West Indies v England: Test No. 2: A Preview in History

This 2nd Test match at Lord's starting on Thursday has so much history attached to it that even before the game has started, there are many things to celebrate.

This 2nd Test at Lord's will be Test No. 1503. The last one at Edgbaston between the West Indies and England was actually special in itself, being Test No. 1500.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Lords Taverners Club, that erstwhile body which plays cricket still as fun while doing so many good things for the game and for other charities. This year, they have a special game, on July 05, at the ground owned by Sir Paul Getty, to commemorate the occasion.

I do not know how, but I have been invited to play, along with Sir Vivian Richards, Richard Branson (of Virgin Airlines fame), Mike Gatting, David Gower, Iam Botham, Sir Tim Rice ("Cats", & "Jesus Christ Superstar" etc.) etc. It should be a nice day for a great cause.

It is also, perhaps most importantly, the 50th anniversary of the West Indies first victory in England, at the said Lord's Cricket Ground, enshrined in most minds as the "Home of Cricket".

The West Indies won by 326 runs, the same score made by the West Indies in the 1st innings of that game. Allan Rae made 106 and Clyde Walcott made 168. Neither, however, could match the feats of Jamaican Alfred Valentine, the left-arm orthodox spinner, who had match figures of 7-127 (4-48 & 3-79), and especially Trinidad & Tobago's Sonny Ramadhin, whose match figures were even more spectacular: 11-152 (5-66 & 6-86).

The superlative exploits of these two spinners even allowed the recently deceased Alwyn Roberts armed with a guitar on the hallowed surfaces of Lord's, among thousands, to coin the chorus:

"Those two little pals of mine; Ramadhin and Valentine"

Even before that, a very illustrious batsman, not West Indian, made his debut at Lord's. Sir Leonard Hutton, in 1937, just before the break for the 2nd World War, played his first Test at Lords, but did not fare too well, getting 0 and 1. Luckily for the cricket world, England persisted with him.

Oh, this Test match also commemorates the first even visit to England by a West Indies team, no mean celebration in itself. Not a Test team, obviously. West Indies only played its first Test in 1928. A hundred years ago, a supposedly pseudo West Indies team toured England. This started the movements which will culminate with the game starting on Thursday, the latest salvo in this ongoing relationship, a relationship which has given us such stars as Ted Dexter, Rohan Kanhai, Ian Botham, Joel Garner, Brian Statham, (Sir) Gary Sobers, David Gower, Larry Gomes, Graham Gooch, Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson, to name but a few.

In 1972, another non-West Indian made his debut too, at Lords, but his debut was truly magnificent. He simply destroyed England then. Many over 40 years old would remember Australian Robert L "Bob" Massie, who bowled some very unplayable deliveries that game, with his medium-fast stuff, partnering the then ultra aggressive Dennis K Lillee. I saw every delivery Massie bowled during that game, since it was my very first visit to England. His match figures were truly astounding: 16 for 137 (8-84 & 8-53) . What swinging, controlled carnage!!

But, hey, I am a bit ahead of myself in this little sojourn in history.

What about 1963 then, when (Sir) Colin Cowdrey, batting with a broken hand, courtesy of Wes Hall, batted at both No. 3 and No. 11 (he retired hurt and came back afterwards) to save England from defeat. At the end of the game, the West Indies needed one wicket; England needed six runs to win. It is no idle boast when it is said that "England would rather lose a battleship than a Test match!" What some people would do for their country. If only some, on both teams of the game starting Thursday, could have that attitude.

In that same game, Charlie Griffith, my favorite West Indian fast bowler of all time, managed match figures of 8-150 (5-91 & 3-59) while Guyanese Basil Fitzherbert Butcher, defying the fiery Fred Trueman, who had eleven wickets in the game, played perhaps the innings of his life, getting 133. That innings is still talked about to this very day with great admiration. Even Butcher's eventual dismissal, out LBW, is being questioned now!!

In 1975, Clive Lloyd, a captain who always led from the front, with 102 this time, mangled the Australian bowling to power the West Indies to a win in the inaugural World Cup final. Had Sir Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England, during the war, been around then, he would have said of Lloyd's innings, perhaps with the pride and sincerity he used to describe the allied pilots of the "Battle of Britain" in World War II. In the way only Churchill could have said it;

"This was his (Lloyd's) finest hour!"

This 2nd Test match at Lord's starting on Thursday celebrates the 25th anniversary of that feat and the totally popular tournament. There is nothing as good as the first time.

To 1976, when another Guyanese, Roy Fredericks, managed a face saving 138, which helped the West Indies draw the Test of that year at Lord's, while Andy Roberts, another great fast bowler, had match figures of 10-123 (5-60 & and 5-63). This was the same year that (Sir) Vivian Richards and Michael Holding, with their tremendous cricketing skills, ruled the Kennington Oval cricket ground, another great London cricketing venue.

In 1980, Michael Holding also did well at Lords, as did Joel Garner, getting 6-67 and 4-36 respectively.

Then came 1984, the first of the "Black Wash" tours. The West Indies won at Lord's by nine wickets, courtesy of Malcolm Marshall, who had 6-85 in one innings, while Gordon Greenidge, with 214 and Larry Gomes 92, both not out. To this day, there is still controversy as to why Greenidge did not "allow" Gomes to get that hallowed hundred at Lord's.

In 1988, the West Indies again won easily, by 134 runs, with Marshall again being rampant, getting match figures of 10-92 (6- 32 & 4-60) while Gus Logie ran out of partners in the 1st innings. He made 95 not out. In the 2nd, Greenidge made 103.

In another drawn game in 1991, Carl Hooper, that still talked about enigma of West Indian cricket, managed 111 of the highest class of batsmanship. Then, for the first time in almost 25 years, the West Indies lost a Test, the last one played between these two teams at this Lords venue, in 1995. England won by 72 runs, thanks to Dominic Cork, who had eight wickets, and despite Sherwin Campbell, who made 93. The West Indies should have revenge on their minds.