The documentary describes the ascension of West Indies cricket from being a team largely composed of highly talented, entertaining, "Calypso Cricketers" to a determined unit that dominated world cricket for almost twenty years.
It begins with an introduction to the West Indies Cricket Team. Using interviews with West Indian cricketing greats, and other people closely associated with West Indies cricket; this idea of culturally and politically different Caribbean nations playing under the common banner of the West Indies is described.
The history of cricket in the West Indies is briefly described, such as the appointment of Sir Frank Worrell as the first black man to captain the West Indies Cricket Team, and the emergence of such cricketing greats as Everton Weekes, Learie Constantine, and Sir Garfield Sobers. However talented these individual cricketers were, they were unable to fetch results, resulting in the West Indies being perceived as "Calypso Cricketers"; people who were entertaining, but would eventually lose.
The early 1970s saw the emergence of a new crop of West Indian cricketers, ones eager to shake the tag of Calypso, and who could dominate world cricket. It is said that when you have ten young men from various islands in the Caribbean, you don't have a team; you have a gang. What was needed was a guiding hand, who could steer this young team in the right direction, and unite them for a common cause on the cricket field. That man was Clive Lloyd. Appointed as Captain in 1974, Lloyd's first major challenge came in the 1975-76 West Indies Tour of Australia.
Australians Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson destroyed the West Indies with their fast bowling. Frequent bouncers and intimidatory tactics led to the spirit of the team being shattered and the tour ended with Australia winning the six-match test series 5–1. At the end of the series, Clive Lloyd realizes that in order to win, it would be necessary for him to also cultivate fast bowlers as devastating as Lillee and Thomson.
When the Indian Cricket Team toured the West Indies in 1976, Clive Lloyd tested his new plan of attack, relentlessly getting his fast bowlers such as Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, and Wayne Daniel to bowl short-pitched or bouncers to Indian batsman. While playing at Kingston, Jamaica the Indian team declared on a second-innings lead of 12, after the management decided that they would rather not risk sending their bowlers such as Bishen Singh Bedi to face the fearsome fast bowling.
Convinced of the effectiveness of pace bowling as an instrument to success, Clive Lloyd's team departed to their Tour of England in 1976. England Captain Tony Greig's infamous "grovel" comment is shown in its entirety, and the effect it had on galvanising the team is described. After some highly aggressive fast bowling against the English batsmen, West Indian fast bowling is seen as being dangerous to the game. However, the West Indians feel that if the Australians could do it, so could they. Viv Richards is shown as dominating the Test series as a batsman, where he scored 829 runs in four tests with two double-centuries. Viv Richards' refusal to be intimidated by fast bowling is also seen as the ideal way for a batsman to deal with West Indian bowling.
The documentary then describes the struggle with their board for better pay, and how Kerry Packer eventually enticed the team to participate in World Series Cricket in 1977. World Series Cricket turns out to be a fore-runner of changes in cricket that only became permanent in the 1990s; such as coloured kits, day/night matches, and a greater emphasis on professionalism in play. The West Indian team emerges from the tournament fitter, stronger, and with a more professional outlook to the game.
The 1982 Rebel Tour to Apartheid-ruled South Africa is described. Colin Croft chooses to go, earning him a life ban from the West Indies Cricket Board. The main target of the regime, however, is international superstar Viv Richards. Richards states that he was offered "a blank cheque", but decided to not go as it would validate the state-sponsored racism pursued by the South African Government at the time.
It ends with a description of the West Indies' tour to England in 1984. With the emergence of fast bowling greats such as Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall to take the place of Croft, the West Indies becomes unstoppable. After Gordon Greenidge's innings of 214 not out at Lord's, the West Indians become an unstoppable force; defeating England 5–0 in the five-test series. In a turn on the regular term "Whitewash" to describe such a win, the series was instead dubbed Blackwash.
The documentary ends with a description of how the West Indians earned the respect, admiration, and love of cricket fans and even opposing teams from across the world. As the end credits roll, Michael Holding describes how between February, 1980 to March, 1995; the West Indies Cricket Team did not lose a single Test series. (it was preceded by the controversial West Indies tour of New Zealand in 1979–80)
Film festivals
Awards and nominations received by Fire in Babylon
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 win his team both the 1975 Cricket World Cup and the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
The history of the West Indian cricket team begins in the 1880s when the first combined West Indian team was formed and toured Canada and the United States. In the 1890s, the first representative sides were selected to play visiting English sides. Administered by the West Indies Cricket Board ("WICB"), and known colloquially as The Windies, the West Indies cricket team represents a sporting confederation of English-speaking Caribbean countries.
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian international cricketer.
Michael Anthony Holding is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering Death" due to his silent, light-footed run up to the bowling crease. Holding was a key member of the West Indies team that won the 1979 Cricket World Cup, and had the most wickets for his team at the tournament. His bowling action was renowned for being smooth and extremely fast, and he used his height to generate large amounts of bounce and zip off the pitch. He was part of the fearsome West Indian pace bowling battery, together with Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Wayne Daniel, Malcolm Marshall and Sylvester Clarke, that devastated opposing batting line-ups throughout the world in the late seventies and early eighties. Early in his Test career, in 1976, Holding broke the record for best bowling figures in a Test match by a West Indies bowler, 14 wickets for 149 runs (14/149). The record still stands. During his first-class cricket career, Holding played for Jamaica, Canterbury, Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Tasmania. In September 2021, Holding announced his retirement from being a commentator.
Sir Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts, KCN is a former Antiguan first-class cricketer who is considered the father of modern West Indian fast bowling. Roberts played Test cricket for the West Indies, twice taking seven wickets in a Test innings, and was a member of the team that won both the 1975 Cricket World Cup and the 1979 Cricket World Cup respectively. Arriving in England in 1972, he played first-class cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club and then later for Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
Peter Willey is a former English cricketer, who played as a right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler. In and out of the England team, he interrupted his international career for three years by taking part in the first of the England players' South African rebel tours in 1982. After his playing career ended, he became a Test umpire.
Leonard Baichan is a former West Indian international cricketer who played as a batsman. Baichan featured in three Test matches from 1975 to 1976, scoring a century on his debut. He also scored over 4,000 runs at an average of 51.18 with 13 centuries and 23 half centuries in his first class career.
Mike Denness captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1974–75, playing as England in the 1974-75 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They lost the Test series and the Ashes 4–1 thanks to the battering they received from the fast bowling of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, but won the One Day International and with Lillee and Thomson injured they came back to win the Sixth Test by an innings.
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.
The 1976 English cricket season was the 77th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Clive Lloyd adopted a new approach to Test cricket as a battery of pace bowlers was used to intimidate the England batsmen. Lloyd adopted the tactic after his own team's experiences against Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee the previous year. England's batsmen were no match for Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, but even more worrying was a dearth of effective England bowlers and it was West Indian batsmen like Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge who were the real stars of a long, hot, dry summer. Middlesex won the County Championship.
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 lose 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 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 West Indies Cricket Annual was a cricket annual published from 1970 to 1991 which covered cricket in the West Indies and by West Indian teams overseas. It was the first annual to cover all aspects of West Indies cricket in detail. All 22 editions were edited by Tony Cozier. Most of the photographs taken by cricket journalist Gordon Brooks have featured in the magazine.
The 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the Cricket World Cup. Organised by the International Cricket Conference, it was held in England from 9 to 23 June 1979.
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 India national cricket team toured the West Indies during the 1975–76 cricket season. They played four Test matches against the West Indian cricket team, with the West Indies winning the series 2–1.
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.
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