...
and included prominent players like Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Kallicharran
Alvin Isaac Kallicharran is a former West Indian batsman of Indo-Guyanese ethnicity who played from 1972 to 1981. His elegant, watchful batting style produced some substantial innings for a West Indian team very much in its formative years in the seventies...
, Colin Croft
Colin Croft
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.-Cricket career:...
, Collis King
Collis King
Collis Llewellyn King is a former West Indies cricketer who played nine Tests and 18 One Day Internationals for the West Indies....
and Sylvester Clarke
Sylvester Clarke
Sylvester Theophilus Clarke was a West Indian cricketer who played 11 Tests and 10 One Day Internationals.-Early life:Born in Christ Church, Barbados, Clarke attended St Bartholomew's Boys' School...
. WICB banned the players for life (which was later revoked), and some were refused entry back home. However, the rebels managed another tour the next year, which included most of the players of the original team. Despite this loss of talent, the official Windies side continued to dominate. During this time, the West Indies established themselves as one of Test cricket's all-time great sides, peaking perhaps on their tour of England in 1984, where they won the series 5–0, the only time in Test cricket history the touring side has whitewashed a five-test series. This was followed by a second "blackwash" against England at home in 1985–86. At the same time, the West Indies established the then-record of 11 consecutive Test victories, which was part of a still-standing record of 27 Tests without defeat. In the period from 1980 to 1985–86 they won 10 out of 11 Test series, the 1981–82 series in Australia being drawn 1–1. The West Indies' only notable defeat in this period was in the one-day arena, when, to general surprise, they lost to India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
in the final of the 1983 World Cup
1983 Cricket World Cup
The 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup was the third edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 June to 25 June 1983 in England and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each...
.
West Indian captain Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. 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...
retired from Test cricket at the end of the 1984–85 series against Australia. In total Lloyd had captained West Indies in 74 Test matches, winning 36 of them. Vivian Richards was Lloyd's successor, and continued the run of success. Meanwhile, a change of old guard was also happening. Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
and Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
had retired by 1987. A major find was Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose is a former West Indian cricketer. His skill was as a right-arm fast bowler, especially in partnership with Courtney Walsh...
, who was as tall as Garner and equally effective with the ball. Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh
Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former international cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches...
, who made his first appearance in 1984, bowled with an action that resembled Holding. Ian Bishop also had a similar action, and was as good a bowler till injuries interrupted his career. Patrick Patterson
Patrick Patterson
Balfour Patrick Patterson is a former fast bowler for the West Indian cricket team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Early life:...
was faster than all the rest, but had a short career. Marshall still was the finest fast bowler in the world. But batting was beginning to show signs of weakness. West Indies failed to qualify for the semifinal of the 1987 World Cup
1987 Cricket World Cup
The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from October 8 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan — the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60...
. By the end of the eighties, while still the best team in the world, they had lost the aura of invincibility that they had till the middle of the decade. Finding good replacements for senior players was again becoming a problem.
Fall from grace
During the early 1990s, the West Indies team was still reeling from the retirements of players like Jeff DujonJeff Dujon
Peter Jeffrey Leroy Dujon is a retired West Indian cricketer.He was the wicketkeeper for the West Indian cricket team of the 1980s, an athletic presence behind the stumps as well as a competent lower-order batsman....
, Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. 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...
, Gordon Greenidge
Gordon Greenidge
Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...
Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall
By 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings...
, Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
, and Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
and when Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
retired in 1991 it was an end of an era. This left a youthful and inexperienced side. Indeed after Richards' retirement the only players with significnant experience were Richie Richardson
Richie Richardson
Richard Benjamin Richardson is a retired West Indies cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team.Richardson was born in Five Islands Village, Antigua. He began his career with the Leewards Islands in 1982 as an opener and after his second season he was called up by the West...
(the captain), Desmond Haynes who was soon dropped, Gus Logie
Gus Logie
Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach....
, who was recalled and Roger Harper
Roger Harper
Roger Andrew Harper is a former West Indies cricketer turned coach, who played both Test and ODI cricket for the West Indies...
who came and went. However, this did not immediately affect their performance. Richie Richardson capably picked up the captaincy from Richards and Brian Lara
Brian Lara
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...
was waiting in the wings, as were a new crop of young players such as Ian Bishop, Jimmy Adams
Jimmy Adams
James Clive "Jimmy" Adams is a former Jamaican cricketer, who represented the West Indies as player and captain during his career. He was a steady left-handed batsman, useful left-arm orthodox spin bowler and good fielder, especially in the gully position...
, Carl Hooper
Carl Hooper
Carl Llewellyn Hooper is a former West Indian cricket player and captain.-Career:He was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented...
, Phil Simmons
Phil Simmons
Philip Veraint Simmons is a former skilled all-round cricketer who played as an opening batsman a useful bowler and a talented slip fielder.-Career:...
, Keith Arthurton
Keith Arthurton
Keith Lloyd Thomas Arthurton is a former West Indian cricketer. Having become only the third player to hail from Nevis, the left-arm unorthodox bowler played in 33 Tests between July 1988 and August 1995 and continued playing in one day matches until May 1999. However, he never recovered from the...
and Winston Benjamin
Winston Benjamin
Winston Keithroy Matthew Benjamin is an Antiguan cricketer who played 21 Tests and 85 One Day Internationals for the West Indies. He made his Test debut against India at Delhi on the 1987–88 tour...
. It was five more years before the West Indies lost a series, but they had a number of close shaves before then. Making a comeback to international cricket, South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
played its first Test match in Bridgetown
Kensington Oval
The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the major sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket...
, a match which was attended by fewer than 10,000 people because of a boycott. Needing 201 to win on the last day, South Africa reached 123 for 2 before Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose is a former West Indian cricketer. His skill was as a right-arm fast bowler, especially in partnership with Courtney Walsh...
and Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh
Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former international cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches...
took the remaining 8 wickets for 25 runs. In 1992–93
West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1992-93
-2nd Test:* Australia won by 139 runs-3rd Test:* Match Drawn Again-4th Test:* West Indies won by 1 run-5th Test:* West Indies won by innings and 25 runs-External sources:* -External links:*...
, the West Indies defeated Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
by one run in Adelaide
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
, where a loss would have cost them the series. In 1994–95, the West Indies salvaged a draw in India when, after losing the first Test and drawing the second, they secured a win in the third. In 1992, the West Indies once again failed to qualify for the World Cup
1992 Cricket World Cup
-New Zealand:-Round Robin Stage:Co-hosts New Zealand proved the surprise packet of the tournament, winning their first seven games to finish on top of the table after the round robin. The other hosts, Australia, were one of the pre-tournament favourites but lost their first two matches. They...
semi-finals.
Australia finally defeated the West Indies 2–1 in 1994–95 to become the unofficial world champions of Test cricket. The 1996 World Cup
1996 Cricket World Cup
The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...
ended with a defeat in the semi-final, which forced Richie Richardson
Richie Richardson
Richard Benjamin Richardson is a retired West Indies cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team.Richardson was born in Five Islands Village, Antigua. He began his career with the Leewards Islands in 1982 as an opener and after his second season he was called up by the West...
to end his career. The captaincy passed over to Courtney Walsh and then in 1998 to Brian Lara. The West Indies made their first ever official tour to South Africa in 1998–99. It was a disaster, starting with player revolts and ending with a 5–0 defeat. The 1999 World Cup
1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
campaign ended in the group stages. The next year, England won a series against the West Indies for the first time in thirty-one years. The West Indies ended the decade with another 5–0 defeat, this time in Australia.
For most of the 1990s, the West Indian batting lineup was dominated by Brian Lara
Brian Lara
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...
. Lara became a regular in the side after the retirement of Viv Richards in 1991. In 1993–94, he scored 375 against England in Antigua
Antigua Recreation Ground
Antigua Recreation Ground is the national stadium of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located in St. John's, on the island of Antigua. The ground has been used by the West Indies cricket team and Antigua and Barbuda national football team...
, breaking Sobers' world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket. He continued his fine form playing for Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
in the 1994 English County Championship
1994 English cricket season
The 1994 English cricket season saw the emergence of a very strong Warwickshire team who won both the County Championship and the Sunday League.-Honours:*County Championship - Warwickshire*NatWest Trophy - Worcestershire...
, posting seven first-class hundreds in eight innings (including the Test match 375). The last of these was a 501 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
against Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
, which improved upon Hanif Mohammad
Hanif Mohammad
Hanif Mohammad is a former Pakistan cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between 1952/53 and 1969/70 and averaged 43.98, with twelve hundreds....
's thirty-five-year-old record as the highest score in first-class cricket. The West Indian bowling attack was spearheaded by Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose is a former West Indian cricketer. His skill was as a right-arm fast bowler, especially in partnership with Courtney Walsh...
and Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh
Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former international cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches...
, the latter setting a then world record of 519 wickets. However, these two had both retired by 2001, and their successors failed to maintain the high standards that Ambrose and Walsh had set. Despite the emergence of some good batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul is a cricketer, and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean in the West Indies team to play 100 Tests for the West Indies and has captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals...
and Ramnaresh Sarwan
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan is a West Indian cricketer of Indo-Guyanese origin and a member of the West Indies cricket team....
, Brian Lara remained the crucial figure of the side.
After a 2–0 defeat to New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in 1999–00, Lara was replaced as captain by Jimmy Adams
Jimmy Adams
James Clive "Jimmy" Adams is a former Jamaican cricketer, who represented the West Indies as player and captain during his career. He was a steady left-handed batsman, useful left-arm orthodox spin bowler and good fielder, especially in the gully position...
, who initially enjoyed series wins against Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
and Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
. However, a 3–1 defeat to England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
and a 5–0 whitewash by Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
saw him replaced by Carl Hooper
Carl Hooper
Carl Llewellyn Hooper is a former West Indian cricket player and captain.-Career:He was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented...
for the 2000–01 visit by South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
. By the time Lara was restored to the captaincy in 2002–03, series had been lost to South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
, Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
and India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
. The only series win of note was against India (although Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
and Bangladesh
Bangladeshi cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board . Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status...
were also beaten) as the West Indies plummeted to eighth place in the world-rankings, below all the other established Test nations.
After losing the first series of his second captaincy period to world champions Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
, Lara secured success against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
, before another poor run saw 3–0 defeats in 4-Test series against both South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
. In the drawn fourth Test against England, Lara became the only man to regain the world record for highest individual Test score by scoring 400 not out, once again in Antigua, bettering Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
's 380 against Zimbabwe the previous year. The West Indies were then whitewashed 4–0 in England
West Indian cricket team in England in 2004
The West Indies cricket team toured England from 19 June to 31 August 2004. The tour began with 3 One-day matches against county teams, followed by the NatWest Series against England and New Zealand...
. Lara's last act as captain was to win the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy
2004 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the Test nations, together with Kenya, and – making their One Day International debut – the USA, competed in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The...
, a one-day competition second only to the Cricket World Cup, at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, London – a win that was a welcome surprise for the Caribbean which had just been hit by Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...
.
This joy was short-lived as a major dispute broke out in 2005 between the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) and the Cricket Board. The point of contention was clause 5 of the tour contract which gave WICB the sole and exclusive right to arrange for sponsorship, advertising, licensing, merchandising and promotional activities relating to WICB or any WICB Team. Digicel
Digicel
Digicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean...
were the sponsors of the West Indian Team, while most of the players had contracts with Cable & Wireless. This conflict, coupled with a payment dispute meant that the West Indies initially announced a team absent Lara and a number of other leading West Indians for South Africa's visit in 2004–05, leading to Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul is a cricketer, and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean in the West Indies team to play 100 Tests for the West Indies and has captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals...
becoming captain. Some of these players did, in the end, compete. However, the dispute had not been resolved and rumbled on, leading to a second-string side being named for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2005. A resolution did not arise until October 2005, when a full-strength side was finally named for the 2005–06 tour of Australia
West Indian cricket team in Australia in 2005-06
The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in October and November 2005 as part of the 2005-06 Australian cricket season. The West Indian cricket team will be looking to prove that they can perform against the number one rated side in the world...
. It was on this tour that Brian Lara
Brian Lara
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...
overtook Australian
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
Allan Border
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
as the highest run-scorer in Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
cricket, despite the West Indies losing the series 3–0.
World Cup
- 19751975 Cricket World Cup-Group B:-Knockout stage:-Semifinals:In the best World Cup performance to date by a bowler, Gary Gilmour took six wickets as England were bowled all out for 93 , after falling to 37/7...
: Won - 19791979 Cricket World CupThe 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the tournament and was won by the West Indies. It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had remained unchanged from 1975. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4...
: Won - 19831983 Cricket World CupThe 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup was the third edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 June to 25 June 1983 in England and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each...
: Runners up - 19871987 Cricket World CupThe 1987 Cricket World Cup was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from October 8 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan — the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60...
: First round - 19921992 Cricket World Cup-New Zealand:-Round Robin Stage:Co-hosts New Zealand proved the surprise packet of the tournament, winning their first seven games to finish on top of the table after the round robin. The other hosts, Australia, were one of the pre-tournament favourites but lost their first two matches. They...
: 6th place - 19961996 Cricket World CupThe 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...
: Semi Finals - 19991999 Cricket World Cup-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
: First round - 20032003 Cricket World Cup-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
: First round - 20072007 Cricket World CupThe 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
: 6th place
ICC Champions Trophy
- 20022002 ICC Champions Trophy-Semifinals: -Finals: =*Ricky Ponting *Adam Gilchrist *Michael Bevan*Jason Gillespie*Nathan Hauritz*Matthew Hayden*Brett Lee*Darren Lehmann*Jimmy Maher...
: First round - 20042004 ICC Champions TrophyThe 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the Test nations, together with Kenya, and – making their One Day International debut – the USA, competed in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The...
: Won
Bowling attack
The West Indies generally play fast bowlersFast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
more so than spin bowlers
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
. This is partly because the Caribbean pitches tend to be very hard and fast. The West Indian team at any one time will generally consist of four fast bowlers (as opposed to a mixture of fast and spin bowlers). They have on occasion played spin bowlers however, they tend to be batting All-Rounders
Eldine Baptiste
Eldine Ashworth Elderfield Baptiste appeared in 10 Tests and 43 One Day Internationals for the West Indies....
. Examples include Gus Logie
Gus Logie
Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach....
, Carl Hooper
Carl Hooper
Carl Llewellyn Hooper is a former West Indian cricket player and captain.-Career:He was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented...
, etc. One famous example of their "four-pronged" pace attack (as it has been dubbed) was during the 1980s when the attack generally included :
- Malcolm MarshallMalcolm MarshallBy 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings...
(fast bowler) - Joel GarnerJoel GarnerJoel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
(fast) - Patrick PattersonPatrick PattersonBalfour Patrick Patterson is a former fast bowler for the West Indian cricket team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Early life:...
(fast) and - Michael HoldingMichael HoldingMichael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
(fast)
Their current attack includes:
- Fidel EdwardsFidel EdwardsFidel Henderson Edwards is a West Indian cricketer and is the half brother of Pedro Collins. A pace bowler, his slingshot action greatly resembles that of former fast bowling great Jeff Thomson. He bowls fast, can swing the ball and get reverse swing, but insists that he does not go for...
(fast) - Lionel BakerLionel BakerLionel Sionne Baker is a West Indian cricketer who has played first-class cricket for the Leeward Islands. He is the first person from Montserrat to have represented the West Indies at Test cricket.-Personal life:...
(fast medium) - Dwayne BravoDwayne BravoDwayne James John Bravo is a West Indian cricketer. A right-handed pace bowler, Bravo is expected to play a significant role in attempts by the West Indies to return to international prominence in the sport....
(fast medium) and - Jerome TaylorJerome TaylorJerome Everton Taylor is a Jamaican born West Indian cricketer. He led the fast bowling attack comprising Dwayne Bravo, Daren Powell and Ian Bradshaw at the World Cup...
(fast) - Kemar RoachKemar RoachKharab Andre Jamal Roach is a Barbadian cricketer. He played in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka and has represented the West Indies in Test and One Day International cricket...
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See also
- West Indian cricket teamWest Indian cricket teamThe West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
- List of West Indian Test cricketers
- West Indian Test match recordsWest Indian Test match recordsThis page outlines key records relating to the West Indies cricket team.Highest Test innings totalHome 790–3 declared vs. Pakistan Kingston, 1957–58Away 692–8 declared vs. England The Oval, 1995...
- 2007 Cricket World Cup2007 Cricket World CupThe 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
– held in the Caribbean. - West Indian national cricket captainsWest Indian national cricket captainsThis is a list of all men, boys and women who have captained the West Indian cricket team at official international level in at least one match. The West Indies became a full member of the Imperial Cricket Conference on 31 May 1926 at the same time as India and New Zealand were made up to full...
- For coverage of cricket more generally, go to the Cricket portal.
External links
- CaribbeanCricket.com Independent news/discussion site on West Indies cricket