What cricket means to West Indians (Part 9)

Nov 04, 2015 Sports

Viv Richards continues Windies winning ways

By Sean Devers

Richards, in his first series as skipper, continued the dominance of Lloyd’s team by beating

Viv Richards was larger than life.

New Zealand 2-nill in the 1985 four-test series in the West Indies after the first two matches ended in draws.
Guyana’s off-spinner Clyde Butts made his debut in the second test on his home ground Bourda and will mainly remember that game (he went wicket-less) for his wedding on the rest day. In those days the ‘rest’ day was taken after the third day of the match.
Richards followed in the footsteps of Lloyd by beating England 5-nill in the 1986 series in the Caribbean. He won a record 11 consecutive test victories from April -December 1984- three against Australia at home, five in England and another three in Australia.
West Indies, who enjoyed 27 matches without a defeat between January 1982 and December 1984, was now the most feared team in International cricket.
Greenidge and Haynes built solid foundations for Richardson, Richards, Gomes, Logie, Dujon and the bowlers to work on. Both openers scored their first century against Australia in the second innings of the first test in the 1984 series at Bourda to register tons against every team they had played against as West Indies made 250-0 in the drawn game.
Off spinner Roger Harper, who took 46 wickets, played 25 test matches (the most by any spinner during the West Indies era of pace and fire) but he played mainly due to his brilliant fielding and ability as a competent lower order batsman.
A twenty-year-old Carl Hooper made his debut in the 1987 series in India and scored a classy hundred in his second test. Richards. Logie and Greenidge also scored centuries on that tour which the West Indies drew 1-all.
While specialist spinner Butts failed to take a wicket in the match, leg-spinner Hirwani took eight wickets in both innings of the last test to give India victory reinforcing the ‘all pace’ policy by Richards’ team.
With Marshall the spearhead and Walsh and Ambrose now key players in the team, England narrowly avoided another white wash in the 1988 series in England when they lost 4-nill after drawing the first test.
The West Indies drew the 3-test 1988 series against Pakistan in the Caribbean 1-all while the West Indies beat England 4-nill in a five test series in England after the first test ended in a draw.
Fast Bowler Ian Bishop and left handed batsman Keith Arthurton made their debuts. Arthurton, from Nevis, had scored heavily in the 1988 inaugural Red Stripe Cup regional First Class competition and registered two tons against the touring Pakistan team (in St Lucia & Guyana for the W.I under-23 and W.I Board 1X respectively).
From England the West Indies traveled to Australia for the 1988-89 five test series which the Caribbean side won 3-1 with consecutive wins in the first three tests. The fourth test was drawn when Alan Border, with his uncomplicated left-arm spin, snapped up 11 wickets in the match while the West Indies spinner Harper failed to pick up a single scalp.
West Indies beat India three-nil in the four-test series after the first test was rained out at Bourda after Richie Richardson blasted a brilliant 194 and Greenidge 90 in batting friendly conditions in Guyana. In the 1990 five-test home series against England, the West Indies won the series 2-1.
Under Richards, the West Indies lost the first test by nine wickets in Jamaica while the second test was completely rained out in Guyana where the second test in the 1981 series against England was called off when the Forbes Burnham PNC Government deported South African born England all-rounder Robin Jackman from the South American country.
Haynes took over from an ill Richards to captain the side in the third test which ended in a draw in Trinidad. The West Indies won the fourth test in Barbados with Ambrose producing a sensational performance while the final test in Antigua ended the series with another win for the West Indies team as Richards returned to the leadership for the last two tests.
Haynes led the West Indies in the three test 1990 series to Pakistan and Brain Lara, who had scored consistently at all levels, finally made his test debut in the third test and scored 44 in an important partnership with Hooper who scored 134.
The series was drawn 1-all and Richards, who missed the Pakistan series due to injury, took back the captaincy and beat Australia 2-1 in the 1991 home series with a rare win in the second test in Georgetown when Richardson scored 188 and Haynes scored a century.
Richardson had scored another ton in Jamaica and 99 in Barbados (LBW to Mark Waugh). Greenidge also scored a double in the Barbados test as the West Indies notched up their other win in the series.
After drawing the 1991 away series against England 2-all, when Clayton Lambert made his debut, Richards was replaced as skipper by his countryman Richardson.
Bajan boycott mars S/Africa’s 1992 re-entry to Test cricket
The historic 1992 test in Barbados marked South Africa’s first test since they were banned from international sport in 1970 due to the apartheid system in their white ruled county at that time.
West Indies came back to win that match as Ambrose took 6-34 as the visitors catapulted for 148 in their second innings with Adams (79* and 4-43) taking the man-of-the-match on debut.
The visitors were 123-2 needing 201 to win on the last day before Ambrose and Walsh, watched by a crowd of less than 1000 spectators, took the eight remaining wickets for 25 runs to give the home team a remarkable victory.
The fans stayed away from the Kensington Oval in protest of the omission of Barbados medium fast bowler Anderson Cummins. Another nail-biting affair was the climax of the 1993 series in Australia when West Indies won by one run to draw the series. In 1993, Sri Lanka drew their inaugural test in the one-test series against the West Indies in Sri Lanka.