West Indian cricket team in England in 1988
Encyclopedia
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.
England easily won the initial three-match One Day International (ODI) series, retaining the Texaco Trophy
and raising expectations for a successful summer in the five-match Test
series to follow. However, the West Indies comfortably retained the Wisden Trophy
by winning the Test series 4–0. This tour has become known in cricketing circles as the "summer of four captains" as England used four different captains
in the five Test matches.
By the summer of 1988, the West Indies had experienced nearly ten years as the best Test team in world cricket, including a streak of winning 10 of 11 Test series they played from 1980 to 1985–86 (the other was drawn). However, the West Indies side that had enjoyed this considerable recent success was beginning to show signs of ageing. The experienced batsmen Viv Richards
(the captain), Gordon Greenidge
, Jeff Dujon
, and Desmond Haynes
were all coming to the end of their careers, and bowlers Michael Holding
and Joel Garner
had recently retired. As a result, the squad arrived with an unusually inexperienced group of pace bowlers
. Supporting Malcolm Marshall
, a veteran of 53 Tests, were relative newcomers Courtney Walsh
(20 Tests), Patrick Patterson
(11), Winston Benjamin
(4), Curtly Ambrose
(3) and Ian Bishop (0).
The West Indies' most recent series had been a hard-fought 1–1 draw at home against Pakistan, but their previous two Test series against England had both resulted in 5–0 victories. The first of these, in England in 1984
, was the first whitewash
England had suffered since the 1920–21 season when England toured Australia, while the second occurred in the Caribbean
in 1985–86. These two one-sided victories by the West Indies became known as "blackwashes".
, drawing the Bicentennial Test
and losing the only One Day International played, and New Zealand, drawing all three Test matches and sharing the ODIs 2-2. Before this, they had endured a "hostile" and highly controversial tour of Pakistan, during which an argument between captain Mike Gatting
and umpire
Shakoor Rana
had led to a diplomatic incident. The three match series was lost 1-0, but the "teasing, taunting ... bemusing" performance of leg-spinner Abdul Qadir
, who took 30 wicket
s in three Tests, was unlikely to be repeated, given that the West Indies' only specialist spinner was Roger Harper
, an off-break bowler.
Despite having lost 5–0 to the West Indies in each of the two most recent series, England had grounds for optimism leading up to the Test series: the West Indian team was ageing and lacked a leg-spinner; and the England team had home advantage. England's morale was also surging following good performances in the shorter form of the game: the team had reached the World Cup Final
the previous year, losing to Australia, and were expected to do well in One Day International cricket, even against the West Indies.
The notability of there being four captains in just five Test matches can better be understood with context. The captain of a cricket team
performs a vital role. Unlike many other team sports, the captain makes crucial decisions regarding on-field tactics, and may also have an important say in team selection. Traditionally, captains of international teams are not changed frequently - for example, between 1977 and 1988 (comprising 104 Test matches), only seven different men
captained England, yet there were four captains in just a few weeks in the summer of 1988.
The many changes of captain over the summer reflected uncertainty in the English cricketing establishment as to how to respond to the drubbing the team was receiving from the West Indies; the selectors "did not seem to know where to turn, either for a new captain or for a settled team".
The England team had not suffered such uncertainty since the West Indies tour of England in 1966
, where the selector
s chose 23 different players and three different captains (Colin Cowdrey
, M. J. K. Smith and Brian Close
) and England lost the five-Test series 3–1. Notably, Peter May was on the Board of Selectors for the 1966 series, while he was Chairman of the Board of Selectors for the 1988 series.
, Phil DeFreitas and Derek Pringle
throughout and good batting performances from Mike Gatting
in the First (82*
) and Third (40*) ODIs. England retained the Texaco Trophy
.
The ODIs were followed by five Test matches. The First Test was drawn, and the remaining four Tests were all won convincingly by the West Indies.
The West Indies played 11 first-class matches
, in addition to the five Tests,
defeating Somerset
in May and Kent
in June. The other nine first-class matches, and the First Test, were all drawn:
Sussex
,
Gloucestershire
,
Worcestershire
,
Lancashire
,
Northamptonshire
,
Leicestershire
,
Glamorgan
,
Nottinghamshire
,
and Essex
. During the match against Gloucestershire at Bristol
, immediately after the ODI series, Phil Simmons
suffered a horrific injury, receiving a ball to the head from bowler David Lawrence
. Not wearing a helmet, the blow caused his heart to stop and he had to be taken to hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery. He missed the rest of the tour, but made a full recovery in time for the 1991 West Indies tour of England
.
In addition to the One Day Internationals, there were four other non first-class fixtures. West Indies beat Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk's XI
in a 40-over match, Hampshire
in a 50-over match and a combined Oxford
and Cambridge
Universities team over three days; they also drew with Minor Counties in a two-day match.
was the incumbent England captain for the First Test, at Trent Bridge
. The result was a draw, with Graham Gooch
and David Gower
helping England to save the game from a position of weakness, after conceding a sizeable first-innings lead to the West Indies.
England won the toss and declined from 125-0 to 245 all out, the last five wickets tumbling for just 22 runs. Malcolm Marshall
and Curtly Ambrose
took all ten wickets between them. The West Indies racked up 448-9 despite no batsman reaching a century. England had a chance to get back into the match, but from 334-7, the unheralded batting of Marshall (72) and Ambrose (43*) took the tourists into a position of dominance.
The West Indian surge for victory was frustrated by the weather, which periodically interrupted the match throughout, and by an obdurate partnership of 161 between Gooch (146) and Gower (88*).
Before the Second Test, Gatting was sacked for an alleged off-field indiscretion with a barmaid
. The tabloid media made allegations of "shenanigans" in his room; he "admitted taking ... [her] into his room but denied anything untoward had happened". During the previous winter, Gatting had been involved in a notorious on-field altercation with umpire Shakoor Rana
in Pakistan
that snowballed into a diplomatic disaster with the third day of the second test in Faisalabad
being abandoned and accusations of cheating. His recently published autobiography Leading From The Front "...was banned in all shops on county grounds. Gatting was good enough to lead Middlesex and England, but spectators couldn't buy his book at Lord's". The new allegations may simply have been the last straw.
This proved to be Gatting's last match as captain. He had captained England in 23 Test matches since taking charge against India
in 1986, but won only two.
colleague John Emburey
. Gatting was also dropped from the team, replaced by Yorkshire's
Martyn Moxon
. Phil DeFreitas was also replaced, by Gladstone Small
, but the tourists were unchanged.
England began the Second Test with an inspired fiery burst of fast bowling by Graham Dilley
, who took four of the first five wickets to fall to reduce the West Indies to 54-5. At lunch on the first day, Dilley had figures of 4-35, and "he would have taken five had Pringle
at first slip
caught Logie
when he was 10".
The missed chance was to prove costly. The pattern established in the first Test recurred, as England let the West Indies recover, with Gus Logie
and Jeff Dujon
scoring 81 and 53 as the team passed 200.
In England's first innings, the West Indian pace attack found little resistance after they had dismissed Gooch and Gower. Marshall was again to the fore, with six wickets, and West Indies secured a precious first-innings lead of 44 runs.
The touring batsmen then enjoyed the Lord's conditions, reaching 397 in their second innings, with sizable contributions from Greenidge (103), Richards (72), Dujon (52) and Logie again, this time with an unbeaten 95, a match performance that secured him the award of Man of the match
.
England never seriously threatened to reach the victory target of 442 runs, which would have comfortably broken the world record for a fourth-innings run chase. Allan Lamb
added to his reputation for mastering fast bowling with a defiant 113, but it was sizable contributions from the tail and extras
that took England to a respectable total of 307 - but a bad defeat by 134 runs.
The third Test changed the pattern of the summer. England were "unable to cope for any length of time with the West Indian fast bowlers" and never gave even a sign of competing in a one-sided affair.
The England team had a different look, with four changes to the team. Essex
36 year-old off-spinner John Childs
made his debut, the oldest England debutant for 40 years. Childs joined the recalled Gatting and DeFreitas, and newcomer David Capel
. Small and Paul Jarvis
were both left out due to injury, and Derek Pringle
was dropped, but the most media attention focused on Chris Broad
, who was also dropped, "ostensibly for his consistent failure to make runs in home Tests, but there was always a suspicion that he was being disciplined for the incident at Lord's when he was spotted by a television camera mouthing his disappointment at an lbw decision".
For West Indies, Desmond Haynes
was unfit, ending a run of 72 consecutive caps. He was replaced by the spinner Roger Harper
, and Patrick Patterson
was replaced by Winston Benjamin
.
No batsman scored more than 33 in England's first innings, as the four quick bowlers shared cheap wickets. In reply, West Indies piled up 384-7, again without a century, in a team effort down to and including man-of-the-match Marshall, who scored 43* batting at number eight.
Needing 249 to make West Indies bat again, England were dismissed for just 93, Marshall finishing with magnificent figures of 15.4-5-22-7, the best of his Test career. Extras
were the third highest scorer, with 12.
With such a huge margin of victory and such a poor performance, England (and Emburey) were strongly criticised. After being bowled out for just 93 runs, and a personally very unsuccessful match (no wickets as a bowler, and scoring just 1 and 8 runs as a batsman), Emburey was sacked as England captain and dropped from the team.
was the son of Colin Cowdrey
, an England captain in the 1960s and later given a knighthood and then life peer
age for his services to the sport; Chris Cowdrey was also godson
of the chairman of selectors, Peter May. Cowdrey was a successful captain of Kent
in county cricket
, but had played just five Tests previously, during the 1984–85 tour to India
, captained by David Gower
. He became only the second son to follow his father as captain of the England cricket team, after George Mann in the 1940s followed Frank Mann in the 1920s.
The England side was thoroughly shaken-up following the debacle in the Third Test at Old Trafford. The selectors tried to turn things around with seven new faces in the team, the most extensive change of an England XI during a Test series since seven players were changed for the 1921 Ashes
Tests against Australia at Lord's and Headingley (when only JWHT Douglas, Ciss Parkin
, Lionel Tennyson and Frank Woolley
were retained, and Tennyson replaced Douglas as captain). As well as Cowdrey replacing Emburey, the selectors also dropped Paul Downton
, Martyn Moxon, Mike Gatting, David Capel, Phil Defreitas and John Childs in favour of Derek Pringle, Neil Foster
, Bill Athey
, and Jack Richards
, with Tim Curtis
and Robin Smith
making their Test debuts.
Apart from Pringle, who played in the First and Second Tests, none of the six new selections had played in the series so far, but the match followed the old pattern, as the England batting again failed twice against the hostile West Indies pace attack. The side fell to a relatively facile defeat against a West Indies team whose own batsmen failed to dominate; they had no need. Curtly Ambrose secured his first man-of-the-match award for taking seven wickets at a cost of 98 runs.
An all-rounder
with a moderate first class record (averaging 32 with the bat and 40 with the ball), Cowdrey's debut as captain in the Fourth Test at Headingley was a disaster. He scored 0 and 5 and took no wickets, as England were crushed by 10 wickets, West Indies again winning at a canter. Worse for Cowdrey, he suffered a minor injury in a county match and was persuaded to step aside for the Fifth Test. He never played for England again.
, stalwart opening batsman, as their fourth captain of the series, for the Fifth Test at The Oval
. England also replaced Cowdrey with DeFreitas, dropped Gower for Matthew Maynard
, and replaced the injured Allan Lamb
with Rob Bailey, a recall and two Test debuts respectively. The tourists replaced the youngster Keith Arthurton
with Greenidge, who had recovered from an injury.
England won the toss and the new captain received the first ball, but Gooch was soon out with the score on only 12. Some solid top-order play followed, with Curtis (30), Bailey (43) and Smith (57) all making starts but getting out when well set. From 120-3, England lost their remaining wickets for 85, but that is perhaps less surprising than the fact that off-spinner Roger Harper took three of them. A lion-hearted response by the England bowlers, led by Neil Foster (5-64), gave England a chance of a rare win, as the West Indies were dismissed for 183, giving the England team their first first-innings lead of the series, 22 runs ahead.
In England's second innings, Gooch played a lone hand. With the exception of Foster (34), promoted as nightwatchman
at the end of day two, no-one else passed 15. When Gooch was last man out for 84 on the third day, England had compiled 202. The England bowlers managed to restrain the West Indian batsmen, Childs notably bowling 40 overs for just 79 runs, but, with more than 2 days left to play, there was little pressure on the West Indies, and they strolled to victory in 91 overs, losing just two wickets, with more than a day to spare.
, against Sri Lanka
at Lord's later in 1988, in which he achieved his first victory as captain. England did not tour that winter, and David Gower
returned to the captaincy for the 6-match Ashes series
at home against Australia
in the summer of 1989
. England lost 4–0, bringing Gower's long captaincy career to a close.
Gooch took over again as England captain for the tour to West Indies in the winter of 1989–90, winning one Test and drawing another before injury forced him out of the team. He was replaced temporarily as captain by Allan Lamb
, who lost both of his matches in charge. Gooch went on to captain England the following summer, remaining in that position almost exclusively until 1993 and bringing England a degree of success that they had not experienced for almost a decade. For much of this period, he was also rated as one of the world's leading batsmen.
The West Indies team's next opposition was Australia where the team enjoyed a 3–1 Test series win
on foreign soil. "The West Indians made a slow start to their tour, losing twice to Western Australia
before running into form ... So effectively, at times irresistibly, did Vivian Richards's West Indian side play in the first three Test matches in Australia that by the New Year they had already retained the Frank Worrell Trophy
."
The West Indies went on to record further Test series victories in the next two years, defeating India
3–0 in a four-Test series in the Caribbean in 1988–89, and narrowly beating England once again in the Caribbean in 1989–90. However, the team's long period of pre-eminence was coming to an end. Their 2–1 home defeat by Australia in 1994-95 saw the West Indies relinquish the mantle as the World's best Test cricket side to their visitors, and by the time that the International Cricket Council
launched the official Test rankings in 2001, the West Indies were rated as the sixth best team in the world.
The following players represented West Indies on the 1988 tour of England:
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
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...
matches in England in 1988, under the captaincy
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
of 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...
. The West Indies enjoyed tremendous success during the tour, while England endured a "disastrous summer" of continuous change.
England easily won the initial three-match One Day International (ODI) series, retaining the Texaco Trophy
Texaco Trophy
The Texaco Trophy was the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England from 1984 until 1998.The series were sponsored by American oil company Texaco replacing the previous sponsorship by Prudential...
and raising expectations for a successful summer in the five-match 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...
series to follow. However, the West Indies comfortably retained the Wisden Trophy
Wisden Trophy
The Wisden Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Test cricket series played between England and the West Indies. It was first awarded in 1963 to commemorate the hundredth edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Series are played in accordance with the International Cricket Council's future tours...
by winning the Test series 4–0. This tour has become known in cricketing circles as the "summer of four captains" as England used four different captains
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...
in the five Test matches.
West Indian cricket team
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...
(the captain), 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...
, Jeff Dujon
Jeff 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....
, and Desmond Haynes
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of...
were all coming to the end of their careers, and bowlers 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 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....
had recently retired. As a result, the squad arrived with an unusually inexperienced group of pace bowlers
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...
. Supporting 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...
, a veteran of 53 Tests, were relative newcomers 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...
(20 Tests), 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:...
(11), 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...
(4), 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...
(3) and Ian Bishop (0).
The West Indies' most recent series had been a hard-fought 1–1 draw at home against Pakistan, but their previous two Test series against England had both resulted in 5–0 victories. The first of these, in England in 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...
, was the first whitewash
Whitewash (sport)
A whitewash is an informal term in sport describing a game or series in which the losing person or team fails to score.A whitewash may be in a single game where the loser fails to score any points or goals, or in a series where the loser fails to win a game...
England had suffered since the 1920–21 season when England toured Australia, while the second occurred in the 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...
in 1985–86. These two one-sided victories by the West Indies became known as "blackwashes".
English cricket team
By contrast, the English team had suffered a run of bad performances spanning several years, winning only seven of their previous 52 Tests. The England side had most recently toured AustraliaEnglish cricket team in Australia in 1987-88
The England cricket team toured Australia in the 1987–88 season and played one Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which was drawn and a one day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that Australia won....
, drawing the Bicentennial Test
Bicentennial Test
The Bicentennial Test was a single Test cricket match played between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in celebration of the bicentenary of permanent white settlement in Australia. The match took place from 29 January to 2 February 1988 and was drawn...
and losing the only One Day International played, and New Zealand, drawing all three Test matches and sharing the ODIs 2-2. Before this, they had endured a "hostile" and highly controversial tour of Pakistan, during which an argument between captain Mike Gatting
Mike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...
and umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
Shakoor Rana
Shakoor Rana
Shakoor Rana was a Pakistani cricketer and umpire-Playing career:Shakoor Rana did not have a particularly distinguished playing career, making only 11 first class appearances and accumulating just 226 runs and 12 wickets...
had led to a diplomatic incident. The three match series was lost 1-0, but the "teasing, taunting ... bemusing" performance of leg-spinner Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir (cricketer)
Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer, later commentator and was recently the Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Board. He resigned from the post because of his differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket board...
, who took 30 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 in three Tests, was unlikely to be repeated, given that the West Indies' only specialist spinner was 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...
, an off-break bowler.
Despite having lost 5–0 to the West Indies in each of the two most recent series, England had grounds for optimism leading up to the Test series: the West Indian team was ageing and lacked a leg-spinner; and the England team had home advantage. England's morale was also surging following good performances in the shorter form of the game: the team had reached the World Cup Final
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...
the previous year, losing to Australia, and were expected to do well in One Day International cricket, even against the West Indies.
England's "summer of four captains"
As the series unfolded, England were dominated by the West Indians in "the crazy summer of 1988". Wisden was moved to comment "The morale and reputation of English cricket has seldom been as severely bruised as it was during the 1988 Cornhill Insurance Test series against West Indies".The notability of there being four captains in just five Test matches can better be understood with context. The captain of a cricket team
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
performs a vital role. Unlike many other team sports, the captain makes crucial decisions regarding on-field tactics, and may also have an important say in team selection. Traditionally, captains of international teams are not changed frequently - for example, between 1977 and 1988 (comprising 104 Test matches), only seven different men
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...
captained England, yet there were four captains in just a few weeks in the summer of 1988.
| Captained | Name | Age | County | Tests as captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Test | Mike Gatting Mike Gatting Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988... |
31 | Middlesex Middlesex 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... |
23 |
| Second Test Third Test |
John Emburey John Emburey John Ernest Emburey is a former English cricketer, who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England.... |
36 | Middlesex Middlesex 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... |
2 |
| Fourth Test | Chris Cowdrey Chris Cowdrey Christopher Stuart "Chris" Cowdrey is an English former cricketer. Cowdrey played for Kent, Glamorgan and England as an all-rounder... |
30 | Kent Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent... |
1 |
| Fifth Test | Graham Gooch Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs... |
35 | Essex Essex County Cricket Club Essex 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 Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games... |
34 |
The many changes of captain over the summer reflected uncertainty in the English cricketing establishment as to how to respond to the drubbing the team was receiving from the West Indies; the selectors "did not seem to know where to turn, either for a new captain or for a settled team".
The England team had not suffered such uncertainty since the West Indies tour of England in 1966
West Indian cricket team in England in 1966
The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1966 season to play a five-match Test series against England. West Indies won the series 3-1 with one match drawn....
, where the selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
s chose 23 different players and three different captains (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...
, M. J. K. Smith and Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
) and England lost the five-Test series 3–1. Notably, Peter May was on the Board of Selectors for the 1966 series, while he was Chairman of the Board of Selectors for the 1988 series.
Statistical summary
Before the Test series began, the West Indian cricket team played three One Day Internationals against England in May 1988. All of the ODIs were won by England, largely thanks to disciplined, economical bowling by Gladstone SmallGladstone Small
Gladstone Cleophas Small is an English former cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and fifty three ODIs for England....
, Phil DeFreitas and Derek Pringle
Derek Pringle
Derek Raymond Pringle is an English former Test and ODI cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.He was educated at Felsted School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.-Life and career:...
throughout and good batting performances from Mike Gatting
Mike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...
in the First (82*
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...
) and Third (40*) ODIs. England retained the Texaco Trophy
Texaco Trophy
The Texaco Trophy was the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England from 1984 until 1998.The series were sponsored by American oil company Texaco replacing the previous sponsorship by Prudential...
.
| ODI | Ground | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Edgbaston Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England... |
England won by 6 wickets | 19 May | Scorecard |
| Second | Headingley | England won by 47 runs | 21 May | Scorecard |
| Third | Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
England won by 7 wickets | 23 May, 24 May | Scorecard |
The ODIs were followed by five Test matches. The First Test was drawn, and the remaining four Tests were all won convincingly by the West Indies.
| Test | Ground | Result | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of... |
Match drawn | 2 June – 7 June | Scorecard |
| Second | Lord's | West Indies won by 134 runs | 16 June – 21 June | Scorecard |
| Third | Old Trafford | West Indies won by an innings and 156 runs | 30 June – 5 July | Scorecard |
| Fourth | Headingley | West Indies won by ten wickets | 21 July – 26 July | Scorecard |
| Fifth | 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... |
West Indies won by eight wickets | 4 August – 8 August | Scorecard |
The West Indies played 11 first-class matches
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, in addition to the five Tests,
defeating Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset 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 Somerset...
in May and Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
in June. The other nine first-class matches, and the First Test, were all drawn:
Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire 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 Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire 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 Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
,
Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire 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 Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
,
and Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex 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 Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
. During the match against Gloucestershire at Bristol
County Cricket Ground, Bristol
The County Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in Bristol, England. It is in the district of Ashley Down. The ground is home to the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club....
, immediately after the ODI series, 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:...
suffered a horrific injury, receiving a ball to the head from bowler David Lawrence
David Lawrence (cricketer)
David Valentine Lawrence is a former English cricketer, who played in five Tests and one ODI for England from 1988 to 1992....
. Not wearing a helmet, the blow caused his heart to stop and he had to be taken to hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery. He missed the rest of the tour, but made a full recovery in time for the 1991 West Indies tour of England
West Indian cricket team in England in 1991
The West Indian cricket team in England in 1991 played three one day internationals and five Tests.The test series was drawn 2-2.* – England won by 115 runs* – match drawn...
.
In addition to the One Day Internationals, there were four other non first-class fixtures. West Indies beat Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk's XI
Duke of Norfolk's XI
The Duke of Norfolk's XI is a scratch cricket team. It was originally named for the 16th Duke, but following his death in 1975 the team played on in his widow's name as Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk's XI...
in a 40-over match, 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...
in a 50-over match and a combined Oxford
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
and Cambridge
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
Universities team over three days; they also drew with Minor Counties in a two-day match.
First Test
Mike GattingMike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...
was the incumbent England captain for the First Test, at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
. The result was a draw, with Graham Gooch
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
and David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
helping England to save the game from a position of weakness, after conceding a sizeable first-innings lead to the West Indies.
England won the toss and declined from 125-0 to 245 all out, the last five wickets tumbling for just 22 runs. 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...
and 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...
took all ten wickets between them. The West Indies racked up 448-9 despite no batsman reaching a century. England had a chance to get back into the match, but from 334-7, the unheralded batting of Marshall (72) and Ambrose (43*) took the tourists into a position of dominance.
The West Indian surge for victory was frustrated by the weather, which periodically interrupted the match throughout, and by an obdurate partnership of 161 between Gooch (146) and Gower (88*).
Before the Second Test, Gatting was sacked for an alleged off-field indiscretion with a barmaid
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
. The tabloid media made allegations of "shenanigans" in his room; he "admitted taking ... [her] into his room but denied anything untoward had happened". During the previous winter, Gatting had been involved in a notorious on-field altercation with umpire Shakoor Rana
Shakoor Rana
Shakoor Rana was a Pakistani cricketer and umpire-Playing career:Shakoor Rana did not have a particularly distinguished playing career, making only 11 first class appearances and accumulating just 226 runs and 12 wickets...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
that snowballed into a diplomatic disaster with the third day of the second test in Faisalabad
Iqbal Stadium
Iqbal Stadium is a Test cricket ground in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Previous names for the ground include Lyallpur Stadium, National Stadium, and City Stadium. The current name honours Pakistani poet Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Capacity is 25,000. It has hosted 25 Test matches and 14 One Day...
being abandoned and accusations of cheating. His recently published autobiography Leading From The Front "...was banned in all shops on county grounds. Gatting was good enough to lead Middlesex and England, but spectators couldn't buy his book at Lord's". The new allegations may simply have been the last straw.
This proved to be Gatting's last match as captain. He had captained England in 23 Test matches since taking charge against 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 1986, but won only two.
Second Test
Gatting was replaced as England captain by his 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...
colleague John Emburey
John Emburey
John Ernest Emburey is a former English cricketer, who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England....
. Gatting was also dropped from the team, replaced by Yorkshire's
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
Martyn Moxon
Martyn Moxon
Martyn Douglas Moxon is a former English cricketer, who played ten Tests and eight One Day Internationals for England and appeared for Yorkshire for 17 seasons from 1981 to 1997...
. Phil DeFreitas was also replaced, by Gladstone Small
Gladstone Small
Gladstone Cleophas Small is an English former cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and fifty three ODIs for England....
, but the tourists were unchanged.
England began the Second Test with an inspired fiery burst of fast bowling by Graham Dilley
Graham Dilley
Graham Roy Dilley was an English cricketer, whose main role was as a fast bowler. He played first-class cricket for Kent and Worcestershire, and appeared in 41 test matches and 36 ODIs for England...
, who took four of the first five wickets to fall to reduce the West Indies to 54-5. At lunch on the first day, Dilley had figures of 4-35, and "he would have taken five had Pringle
Derek Pringle
Derek Raymond Pringle is an English former Test and ODI cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.He was educated at Felsted School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.-Life and career:...
at first slip
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
caught Logie
Gus Logie
Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach....
when he was 10".
The missed chance was to prove costly. The pattern established in the first Test recurred, as England let the West Indies recover, with Gus Logie
Gus Logie
Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach....
and Jeff Dujon
Jeff 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....
scoring 81 and 53 as the team passed 200.
In England's first innings, the West Indian pace attack found little resistance after they had dismissed Gooch and Gower. Marshall was again to the fore, with six wickets, and West Indies secured a precious first-innings lead of 44 runs.
The touring batsmen then enjoyed the Lord's conditions, reaching 397 in their second innings, with sizable contributions from Greenidge (103), Richards (72), Dujon (52) and Logie again, this time with an unbeaten 95, a match performance that secured him the award of Man of the match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
.
England never seriously threatened to reach the victory target of 442 runs, which would have comfortably broken the world record for a fourth-innings run chase. Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb
Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
added to his reputation for mastering fast bowling with a defiant 113, but it was sizable contributions from the tail and extras
Extra (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an extra is a run scored by a means other than a batsman hitting the ball.Other than runs scored off the bat from a no ball, a batsman is not given credit for extras and the extras are tallied separately on the scorecard and count only towards the team's score...
that took England to a respectable total of 307 - but a bad defeat by 134 runs.
Third Test
The England team had a different look, with four changes to the team. Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex 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 Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
36 year-old off-spinner John Childs
John Childs (cricketer)
John Henry Childs is a former English cricketer who played in two Tests for England in 1988. At the age of 36 years 320 days, Childs became the oldest player since Dick Howorth in 1947 to make his England debut...
made his debut, the oldest England debutant for 40 years. Childs joined the recalled Gatting and DeFreitas, and newcomer David Capel
David Capel
David Capel is a former English cricketer, who played for Northamptonshire and England...
. Small and Paul Jarvis
Paul Jarvis
Paul William Jarvis is a former English cricketer, who played in nine Tests and sixteen ODIs for England from 1988 to 1993....
were both left out due to injury, and Derek Pringle
Derek Pringle
Derek Raymond Pringle is an English former Test and ODI cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.He was educated at Felsted School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.-Life and career:...
was dropped, but the most media attention focused on Chris Broad
Chris Broad
Brian Christopher Broad, usually known as Chris Broad is a former England Test cricketer and current Test official. An opening batsman, Broad had a 25-match long international Test career during which he hit six centuries, together with 34 One Day International matches with a respectable over 40...
, who was also dropped, "ostensibly for his consistent failure to make runs in home Tests, but there was always a suspicion that he was being disciplined for the incident at Lord's when he was spotted by a television camera mouthing his disappointment at an lbw decision".
For West Indies, Desmond Haynes
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of...
was unfit, ending a run of 72 consecutive caps. He was replaced by the spinner 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...
, and 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 replaced by 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...
.
No batsman scored more than 33 in England's first innings, as the four quick bowlers shared cheap wickets. In reply, West Indies piled up 384-7, again without a century, in a team effort down to and including man-of-the-match Marshall, who scored 43* batting at number eight.
Needing 249 to make West Indies bat again, England were dismissed for just 93, Marshall finishing with magnificent figures of 15.4-5-22-7, the best of his Test career. Extras
Extra (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an extra is a run scored by a means other than a batsman hitting the ball.Other than runs scored off the bat from a no ball, a batsman is not given credit for extras and the extras are tallied separately on the scorecard and count only towards the team's score...
were the third highest scorer, with 12.
With such a huge margin of victory and such a poor performance, England (and Emburey) were strongly criticised. After being bowled out for just 93 runs, and a personally very unsuccessful match (no wickets as a bowler, and scoring just 1 and 8 runs as a batsman), Emburey was sacked as England captain and dropped from the team.
Fourth Test
The England selectors surprised the cricket public with their new appointment as captain, selecting a player who many believed owed his appointment more to his father than his own ability. Chris CowdreyChris Cowdrey
Christopher Stuart "Chris" Cowdrey is an English former cricketer. Cowdrey played for Kent, Glamorgan and England as an all-rounder...
was the son of 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...
, an England captain in the 1960s and later given a knighthood and then life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
age for his services to the sport; Chris Cowdrey was also godson
Godson
Loongson is a family of general-purpose MIPS-compatible CPUs developed at the Institute of Computing Technology , Chinese Academy of Sciences in the People's Republic of China. The chief architect is Professor Hu Weiwu....
of the chairman of selectors, Peter May. Cowdrey was a successful captain of Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
in county cricket
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:...
, but had played just five Tests previously, during the 1984–85 tour to India
English cricket team in India in 1984-85
The England national cricket team toured India in 1984-85, playing a five-match Test series versus India.* at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay – India won by 8 wickets* at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi – England won by 8 wickets...
, captained by David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
. He became only the second son to follow his father as captain of the England cricket team, after George Mann in the 1940s followed Frank Mann in the 1920s.
The England side was thoroughly shaken-up following the debacle in the Third Test at Old Trafford. The selectors tried to turn things around with seven new faces in the team, the most extensive change of an England XI during a Test series since seven players were changed for the 1921 Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
Tests against Australia at Lord's and Headingley (when only JWHT Douglas, Ciss Parkin
Ciss Parkin
Cecil Harry "Cec" Parkin was an English cricketer who played in 10 Tests from 1920 to 1924 and 157 games for Lancashire County Cricket Club....
, Lionel Tennyson and Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
were retained, and Tennyson replaced Douglas as captain). As well as Cowdrey replacing Emburey, the selectors also dropped Paul Downton
Paul Downton
Paul Downton is a former English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty eight ODIs from 1977 to 1989. He was a wicket-keeper and a useful batsman in the lower middle-order...
, Martyn Moxon, Mike Gatting, David Capel, Phil Defreitas and John Childs in favour of Derek Pringle, Neil Foster
Neil Foster
Neil Foster and educated at Philip Morant Comprehensive, Colchester, is a former English cricketer, who played in twenty nine Tests and forty eight ODIs for England from 1983 to 1993. He played for Essex from 1980 to 1993, earning his county cap in 1983...
, Bill Athey
Bill Athey
Charles William Jeffrey Athey was an English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcestershire. His bulldog spirit was exemplified by the Union Jack tattooed on his arm...
, and Jack Richards
Jack Richards
Jack Richards is an English former cricketer, who played in eight Tests and twenty two ODIs for England from 1981 to 1988...
, with Tim Curtis
Tim Curtis
Tim Curtis is a former England cricketer. A right-handed batsman, Curtis was a prolific scorer for Worcestershire and county captain between 1992 and 1995...
and Robin Smith
Robin Smith (cricketer)
Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long...
making their Test debuts.
Apart from Pringle, who played in the First and Second Tests, none of the six new selections had played in the series so far, but the match followed the old pattern, as the England batting again failed twice against the hostile West Indies pace attack. The side fell to a relatively facile defeat against a West Indies team whose own batsmen failed to dominate; they had no need. Curtly Ambrose secured his first man-of-the-match award for taking seven wickets at a cost of 98 runs.
An all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
with a moderate first class record (averaging 32 with the bat and 40 with the ball), Cowdrey's debut as captain in the Fourth Test at Headingley was a disaster. He scored 0 and 5 and took no wickets, as England were crushed by 10 wickets, West Indies again winning at a canter. Worse for Cowdrey, he suffered a minor injury in a county match and was persuaded to step aside for the Fifth Test. He never played for England again.
Fifth Test
In desperation, the England selectors turned to 35-year-old Graham GoochGraham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
, stalwart opening batsman, as their fourth captain of the series, for the Fifth Test 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...
. England also replaced Cowdrey with DeFreitas, dropped Gower for Matthew Maynard
Matthew Maynard
Matthew Maynard is an English former cricketer. He played in four Tests and fourteen ODIs for England....
, and replaced the injured Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb
Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
with Rob Bailey, a recall and two Test debuts respectively. The tourists replaced the youngster 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...
with Greenidge, who had recovered from an injury.
England won the toss and the new captain received the first ball, but Gooch was soon out with the score on only 12. Some solid top-order play followed, with Curtis (30), Bailey (43) and Smith (57) all making starts but getting out when well set. From 120-3, England lost their remaining wickets for 85, but that is perhaps less surprising than the fact that off-spinner Roger Harper took three of them. A lion-hearted response by the England bowlers, led by Neil Foster (5-64), gave England a chance of a rare win, as the West Indies were dismissed for 183, giving the England team their first first-innings lead of the series, 22 runs ahead.
In England's second innings, Gooch played a lone hand. With the exception of Foster (34), promoted as nightwatchman
Nightwatchman (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play...
at the end of day two, no-one else passed 15. When Gooch was last man out for 84 on the third day, England had compiled 202. The England bowlers managed to restrain the West Indian batsmen, Childs notably bowling 40 overs for just 79 runs, but, with more than 2 days left to play, there was little pressure on the West Indies, and they strolled to victory in 91 overs, losing just two wickets, with more than a day to spare.
Aftermath
Gooch had enjoyed a successful series against West Indies as a batsman, and remained in charge for England's next matchSri Lankan cricket team in England in 1988
The Sri Lanka cricket team toured England in the 1988 season to play a one-match Test series against England.England won the series 1-0.-Test series summary:* at Lord's – England won by 7 wickets-External sources:* -Annual reviews:...
, 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...
at Lord's later in 1988, in which he achieved his first victory as captain. England did not tour that winter, and David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
returned to the captaincy for the 6-match Ashes series
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
at home 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...
in the summer of 1989
Australian cricket team in England in 1989
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1989 season to play a six-match Test series against England. The tour also included matches in Wales, Scotland, the Netherlands and Denmark.Australia won the series 4-0 with two matches drawn...
. England lost 4–0, bringing Gower's long captaincy career to a close.
Gooch took over again as England captain for the tour to West Indies in the winter of 1989–90, winning one Test and drawing another before injury forced him out of the team. He was replaced temporarily as captain by Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb
Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
, who lost both of his matches in charge. Gooch went on to captain England the following summer, remaining in that position almost exclusively until 1993 and bringing England a degree of success that they had not experienced for almost a decade. For much of this period, he was also rated as one of the world's leading batsmen.
The West Indies team's next opposition was Australia where the team enjoyed a 3–1 Test series win
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...
on foreign soil. "The West Indians made a slow start to their tour, losing twice to Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
before running into form ... So effectively, at times irresistibly, did Vivian Richards's West Indian side play in the first three Test matches in Australia that by the New Year they had already retained 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...
."
The West Indies went on to record further Test series victories in the next two years, defeating 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....
3–0 in a four-Test series in the Caribbean in 1988–89, and narrowly beating England once again in the Caribbean in 1989–90. However, the team's long period of pre-eminence was coming to an end. Their 2–1 home defeat by Australia in 1994-95 saw the West Indies relinquish the mantle as the World's best Test cricket side to their visitors, and by the time that the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
launched the official Test rankings in 2001, the West Indies were rated as the sixth best team in the world.
Squads
The following players represented England in at least one Test or One-day International during the 1988 tour:  |
England squad - West Indian cricket team in England in 1988 | |
|---|---|---|
1 MW Gatting Mike Gatting Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988... *1 2 CWJ Athey Bill Athey Charles William Jeffrey Athey was an English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcestershire. His bulldog spirit was exemplified by the Union Jack tattooed on his arm... 3 RJ Bailey 4 BC Broad Chris Broad Brian Christopher Broad, usually known as Chris Broad is a former England Test cricketer and current Test official. An opening batsman, Broad had a 25-match long international Test career during which he hit six centuries, together with 34 One Day International matches with a respectable over 40... 5 DJ Capel David Capel David Capel is a former English cricketer, who played for Northamptonshire and England... 6 CS Cowdrey Chris Cowdrey Christopher Stuart "Chris" Cowdrey is an English former cricketer. Cowdrey played for Kent, Glamorgan and England as an all-rounder... *3 7 JH Childs John Childs (cricketer) John Henry Childs is a former English cricketer who played in two Tests for England in 1988. At the age of 36 years 320 days, Childs became the oldest player since Dick Howorth in 1947 to make his England debut... 8 TS Curtis Tim Curtis Tim Curtis is a former England cricketer. A right-handed batsman, Curtis was a prolific scorer for Worcestershire and county captain between 1992 and 1995... 9 PAJ DeFreitas 10 GR Dilley Graham Dilley Graham Roy Dilley was an English cricketer, whose main role was as a fast bowler. He played first-class cricket for Kent and Worcestershire, and appeared in 41 test matches and 36 ODIs for England... 11 PR Downton Paul Downton Paul Downton is a former English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty eight ODIs from 1977 to 1989. He was a wicket-keeper and a useful batsman in the lower middle-order... † 12 JE Emburey John Emburey John Ernest Emburey is a former English cricketer, who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England.... *2 13 NA Foster Neil Foster Neil Foster and educated at Philip Morant Comprehensive, Colchester, is a former English cricketer, who played in twenty nine Tests and forty eight ODIs for England from 1983 to 1993. He played for Essex from 1980 to 1993, earning his county cap in 1983... 14 GA Gooch Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs... *4 15 DI Gower David Gower David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test... 16 PW Jarvis Paul Jarvis Paul William Jarvis is a former English cricketer, who played in nine Tests and sixteen ODIs for England from 1988 to 1993.... 17 AJ Lamb Allan Lamb Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player... 18 MA Lynch Monte Lynch Monte Lynch is a former cricketer who played for Surrey and Gloucestershire, and played in three One Day Internationals for England in 1988, but was never picked again. He was a hard-hitting batsman, an occasional off-spin bowler and a fine slip fielder... 19 MP Maynard Matthew Maynard Matthew Maynard is an English former cricketer. He played in four Tests and fourteen ODIs for England.... 20 MD Moxon Martyn Moxon Martyn Douglas Moxon is a former English cricketer, who played ten Tests and eight One Day Internationals for England and appeared for Yorkshire for 17 seasons from 1981 to 1997... 21 DR Pringle Derek Pringle Derek Raymond Pringle is an English former Test and ODI cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.He was educated at Felsted School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.-Life and career:... 22 NV Radford Neal Radford Neal Victor Radford Neal Victor Radford Neal Victor Radford (born 7 June 1957, Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) is an English former cricketer, who appeared in three Tests and six ODIs for England.He also played for Transvaal B, Lancashire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire.... 23 CJ Richards Jack Richards Jack Richards is an English former cricketer, who played in eight Tests and twenty two ODIs for England from 1981 to 1988... † 24 GC Small Gladstone Small Gladstone Cleophas Small is an English former cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and fifty three ODIs for England.... 25 RA Smith Robin Smith (cricketer) Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long... |
The following players represented West Indies on the 1988 tour of England:
 |
West Indies squad - West Indian cricket team in England in 1988 | |
|---|---|---|
1 IVA 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... * 2 CEL Ambrose 3 KLT 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... 4 WKM 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... 5 IR Bishop 6 PJL Dujon Jeff 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.... † 7 CG 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... 8 RA 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... 9 DL Haynes Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of... 10 CL 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... 11 AL Logie Gus Logie Augustine Lawrence Logie is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach.... 12 MD 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... 13 BP 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:... 14 RB 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... 15 PV 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:... 16 CA 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... 17 D Williams David Williams (cricketer) David Williams is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 11 Tests and 36 ODIs from 1988 to 1998.A diminutive man, at 5 foot 4, Williams struggled to grab Jeff Dujon's place in the international side not least because of his inability to contribute the weight of runs Dujon managed... † |
- Key: *=Captain, †=Wicket-keeperWicket-keeperThe wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...