Everything You Need to Know About the West Indies Cricket Team

West Indies Cricketing History

When a unified West Indies team toured North America in the 1880s, West Indies cricket was established. Later, in the 1890s, representative teams were selected to compete against some English touring teams. A West Indies cricket team would then tour England, which was settled upon and frequently happening up until 1913. These games eventually halted for an unknown cause, and the West Indies cricket team didn't play cricket again until they toured England in 1923. It must be noted that because the British had colonized those islands, the early West Indian sides were more white-dominated. In contrast to racial discrimination, this was more of a social issue.

The Marylebone Cricket Club invited the West Indies, New Zealand, and India to join as Full Members of the ICC in 1926 to promote cricket throughout the British Empire. They might now participate in authorized test matches as a result. The West Indies played England at Lord's on June 23, 1928, becoming the fourth team to compete in a test match. The visitors ultimately lost this three-match series by a lopsided margin. They failed to bowl England out for fewer than 350 runs in any of their innings and never scored more than 250 runs in any of their innings.

Windies First Test Match

On February 26, 1930, the West Indies won their first test match. They engaged in a series with a depleted England team and ended in a 1-1 draw. They have always had some outstanding players, but until the 1960s, their success in international cricket was quite erratic.

Sir Frank Worrell was selected to lead a team to Australia in 1960, making him the first black captain of the West Indies. For the following three years, Worrell would serve as captain, and during that time, he helped develop a group of young but promising cricket players into one of the greatest teams the world had ever seen. The West Indies squad was moving up, while Australia's team was the best in the world in 1960, although they were in a steady downward spiral. When the two crews came together, they created what is regarded as one of the best series ever.

The first time this has ever happened, the first test resulted in a tie, with each team taking one of the following two. Australia's final two batsmen were able to bat for 100 minutes in the fourth game to secure a draw for their team. This meant that the series' final test had everything on the line. Australia eventually prevailed in the game by two wickets. Despite losing, the West Indies made such an impression that the Frank Worrell Trophy was given a new name.

The West Indies cricket team decimated India 5-0 at home the following year before defeating a quality England squad 3-1 the following year. Worrell played in this final test series before being replaced as captain by Garfield Sobers. The West Indies hosted the Australians in 1964, taking the series 2-1, and they were now essentially the world's top team.

When they lost 3-1 to Australia, drew with New Zealand, and then fell 2-0 to England the following year, things started to go wrong. The first time they lost to India was in 1970. They played a five-match series against New Zealand the following year, which finished in a 0-0 tie. They played Australia in the Caribbean in 1972 and once again fell short. When they toured England in 1972 and won the series 2-0, they returned to winning ways.

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The rise to prominence of outstanding athletes like Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, and Vivian Richards enabled the West Indies cricket team to win the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1975. Following this, the team added outstanding players, including Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, and Malcolm Marshall. The West Indies cricket team possessed a team with a lot of talent at this point. They continued to dominate world cricket until roughly 1998 after winning the 1979 World Cup and keeping their trophy. Cricket fans were fortunate to witness the rise of stars like Brian Lara, Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose, and Phil Simmons along the way.

They made a 1998 tour of South Africa and fell short 5-0. After attempting to advance past the group stage of the 1999 World Cup, they suffered their first loss to England in three decades. As if this wasn't awful enough, they lost to Australia 5-0 afterward, then in 1999, they fell to New Zealand 2-0. However, the West Indies team quickly returned to form and won the T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016.