A forgotten yet memorable series

Whenever old people like me talk about the rivalry between the West Indies and the Aussies, they mostly remember the tied Test at the Gabba.

Then there was Doug Walters’ ton in a session, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson’s destruction in 1975-76, and the Windies’ revenge in 1979-80 followed by total domination in the ’80s.

Very few people remember the 1978 tour by Bob Simpson’s team to the Caribbean. Of course, the quality of cricket wasn’t of the highest standard with the Aussies fully and Windies partially missing their best players. In fact, Ian Chappell never hid his feelings about the official Test cricket at the time missing most of the biggest stars.

For the record, the West Indies won the series 3-1 to get hold of the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy, which remained in their hands for almost two decades. But a closer look would reveal that it was a much closer contest. With a bit of luck, Simpson’s team could have even won the series.

The first two Tests were men against toddlers. The West Indies had all their World Series Cricket players available and both the matches lasted less than three days. The second Test at Bridgetown is best remembered for Graham Yallop becoming the first batsman in Test history to wear a helmet while batting.

Yet the second half of the series became extremely exciting thanks partly to the West Indies board. Prior to the beginning of the third Test they decided to drop three WSC players and replace them with some young players. They were thinking about the winter tour to India, when they knew that the stars wouldn’t be available. The board reckoned that given the weakness of the tourists, the Windies would still win the remaining Tests easily.

Clive Lloyd, however, disagreed with the board, and all the WSC players were behind him. They left the scene. So for the remainder of the series, the West Indies – just like Australia – had to rely on young players, and three exciting Tests were played. In a sense, it was two entirely different series combined together to form one.

(AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Third Test – Georgetown
Simpson’s team faced a new Windies team here. From the team that played in the second match, only two – skipper Alvin Kallicharan and off-spinner all-rounder Derick Parry – remained in the team. There were six debutants for the West Indies. David Murray replaced his namesake (but not relation) Deryck. It was a similar case with Alvin Greenidge opening the innings to replace Gordon. Also, there was a recall for veteran Vanburn Holder, who was almost forced into oblivion with the emergence of the new generation of fast bowlers.

The Aussies took advantage of the inexperience of the opposition to take a first-innings lead of 81. But then Jeff Thomson, the spearhead of the Australian attack, struggled in the second innings. And debutant opener Basil Williams and recalled left-hander Larry Gomes scored fine tons as Australia were set a fourth-innings target of 359 runs. Not many people gave them any chance, but the Aussie batting clicked just at the right time.

It started badly for the tourists. Sylvester Clarke, among the half dozen debutants in the home team, gave a hint to the Aussies about the depth of fast-bowling talents in the Windies at the time. He ran through the top order, restricting them to 3-22. But it was the marathon 251-run fourth-wicket stand between the West Australian duo Graeme Wood and Craig Serjeant that revived the Aussies’ hopes and at the end they won by three wickets. The series was alive again.

Fourth Test – Port of Spain
The Queen’s Park Oval offered turn for the spinners from the first day, and the slow bowlers played a big part in the ultimate outcome of this match.

Batting first, the home side reached 292 thanks mainly to a fine 92 from the skipper. In reply, the Aussies found the pace of Holder very difficult to handle. His 6-28 gave the Windies a two-run lead.

Yet Bob Simpson’s team looked to be in command, when the West Indies reached 6-151. At this stage, all-rounder Parry took control. An off-spinner, his prospects in international cricket pretty much ended once the rebels returned and indeed his Test career was over in 1980.

But at least he can recall this Queen’s Park Test with pride for his superb all-round display. First he scored a defiant 65 and the 69-run stand with another useful all-rounder Norbert Phillip helped the West Indies reach 290.

A target of 293 was always going to be impossible for the inexperienced Aussie team, but still their effort disappointed everyone. They were bundled out for 94, with the spinners Parry (5-15) and Raphick Jumadeen (3-34) destroying the batting. The Aussies lost the match by 198 runs, but actually it was much closer than this.

In fact, at the halfway point, the Aussies seemed the favourites. With a bit more experience, and with a better effort from Thomson, who again struggled badly in the second innings, the Australians could have won the match. This probably was the last time in the 20th century that two spinners together won a Test for the Windies.

Fifth Test – Jamaica
Although the series was over, the Aussies produced a fine show, and at the end they were unlucky not to win the Test. It was Peter Toohey’s Test. The NSW batsman scored 122 and 97 in this match. For the Windies, Larry Gomes scored his second ton in the series. He continued to frustrate the Aussie bowlers for much of the ’80s.

The Windies were set a target of 369 in their second innings. Simpson depended on his spinners Bruce Yardley and Jim Higgs to win the match. Both bowled well, taking seven wickets between themselves, but Kallicharan – a fine player of spin bowling – defied them for long periods, scoring 126. No one else reached the 30 mark as the home side just survived, finishing with 9-258.