WEST INDIES v ENGLAND 1980-81

At Port-of-Spain, February 13, 14, 16, 17, 18. West Indies won by an innings and 79 runs. Victory was achieved just before the start of the last hour on the final day, though bad weather and alleged sabotage of a small area of the pitch reduced the playing time to less than four days. They won partly by better batting but more directly by the pace, stamina and accuracy of their four fast bowlers. Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft extracted bounce from a pitch which had been expected to become as lifeless as its neighbour on which the Trinidad match had been played.

West Indies omitted Bacchus and Nanan from their thirteen present; England more surprisingly left out a batsman, Gatting, which meant that they had seven bowlers including Gooch, three of them off-spinners.

When the match started three hours and five minutes late, after inadequate covering had left wet patches on the pitch and across the run-ups, it was feared by both sides that the damage to the pitch might be on a fast bowler's length. In the event, after Botham had won the toss and chosen to field, Greenidge and Haynes played faultlessly through the first day's play of nearly three hours, making 144. But on the second day Emburey broke the stand at 168 and worked steadily through the batting, bowling 40 overs in the day for 81 runs and five wickets. However, Lloyd, despite trouble with his timing, and David Murray held England up in a sixth-wicket stand of 75, Lloyd batting three and a quarter hours for 64 before he was seventh out. And then in the evening and again on the third morning, Roberts, with support from Holding, launched a fierce attack on the England bowling, hitting 24 (three 6s, a 4 and 2) off the first five balls of an over from Botham - the most runs ever scored by a batsman off a six-ball over in a Test match, eclipsing by 2 the previous record.

England began their innings fifty minutes before lunch on the third day, the rest day having been taken after two days to avoid competition with a steel band festival, and Boycott and Gooch gave an entirely false impression by taking 30 off the first six overs from Roberts and Holding with a fluent piece of batting. But the tone changed abruptly with the replacement of Roberts by Croft, who had Boycott caught at third slip and destroyed Gooch's confidence with his in-slant, accuracy, pace and movement off the pitch. Though Gooch hung on for two and threequarter hours until he was third out, only Gower played with any assurance and he was still there at the end of the day. However, he was out early next morning, after batting for more than three and a half hours, and England followed on 248 runs behind.

The start of the second innings was delayed by rain until eight and threequarter hours of the match remained. England soon lost Gooch and Rose before a third-wicket stand between Boycott and Gower held up the West Indian bowlers for nearly two hours. Again Gower was out early when play resumed on the final day - one on which play was held up three times by rain. Botham showed signs of staying with Boycott until an ambitious and unnecessary stroke off Richards gave deep mid-off a catch. With Boycott's dismissal at 142 after an innings of five and a quarter hours, and with three hours left, England seemed beaten, but further rain and sturdy defence by Willey and Downton prevented the fall of another wicket until half an hour before the start of the last hour. Once Downton was out, Roberts and Garner swiftly finished off the match.

The disappointing crowd of about 10,000 on the first day proved easily the largest, partly because of uncertain weather and partly because of local dissatisfaction with the omission of the Trinidad captain, Deryck Murray.