Windies seek 1st series win in England in 32 years Marshall was outstanding on 1988 tour

Jun 13, 2020 Sports

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By Sean Devers

West Indies head into next month’s three Test series against England, which will be played behind closed doors in a bio-secure environment at the Ageas Bowl in Lancashire and Old Trafford, where there are hotels at both venues.

The first Test is set from July 8-12 at Ageas Bowl, while the other two are scheduled for Old Trafford from July 16-20 and July 24-28 respectively and is the first cricket to be played since the outbreak of the corona virus.
West Indies will Quarantine and train for three weeks at Old Trafford before moving to Ageas Bowl for the opening Test.
Jason Holder’s men are in for a tough series as they hope to achieve an improble series win with a depleted batting line up missing Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetymer, who along with Kemo Paul have opted not to take the chance of going into an uncertain environment as they put safety first.
With no cricket since March when the Regional First Class tournament was called off with two rounds to go due the COVID-19, the Caribbean side travelled with 11 reserves in a 25-man squad and will not have any practice games prior to the first Test.
Winning a series in England for the West Indies will be as tough as a turtle trying to climb Mount Everest since the players will have at stay in their hotel and will not be allowed to hang out in the evenings after a hard day’s play to unwind mentally.
With the host desperate to regain the Wisden Trophy which they lost in the Caribbean last year, the tourists will be under tremendous pressure, technically, psychologically and physically to be the first West Indies team to win a series in England in 32 years.

If this team can draw a game, it will be a great accomplishment but if there is no rain I predict a three-nil defeat. I hope I am proven wrong.
Their batting will be the biggest problem and without Bravo and Hetmyer, a lot will depend on Kraigg Braithwaite, Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich, Roston Chase and the Skipper to contribute with the bat.
Their strength is the bowling with Kemar Roach spearheading the bowling attack with support from Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer and off-spinner Rakeem Cornwall.
Let’s rewind to 1988 when West Indies last won a series in the UK.
Although the key players were aging, they had not lost a single Test since 1980 when they were robbed in New Zealand.
Clive Lloyd threatened to end the tour prematurely and Mikey Holding kicked out the stumps in disgust as another caught behind shout was turned down.Colin Croft, who ran into the Umpire Fredrick Goodall but said it was not intentional, told me he did not believe the Umpires were cheating.

“We were bowling so fast that the Umpires were not seeing the ball. It was that bad,” the Guyanese pacer said.
The team looked less intimidating than their past teams of the 1980’s but they were still a potent force and still the number one team in World.
The West Indies were in transition from the invincible team of the mid-80s. Both their batting and bowling attack suggested that Viv Richards’ side was not as dominant as they had been.
Both Gordon Greenidge and Viv were in their late 30s, while Carl Hooper and Gus Logie were now trying to establish themselves at this level.
The bowling attack was spearheaded by Courtney Walsh and the late great Malcom Marshall, but Curtly Ambrose had only played three Tests, while Winston Benjamin had only played four and Patrick Patterson 11.
They arrived in England on the back of four drawn series in Pakistan, New Zealand and India. West Indies also drew the home series against Pakistan but despite this they were the odds on favourites to easily win the series.
After the first Test was drawn due to rain, West Indies easily dismantled England, who changed four Captains that summer, in the other four games to win 4-0.

In the first Test in Nottingham, England opted to bat and Graham Gooch and Broad added 125 for the first wicket but once the openers were separated Marshall bagged 6-69 and Ambrose 4-53 as England were dismissed for 245.
West Indies responded with 448 with Hooper making 84, Richards 80, Marshall 72 and Desmond Haynes 60 but rain, which prevented England from batting until the fourth day and 146 from Gooch provided England with their first draw against West Indies since 1981.
England’s Skipper Mike Gatting was dropped for the second Test at Lords with spinner John Emburey leading the host who had West Indies on the ropes at 54-5 before Logie (81) and Jeff Dujon (53) rallied their team to 209.
Marshall showed his experienced with 6-32 as England fell for 165 before Greenidge made a century and Logie finished unbeaten on 95 leaving England 442 to win and West Indies won by 134 runs. Marshall had 4-60 and match figures of 10-92.
In the third Test in Old Trafford, Gatting returned as captain as West Indies won by an innings and 156 runs after England batted first and made 135 with Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and Benjamin taking four wickets each.

Roger Harper top scored with 74 and Dujon made 67 as West Indies reached 384. England were blown away for 93 with Marshall continuing a wonderful series with 7-22.
In the fourth Test at Headingly England made seven changes and dropped Emburey and reinstated Gatting who declined the job and did not play for the remainder of the summer.
West Indies won the fourth Test by 10 wickets as Ambrose (4-58) and Marshall (3-55) conspired to dismiss the host for 201.
Harper again top scored with 56 after Haynes made 54 in West Indies’ 275. England made 138 in their second innings as Ambrose took 3-40 and Walsh had 3-8. Marshall and Benjamin captured two wickets each.
In the Fifth and final Test, West Indies won by eight wickets at Kennington Oval in London after England were bowled out for 205 with Ambrose (3-31), Harper (3-50) and Marshall (3-64) bowling well.
West Indies in reply made 183 with Dujon making 64 before Benjamin grabbed 4-51 as England were sent packing for 202.
Set 226 to win, Greenidge and Haynes each made 77 as West Indies registered another emphatic win leaving England without a victory in 19 Tests.
West Indies beat Australia 3-1 in Australia and beat England 2-1 in the West Indies in 1990 before beating Australia 2-1 in the 1992/93 series.
When Australia won the 1995 series in Jamaica it ended an era of dominance during which West Indies played for 15 years without losing a single Test series during those glory days and West Indies have never been the same again.

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