Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at an average of 20.99 and topped the ICC Player Rankings for much of his career to be rated the best bowler in the world. His great height—he is 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall—allowed him to make the ball bounce unusually high after he delivered it; allied to his pace and accuracy, it made him a very difficult bowler for batsmen to face. A man of few words during his career, he was notoriously reluctant to speak to journalists. He was chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1992; after he retired he was entered into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame and selected as one of West Indies all-time XI by a panel of experts.
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Richards helped his team win the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge is a Barbadian retired cricketer who represented the West Indies in Test and One-day Cricket for 17 years, as well as Barbados and Hampshire in first-class cricket. Greenidge is regarded worldwide as one of the greatest and most destructive opening batsmen in cricket history. In 2009, Greenidge was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
The Wisden Trophy was awarded to the winner of the Test cricket series played between England and the West Indies. It was first awarded in 1963 to commemorate the hundredth edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Series were played in accordance with the future tours programme, with varying lengths of time between tours. If a series was drawn then the country holding the Wisden Trophy retained it. In 2020, it was announced that the trophy would be replaced by the Richards–Botham Trophy named after Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Ian Botham.
The Benson and Hedges Challenge was a one-off one-day international cricket tournament played at the WACA Ground in Perth, Western Australia from 30 December 1986 to 7 January 1987 as part of the 1987 America's Cup Festival of Sport.
1939 was the 46th cricket season in England since the introduction of the County Championship in 1890. It was the one and only season in which English cricket adopted the eight-ball over. 1939 was the last season before the Second World War and it was not until 1946 that first-class cricket could resume in England on a normal basis. The West Indies were on tour and England won the Test series 1–0. The West Indian team departed early, with several matches cancelled, because of the growing international crisis.
The 1980 English cricket season was the 81st in which the County Championship had been an official competition. West Indies defeated England in the summer's Test series 1–0, rain ensuring that the other four matches were all drawn. A single Test was played between England and Australia to commemorate the centenary of the first Test played in England in 1880. The match was drawn. The County Championship was won by Middlesex.
The 1985 English cricket season was the 86th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. England recovered The Ashes against an Australian team that had lost several players to a "rebel tour" of South Africa. The Britannic Assurance County Championship was won by Middlesex.
The West Indian cricket team played 16 first-class cricket matches in England in 1988, under the captaincy of Viv Richards. They enjoyed considerable success during the tour, while England endured a "disastrous summer" of continuous change.
In 1984 the West Indies cricket team toured England, playing three One Day Internationals and five Tests. West Indies beat England 2–1 in the ODI series, then whitewashed England 5–0 in the Test series, and as of 2023 this was the only instance England faced such whitewash at home. This was the only test series where the home side lost all tests of a 4 or more match series. The West Indies team was captained by Clive Lloyd throughout, and England by David Gower.
The Indian national cricket team toured Australia in the 1991–92 season, just before the 1992 Cricket World Cup. The team was led by Mohammed Azharuddin and played 5 Test matches. Australia won the Test series 4–0. The series is notable from an Indian point of view for Ravi Shastri's double hundred, Sachin Tendulkar's 114 on a bouncy pitch at Perth while the other Indian batsmen struggled, and Kapil Dev becoming the first Indian bowler to take 400 wickets in Tests. The series also saw the debut of Australia's leading Test wicket-taker, Shane Warne.
The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1975–76 season and played six Test matches and 1 ODI against Australia.
The West Indian cricket team toured England in 1980, spending virtually the whole of the 1980 English cricket season in England. West Indies also played two matches in Ireland and two in Scotland.
The West Indian cricket team toured England in 1976, spending virtually the whole of the 1976 English cricket season in England. West Indies also played one match in Ireland in July.
The 1975 Cricket World Cup Final was a One Day International cricket match played at Lord's, London on 21 June 1975 to determine the winner of the 1975 Cricket World Cup. It was the second time that the West Indies and Australia had met in the tournament after playing against each other in the group stage. The West Indies won the match by 17 runs to claim their first title.
The 1979 Gillette Cup Final was a cricket match between Somerset County Cricket Club and Northamptonshire County Cricket Club played on 8 September 1979 at Lord's in London. It was the seventeenth final of the Gillette Cup, which had been the first English domestic knock-out competition between first-class sides. Northamptonshire had won the competition in 1976; Somerset were playing their second consecutive final, having lost to Sussex in 1978.
Fire in Babylon is a 2010 British documentary film about the record-breaking West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and 1980s. Featuring stock footage and interviews with several former players and officials, including Colin Croft, Deryck Murray, Joel Garner, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Michael Holding, Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Andy Roberts, the film was written and directed by Stevan Riley and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Documentary. It was the joint-winner of the UNESCO Award at the Jamaica Reggae Film Festival 2011.
The West Indies cricket team toured Australia from November 1979 to January 1980 and played a three-match Test series against the Australia national cricket team. The West Indies won the Test series 2–0, retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy.
The 1976 International cricket season was from May 1976 to August 1976.
