Topic: That Australian Tour of 1975-76 caused me some Grief!! (Read 614 times)

Mail · « **on:** 02/03/2012, 01:24 PM »

In my view the 1975-76 tour of Australia was a defining moment for West Indies Cricket. Glued to the radio and up at ungodly time of the night, with school looming in the morning it was not the best move but it had to be done. God only knows how I was not caught by my very vigilant mother. Ears glued to a radio the size of a small car, I conjured up the images transmitted by the commentators and the Windies having won the last two warm up matches, I felt we had a very good chance in the 6 tests series.
Quite a lot of excitement as the teams seemed evenly matched and it was only a few months prior West Indies had beaten the Australians in the inaugural Prudential World Cup at Lords. Lloyd made an excellent start to his tenure as Captain and had also beaten India 3-2 in their back yard in 1974-75 so I, like many West Indians, was on a high, expectant to see this mostly young team perform.
There was Leornard Baichan, prolific in domestic Cricket with an average second to none, a youngster called Viv Richards, The Captain himself, a classy all rounder in Bernard Julien, Inshan Ali the mystery spinner of his time, Roberts, young Holding, Fredericks the diminutive assassin, Rowe and Kalli. They were all players of stature and achievement.
I listened loyally match after match without fail, turning up to School bleary eyed and thinking we can still do well. Before I knew it we had lost 5-1 and the radio a tad worn out from my ears being pressed against the speaker.
There we some notable moments though, some memorable and others not.
Leonard Baichan, after a successful debut tour of Pakistan where, as an opener, he averaged 81 in his two tests, including a ton on debut, averaged 49 in his three innings leading up to the first test but, despite the need for a stable opening pair, he did not play until the 6^th and final test when the rubber was dead and lost 4-1. Baichan was never to play for the West Indies again. During that series, Greenidge, Bernard Julien, Kallicharan and Richards partnered Fredericks as openers.
At the start of the series Gibbs required 14 wickets to equal FS Trueman’s record of 307 wickets, a feat he achieved in the second innings of the Adelaide lost test match when he had Mallett caught by Murray. He went one better in the first innings of the, Melbourne test in dismissing Redpath and ended up with 309 scalps when he dismissed Gilmour. He promptly retired from International Cricket.
The accumulated stress of the series was most telling leaving me numb and distressed but no one understood. Why would they, I dared not say. We were not to be whipped and abused in that fashion for quite some time after and I was grateful.

The Chairman · « **Reply #1 on:** 02/03/2012, 01:29 PM »

this is written by you mail?

great reading.

ketchim · « **Reply #2 on:** 02/03/2012, 01:36 PM »

1991 ....March :

I booked my Flight from Toronto and checked in to the Tower Hotel :

Georgetown , Guyana..

Minutes away from Bourda Green !

It was gonna be the first time in 26 years , a Result at this venue could be possible.

since that 75/ 76 Tour !

Australia versus West Indies...

ketchim · « **Reply #3 on:** 02/03/2012, 01:57 PM »

Mail ,

sitting on those uncomfortable seats @ Bourda :

was worth the Result !

ketchim · « **Reply #4 on:** 02/03/2012, 03:00 PM »

Dessie Haynes 111

Richie Rich 182

Sir Carl 62

Mark Waugh 71

ketchim · « **Reply #5 on:** 02/03/2012, 03:06 PM »

Controversy ...I was heckling Dean Jones

Dean Jones was bowled by a no-ball from Walsh.

Hearing only the rattle of the stumps behind him, but not umpire Duncan's call,

Jones headed for the pavilion, in the direction of extra cover, in the mistaken belief

that he was out, whereupon Hooper rushed in from the slips,

picked up the ball and uprooted the middle stump,

to be joined by several team-mates in an appeal for run out.

ketchim · « **Reply #6 on:** 02/03/2012, 03:08 PM »

Alerted to the impending danger by Border, his partner, Jones had made a

vain attempt to regain his ground, only to see umpire Cumberbatch at square leg,

standing in his eleventh Test, rule him out -

in contravention of the unequivocal Law 38.2 :

If a no-ball has been called, the striker shall not be given run out unless he attempts

to run, which Jones obviously had not.......

Hahahahahaha....It was worth the Airfare , Hotel Bill and Admittance !

ketchim · « **Reply #7 on:** 02/03/2012, 03:09 PM »

It was instructive that both captains admitted afterwards that they too were ignorant

of the relevant Law, but this was of no consolation to Jones or to Australia.

West Indies WON by 10 wickets

ketchim · « **Reply #8 on:** 02/03/2012, 03:11 PM »

Scorecard for 1991 March :

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63553.html

The Unity Tiger · « **Reply #9 on:** 02/03/2012, 05:49 PM »

1st test first innings west indies bowled out for 214

ketchim · « **Reply #10 on:** 02/03/2012, 06:05 PM »

Quote from: Mail on 02/03/2012, 01:24 PM

We were not to be whipped and abused in that fashion for quite some time after and I was grateful.

Yes , Indeed !

When did our defining moment AS Losers start ?

Cause Australia tour of the West Indies in 1991 :

was a relatively successful one !

ketchim · « **Reply #11 on:** 02/03/2012, 06:12 PM »

Quote from: Mail on 02/03/2012, 01:24 PM

God only knows how I was not caught by my very vigilant mother.

God loves Cricket

Mail · « **Reply #12 on:** 02/03/2012, 07:07 PM »

Quote

God loves Cricket

A master quote.

Mail · « **Reply #13 on:** 02/03/2012, 07:10 PM »

Quote from: The Chairman on 02/03/2012, 01:29 PM

this is written by you mail?

great reading.

Yes I did and pleased you enjoyed it.

The Chairman · « **Reply #14 on:** 02/03/2012, 08:09 PM »

a good hundred by kallicharran in 2nd innings of first test

The Chairman · « **Reply #15 on:** 02/04/2012, 12:31 PM »

rowe also scored a century in end innings of first TEST

Mail · « **Reply #16 on:** 02/04/2012, 07:55 PM »

Quote from: ketchim on 02/03/2012, 06:05 PM

Yes , Indeed !

When did our defining moment AS Losers start ?

I would say it sttarted in 1994 losing 2-1 to the Australians at home but kicked off in full in 2000 losing 3-1 against England. If it wasn't for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe!!

Kwami · « **Reply #17 on:** 02/04/2012, 09:14 PM »

The windies went downhill because of racism and prejudice . The cricket fraternity could never come to terms with the fact that they were being dominated by black people
Remember that up until 1993 veto powers were held by England and Australia in the ICC and in that year prior to being forced to give up such powers , they enacted rule changes to mitigate and reduce the effectiveness of the Westindies fast bowling machine
Rules such 2 bouncers per over and 90 overs per day had a devasting effect on the westindies and it was downhill since with only brief interludes of successes .This along with mismanagement by the WICB of course

Mail · « **Reply #18 on:** 02/05/2012, 08:42 AM »

Quote from: Kwami on 02/04/2012, 09:14 PM

The windies went downhill because of racism and prejudice . The cricket fraternity could never come to terms with the fact that they were being dominated by black people.....

It is the West Indian own racism that has ruined certain aspects of our Cricket and life as a whole but it was the shortsightedness of the administrators to invest in the next generations that has ruined our Cricket.

Yes the dominance of the West Indies had to be halted and the restriction of the bouncers was an inconvenience and another inconvenience was the drastically altering the atmosphere created by fans, particularly at Lords where drums, conches and other musical instruments were banned.

England had a similar issue with bodyline in Australia some time before and rules were changed accordingly. So the rules did not stop our dominance it is our own incompetence of not investing.

Our insularity and ethnic prejudice constantly prevent us from fielding our strongest teams.

Kallicharan, the only man to stand by the WICB during Packet was shat upon by the Authrities from a great height when the rebels returned. Yes he did go to South Africa subsequently and I support him in so doing.

No West Indian fast bowler bowled excessive bouncers consuistently anyway.

This is why I have no problems with the power shift to India, as it would never be us, because for far too long it has been in the hands of a very select few. Importantly is how Indian utilises its dominance to advance the game.

We should stop blaming others and look at ourselves first is my view.

The Chairman · « **Reply #19 on:** 02/05/2012, 11:00 AM »

westindiesforum.com

In my view the 1975-76 tour of Australia was a defining moment for West Indies Cricket. Glued to the radio and up at ungodly time of the night, with school looming in the morning it was not the best move but it had to be done. God only knows how I was not caught by my very vigilant mother. Ears glued to a radio the size of a small car, I conjured up the images transmitted by the commentators and the Windies having won the last two warm up matches, I felt we had a very good chance in the 6 tests series.

Quite a lot of excitement as the teams seemed evenly matched and it was only a few months prior West Indies had beaten the Australians in the inaugural Prudential World Cup at Lords. Lloyd made an excellent start to his tenure as Captain and had also beaten India 3-2 in their back yard in 1974-75 so I, like many West Indians, was on a high, expectant to see this mostly young team perform.\

There was Leornard Baichan, prolific in domestic Cricket with an average second to none, a youngster called Viv Richards, The Captain himself, a classy all rounder in Bernard Julien, Inshan Ali the mystery spinner of his time, Roberts, young Holding, Fredericks the diminutive assassin, Rowe and Kalli. They were all players of stature and achievement.

I listened loyally match after match without fail, turning up to School bleary eyed and thinking we can still do well. Before I knew it we had lost 5-1 and the radio a tad worn out from my ears being pressed against the speaker.
There we some notable moments though, some memorable and others not.
Leonard Baichan, after a successful debut tour of Pakistan where, as an opener, he averaged 81 in his two tests, including a ton on debut, averaged 49 in his three innings leading up to the first test but, despite the need for a stable opening pair, he did not play until the 6^th and final test when the rubber was dead and lost 4-1. Baichan was never to play for the West Indies again. During that series, Greenidge, Bernard Julien, Kallicharan and Richards partnered Fredericks as openers.

At the start of the series Gibbs required 14 wickets to equal FS Trueman’s record of 307 wickets, a feat he achieved in the second innings of the Adelaide lost test match when he had Mallett caught by Murray. He went one better in the first innings of the, Melbourne test in dismissing Redpath and ended up with 309 scalps when he dismissed Gilmour. He promptly retired from International Cricket.

The accumulated stress of the series was most telling leaving me numb and distressed but no one understood. Why would they, I dared not say. We were not to be whipped and abused in that fashion for quite some time after and I was grateful.

The Chairman · « **Reply #20 on:** 02/05/2012, 11:32 AM »

greg chappell centuries in each innings of first test

ketchim · « **Reply #21 on:** 02/05/2012, 11:42 AM »

Unfortunately for me , Parents had packed my Bags and was busy settling in ...

Toronto !!

Took me a coupla years to be a founder member of Cavaliers Cricket Club.

4th Division Entry level in the Toronto and District League

Mail · « **Reply #22 on:** 02/09/2012, 09:02 PM »

Ketch,

Clearly if you were old enough to travel to Toronto in 1975/76 you were a man.

For me the satisfaction of that series is the pain was not felt until 1994. I have a reprieve of almost 20 years which is not bad.

In terms of commentators, there were some good ones.

ketchim · « **Reply #23 on:** 02/10/2012, 01:53 PM »

Yep , on a student visa to Uni here..

thats where I met fellow west Indians and formed the Club ...

Just could not get the Game out of my blood....

studies be damned !

Author Topic: That Australian Tour of 1975-76 caused me some Grief!! (Read 614 times)

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