West Indian cricket team in England in 1969
Encyclopedia
The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1969 season
to play a three-match Test
series against England. England won the series 2-0 with one match drawn.
The West Indian tour was scheduled for the first half of the English cricket season, and the weather for much of May 1969 was damp and cold. A second touring side, from New Zealand, played three Tests against England in the second half of the season – see the article New Zealand cricket team in England in 1969
.
was the vice-captain, although Basil Butcher
acted as captain in a couple of the matches.
The full team was:
Only five players – Sobers, Gibbs, Butcher, Carew and Hendriks – had been on the previous tour of England in 1966
. There were seven players with no previous Test experience in the party: five of them – Findlay, Foster, Holder, Shepherd and Shillingford – made their Test debuts in this series. The other two, Blair and Roberts, never played Test match cricket.
, who shared a 112 opening partnership with John Edrich
(58) and a third wicket 128 with Tom Graveney
, who scored 75 in his 79th and final Test, during which he was 42 years old. West Indies dropped eight catches on the first day alone. Basil D'Oliveira
(51) and the tail took the total beyond 400 and West Indies were soon five for two with both openers gone. David Brown and John Snow
each took four wickets and no West Indian batsman reached 35. England captain Ray Illingworth
enforced the follow-on, and despite consistent batting by the upper order, with 64 from Fredericks, 44 from Carew, 48 from Butcher and 48 also from Sobers, the deficit was only just cleared.
See CricketArchive for match scorecard
Second Test at Lord's
West Indies (380 and 285 for 8 dec) drew with England (344 and 295 for 7). Batsmen dominated in sunny conditions. West Indies opened with 106 from Camacho (67) and Fredericks (63) and Davis hit 103 in 375 minutes. At 61 for five, England were in trouble, but debutant John Hampshire
hit 107 and shared a 128-run sixth wicket partnership with Alan Knott
, and then captain Ray Illingworth hit his first Test century, 113, and John Snow contributed only nine to a last-wicket partnership of 84. West Indies batted brightly, with Fredericks making 60 and Lloyd 70, and Sobers, batting with a runner, contributed an unbeaten 50 before declaring, setting England 322 to win in five hours. They made too slow a start, so that when Phil Sharpe (86) and opener Boycott (106) accelerated with a partnership of 126 in 90 minutes, they had left too little time to complete the task.
See CricketArchive for match scorecard
Third Test at Headingley
England (223 and 240) beat West Indies (161 and 272) by 30 runs. A slow pitch and damp conditions favoured the bowlers. Edrich's 79 and 40s from D'Oliveira and Knott led England to 223, but no West Indian managed more than 35. Shepherd was unable to bat in West Indies' first innings and could not bowl in England's second, where all players except Boycott made 15 or more, but none reached 40. Set 303 to win in better conditions, West Indies looked to be on course when Camacho, with 71, and Butcher (91) put on 108 for the third wicket, which fell at 177. At 219 for three, Butcher, Sobers (for a duck), Lloyd and Shepherd went for the addition of just nine runs and the tail was able to prolong the match only an hour into the last day.
See CricketArchive for match scorecard
1969 English cricket season
The 1969 English cricket season saw the inauguration of the Sunday League , sponsored by the John Player tobacco company. All matches were played on Sundays with each of the 17 first-class counties playing each other once. They were of 40 overs a side...
to play a three-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 against England. England won the series 2-0 with one match drawn.
The West Indian tour was scheduled for the first half of the English cricket season, and the weather for much of May 1969 was damp and cold. A second touring side, from New Zealand, played three Tests against England in the second half of the season – see the article New Zealand cricket team in England in 1969
New Zealand cricket team in England in 1969
The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1969 season to play a three-match Test series against England. The New Zealanders played in the second half of the English season: the England cricket team played three Test matches against the West Indies cricket team in the earlier part of the...
.
The West Indies team
The touring team was captained by Gary Sobers. Lance GibbsLance Gibbs
Lancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...
was the vice-captain, although Basil Butcher
Basil Butcher
Basil Fitzherbert Butcher is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970....
acted as captain in a couple of the matches.
The full team was:
- Gary Sobers, captain
- Lance GibbsLance GibbsLancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...
, vice-captain - Philbert Blair
- Basil ButcherBasil ButcherBasil Fitzherbert Butcher is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970....
- Steve CamachoSteve CamachoGeorge Stephen Camacho George Stephen (Steve) Camacho George Stephen (Steve) Camacho (born October 15, 1945, Georgetown, British Guiana (now Georgetown, Guyana) is a former West Indian cricketer who played in eleven Tests from 1968 to 1971 as an opening batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler....
- Joey CarewJoey CarewMichael Conrad "Joey" Carew was a West Indian cricketer who played in 19 Tests from 1963 to 1972. His sole test century came against New Zealand at Eden Park in 1969...
- Charles Davis
- Michael FindlayMike FindlayThaddeus Michael Findlay, born 19 October 1943, at Troumaca, Saint Vincent, is a former West Indian cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1969 to 1973 as a batsman and wicketkeeper....
- Maurice FosterMaurice Foster (cricketer)Maurice Linton Churchill Foster played 14 Tests and two One Day Internationals for the West Indies and he was a talented table-tennis player....
- Roy FredericksRoy FredericksRoy Clifton Fredericks was a West Indian cricketer who played from 1968 to 1977....
- Jackie HendriksJackie HendriksJackie Hendriks was born John Leslie Hendriks on 21 December 1933, in St. Andrew, Kingston, Jamaica. He played as a Test wicket-keeper in the West Indies cricket team from 1962 to 1969. After his career as a well-respected player he moved to cricket managing...
- Vanburn HolderVanburn HolderVanburn Alonzo Holder is a former West Indian cricketer who played in forty Tests and twelve ODIs from 1969 to 1979.Holder played in the golden era of West Indian fast bowling...
- Clive LloydClive LloydClive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
- Pascall Roberts
- John ShepherdJohn Shepherd (cricketer)John Neil Shepherd is a former West Indian cricketer who played in five Tests from 1969 to 1971...
- Grayson ShillingfordGrayson ShillingfordGrayson Cleophas Shillingford was a West Indian cricketer who played in seven Tests from 1969 to 1972. He was born in Macoucherie, Dominica and was the cousin of Irvine Shillingford, who also played Test cricket for the West Indies....
Only five players – Sobers, Gibbs, Butcher, Carew and Hendriks – had been on the previous 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....
. There were seven players with no previous Test experience in the party: five of them – Findlay, Foster, Holder, Shepherd and Shillingford – made their Test debuts in this series. The other two, Blair and Roberts, never played Test match cricket.
First Test at Old Trafford, June 12–17, 1969
England (413 and 12 for no wicket) beat the West Indies (147 and 275) by 10 wickets. England's success was built on 128 from Geoffrey BoycottGeoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
, who shared a 112 opening partnership with John Edrich
John Edrich
John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...
(58) and a third wicket 128 with Tom Graveney
Tom Graveney
Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...
, who scored 75 in his 79th and final Test, during which he was 42 years old. West Indies dropped eight catches on the first day alone. Basil D'Oliveira
Basil D'Oliveira
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...
(51) and the tail took the total beyond 400 and West Indies were soon five for two with both openers gone. David Brown and John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
each took four wickets and no West Indian batsman reached 35. England captain Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
enforced the follow-on, and despite consistent batting by the upper order, with 64 from Fredericks, 44 from Carew, 48 from Butcher and 48 also from Sobers, the deficit was only just cleared.
See CricketArchive for match scorecard
Second Test at Lord'sLord's Cricket GroundLord'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...
, June 26-July 1, 1969
West Indies (380 and 285 for 8 dec) drew with England (344 and 295 for 7). Batsmen dominated in sunny conditions. West Indies opened with 106 from Camacho (67) and Fredericks (63) and Davis hit 103 in 375 minutes. At 61 for five, England were in trouble, but debutant John HampshireJohn Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire (born 10 February 1941, Thurnscoe (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) better known as Jack Hampshire, is a former English cricketer, who played eight Tests and three ODIs for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class cricket for...
hit 107 and shared a 128-run sixth wicket partnership with Alan Knott
Alan Knott
Alan Philip Eric Knott is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman....
, and then captain Ray Illingworth hit his first Test century, 113, and John Snow contributed only nine to a last-wicket partnership of 84. West Indies batted brightly, with Fredericks making 60 and Lloyd 70, and Sobers, batting with a runner, contributed an unbeaten 50 before declaring, setting England 322 to win in five hours. They made too slow a start, so that when Phil Sharpe (86) and opener Boycott (106) accelerated with a partnership of 126 in 90 minutes, they had left too little time to complete the task.
See CricketArchive for match scorecard
Third Test at HeadingleyHeadingley StadiumHeadingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, July 10–15, 1969
England (223 and 240) beat West Indies (161 and 272) by 30 runs. A slow pitch and damp conditions favoured the bowlers. Edrich's 79 and 40s from D'Oliveira and Knott led England to 223, but no West Indian managed more than 35. Shepherd was unable to bat in West Indies' first innings and could not bowl in England's second, where all players except Boycott made 15 or more, but none reached 40. Set 303 to win in better conditions, West Indies looked to be on course when Camacho, with 71, and Butcher (91) put on 108 for the third wicket, which fell at 177. At 219 for three, Butcher, Sobers (for a duck), Lloyd and Shepherd went for the addition of just nine runs and the tail was able to prolong the match only an hour into the last day.See CricketArchive for match scorecard
External sources
See also
- Playfair Cricket AnnualPlayfair Cricket AnnualPlayfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
, 1970 edition - Wisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, 1970 edition