Test Cricket Tours - West Indies to Australia 1975-76

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Tour of Australia 1975-76 Captain: Clive Lloyd

Nineteenth official Test tour

Fifth Test-playing tour of Australia by West Indies

(October 1975 - February 1976)

The Australian Cricket Board had cancelled their tour of South Africa on 18 February 1975 and invited this visit by West Indies instead, which was accepted at the WI Board meeting held between 12-14 May but not announced until 29 June.

West Indies had just beaten Australia in the first World Cup final at Lord's but, as for Test cricket, more and more it became dominated by fast bowlers. For Australia Lillee and Thomson kept up an attack just as hostile as they had meted out to England the previous year. Although West Indies could respond with the pace of Roberts, Boyce and Holding, they were neither so fast nor as accurate. Great skill and courage were needed from the batsmen of both sides but Australia weathered the onslaught better.

On a hard wicket in the Perth Test the West Indies achieved a spectacular innings victory but that apart Australia crushed them in every match. After four Tests, the series was as good as over but six matches had been arranged. The West Indies were mauled 1-5 as Thomson and Lillee inflicted serious body injuries on the West Indies batsmen. Bernard Julien’s thumb was fractured, Alvin Kallicharan’s nose was broken, Lloyd was hit on the jaw, Holding in the face and Richards in the box. Infighting, too was tearing the West Indies apart.

Although the series was lost, Clive Lloyd said “Some good did come out of it. Our younger players now knew what it was to be badly beaten and they were determined never to let it happen again.” By adopting the right temperament and, with higher levels of fitness and an endless supply of young fast bowlers, the team became the great power in Test cricket for the next twenty years.

Journalists perceived Richards' emergence as the world's best batsman as he came through the torrid time, scoring 30, 101, 50 and 98 in his last four innings, and felt as if he was now capable of facing any bowling in the world.

Gordon Greenidge thought “Clive Lloyd was an inexperienced captain on that tour and reckoned that as professionals we should all know what needed to be done so he left it up to us”. thankfully, things did change. Clive Lloyd changed his management style.

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

To India & Pakistan

1974-75

Next tour

To England 1976

Next tour of Australia

1979-80

Members of the Test tour party

(17)

Openers Len Baichan, Gordon Greenidge, Roy Fredericks

(r)

Middle-order batsmen: Alvin Kallicharran, Lawrence Rowe, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd

Wicket-keepers: David Murray, Deryck Murray

Spin bowlers: Inshan Ali, Lance Gibbs, Albert Padmore

Fast bowlers: Keith Boyce, Vanburn Holder, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Bernard Julien

Inshan Ali	T	26	SLA
L Baichan	G	28	LHB opener
K D Boyce	B	32	RHB RFM
R C Fredericks	G	33	LHB opener
L R Gibbs	G	41	OB
C G Greenidge	B	24	RHB opener
V A Holder	B	30	RFM
M A Holding	J	21	RF
B D Julien	T	25	RFM
A I Kallicharran	G	26	LHB
C H Lloyd	G	31	LHB captain
D A David Murray	B	25	second WK
D L Deryck Murray	T	32	WK vice-captain
A L Padmore	B	28	OB
I V A Richards	L	23	RHB
A M E Roberts	L	24	RF
L G Rowe	J	26	RHB

Representation of teams:

B - Barbados (5)

G - Guyana (5)

J - Jamaica (2)

L - Leeward Islands (2)

T - Trinidad & Tobago (3)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(28 November 1975) :

28 yrs 6 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Gibbs 73, Lloyd 43, Fredericks 39, Deryck Murray 29, Holder 22, Kallicharran 22, Boyce 17, Julien 14, Rowe 12, Inshan Ali 10, Roberts 8, Richards 7, Greenidge 5, Baichan 2, Holding 0, David Murray 0, Padmore 0.

Team Officials

E S M Kentish	Manager
K L Walcott	Assistant manager
	Physiotherapist

Selectors

C L Walcott (Chairman), A G Ganteaume, J S Solomon, and the captain, C H Lloyd.

Lloyd flew out of London on 18 July for Barbados where he helped pick the team. He went on to Timehri International Airport, Guyana, and a series of helicopter hops to display to Cricket World Cup in Guyana. He flew back to England on 22 July.

Selection

Unavailable:

Tour Party Announced : 19 July 1975.

Not selected :

Travel

Rowe and Kentish left Norman Manley Airport, Jamaica, on 16 October and Michael Holding the next day. Lloyd and eleven players assembled in Trinidad, and on 17 October 1975 flew from Piarco Airport to Heathrow Airport, London. They landed at Mascot Airport, Sydney, on their way to Papua-New Guinea and flew to Lae, P-NG, on 21 October 1975 to take part in two matches as part of the festivities to mark Papua-New Guinea's independence in September. This group returned via Sydney to Adelaide on Thursday 23 October.

The other five players (Inshan Ali, Baichan, Holding, David Murray and Padmore) gathered together with assistant manager Walcott in Trinidad and were flown to London on 20 October; and to Sydney by 23 October, where they met up with the other group.

On-tour selection panel

Lloyd, Deryck Murray, Kentish, Walcott, with Lance Gibbs added.

Reinforcements

None but it was decided on 21 January that Julien's injury put him out of the rest of the tour. He had his right thumb fractured by a ball from Jeff Thomson in the fourth Test at Sydney.

David Murray would have been sent home when his cocaine secret was discovered but he was given a second chance after an intervention on his behalf by Lance Gibbs.

Fixtures/Results

† Lae	Papua - New Guinea	Won 70 r
† Port Moresby	Papua - New Guinea	Won 4 w
† Adelaide	South Australia Colts	Won 7 w
Adelaide	South Australia	Drawn
† Bendigo	Victoria Country	Won 8 w
Melbourne	Victoria	Drawn
† Dubbo	Western New South Wales Country	Won 8 w
Sydney	New South Wales	Won 52 r
† Cairns	Queensland Country	Drawn
Brisbane	Queensland	Won inns 90 r
BRISBANE	AUSTRALIA First Test	LOST 8 w
Perth	Western Australia	Lost 115 r
PERTH	AUSTRALIA Second Test	WON inns 87 r
Adelaide	Australia (ODI)	Lost 5 w
Adelaide	South Australia	Drawn
MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA Third Test	LOST 8 w
SYDNEY	AUSTRALIA Fourth Test	LOST 7 w
† Newcastle	Northern New South Wales	Won inns 19 r
† Canberra	Australian Capital Territory	Drawn
Hobart	Tasmania	Drawn
† Launceston	Tasmania (one-day)	Won 117 r
ADELAIDE	AUSTRALIA Fifth Test	LOST 190 r
MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA Sixth Test	LOST 165 r

§ ODI

† not first-class

.

Test appearances on tour

6 - Fredericks, Gibbs, Kallicharran, Lloyd, Deryck Murray, Richards, Rowe.

5 - Holding, Roberts.

4 - Boyce

3 - Holder, Julien

2 - Greenidge

1 - Baichan, Inshan Ali

0 - David Murray, Padmore.

Highlights

- In the first Test at Brisbane, Rowe (107) and Kallicharran (101) shared a 4th wicket stand of 198.

- The second Test at Perth saw West Indies score 585 and win by an innings: Fredericks’ onslaught off 169 off 145 balls being followed by 149 from Lloyd, including a century scored before lunch.

- Roberts with 7 for 54 at Perth achieved the best bowling analysis for West Indies against Australia

- Richards scored 30, 101, 50 and 98 in his last four innings, the start of a sequence that gave him 1170 runs in the calendar year of 1976.

- Lance Gibbs took his 300th Test wicket. He ended his Test career at Melbourne holding the world record with 309.

Tour Summary

	P	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	6	1	5	0	-
Other first-class matches	7	2	1	4	-
Minor matches	9	7	0	2	-
One-day internationals	1	0	1	0	-
All Matches	23	10	7	6	-

Return to West Indies

On February 1976 the team flew from Kingsford-Smith Airport, Sydney, via London where Lloyd remained as his wife had just given birth in England.

The team flew on to Piarco Airport, Trinidad, on 10 February. Then Walcott and the five Barbadians flew to Seawell Airport.

Finances

Published accounts of the tour

"The Hapless Hookers" by Frank Tyson (Garry Sparke & Associates), Melbourne (1976)

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