Test Cricket Tours - Australia to West Indies 1998-99
Tour of West Indies 1998-99Captain: Steve Waugh
67th
Test tour
Eighth Test-playing tour
of West Indies by Australia
(February - April 1999)
West Indies capitulated in the
first Test - all out for 51, losing by an innings - which prolonged their
dreadful run of results (they had just been beaten 5-0 in South Africa).
Then Brian Lara almost single-handedly turned the series round by
masterminding victories in the 2nd and 3rd Tests: he played two of the
greatest innings seen in Test cricket. However, even though he scored another
hundred in the last Test, the Australians won in Antigua
to square the series which allowed them to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy.
The fifth one-day international
at Bourda ended in chaos with the crowd invading the playing area and seizing
the stumps as the Australian batsmen turned for a third run to bring the
scores level. Match referee Raman Subba Row viewed video evidence and ordered
that the result should be a tie. Of
greater concern than results were the inadequate arrangements for the
players' safety. In the 7th ODI at Bridgetown things were
no better: fans showered the ground with bottles in protest at Sherwin
Campbell's run out.
Trevor Hohns (chairman),
Allan Border, Andrew Hilditch and Geoff Marsh.
Selection
The appointments of captain and vice-captain were decided by the
Australian Cricket Board's directors at their full meeting in Melbourne on Friday 12
February 1999.
Unavailable: After a long period considering whether to retire
after the Ashes series against England, Mark Taylor stood down
from the Australian captaincy on 2 February.
Tour Party Announced:8 February
1999.
Not selected :
When the names of the players
for the ODI series were announced on 24 March only six members of the Test
tour party were included.
Time between selection and departure from Australia
9 days
(8 February - 17 February)
Travel
SydneyQAntigua
The team gathered in Sydney, flying out on 17 February.They arrived in Barbados
on a British Airways flight and after a two-hour stopover, took at BWIA
flight to Antigua on 19 February.
Nine players joined the squad for the one-day
internationals.
Time spent in West Indies
71 days
(19 February - 1 May)
On-tour
selection
Steve Waugh (captain),
Geoff Marsh (coach), Shane Warne (vice-captain).
National selector Allan Border was co-opted to the
panel to decide that Shane Warne would not play in the fifth Test.
Reinforcements
A C Gilchrist
W
27
WKLHB
ODI
Ian Healy had injuries to his calf muscles so Adam Gilchrist was summoned and
arrived in Antigua on 1 April, on standby ready
to make his Test debut.
As the Test players went
home, Andy Bichel was called back to join the one-day squad because Adam Dale
had a chest infection.
•Michael Slater scored 106 at Port of Spain to help
build a winning Australian lead in the first Test.
•Glenn McGrath (5-28) and Jason Gillespie
(4-18)dismissed West
Indies for 51, their lowest total in Tests
•McGrath took 30 wickets at 16.93, the most
wickets ever taken by a bowler in a series in the West
Indies.
•Steve Waugh scored 199 at Bridgetown,
though his 72* at St John's
was probably just as valuable.
•Waugh extended Mark Taylor's run of consecutive
tosses won by Australia
to a record 12 in a row.
Tour
Summary
P
W
L
D
T
Aban
Test Matches
4
2
2
0
0
-
Other first-class matches
3
2
0
1
0
-
ϯ Minor matches
0
-
-
-
-
-
§ One-day internationals
7
3
3
0
1
-
All Matches
14
7
5
1
1
-
Return
to Australia
BridgetownQLondon
LondonQMelbourne
Nine Test players went back to Australia after the Test series
on c 9 April
Andy Bichel was recalled to St Vincent as stand-by for Adam Dale
who had a chest infection, but the management then decided that both would
return to Australia
on 14 April.
On 1 May 1999 the 14 players in the one-day squad flew from Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados, to Gatwick
Airport, London,
to play in the 1999 World Cup in England.
The Australian players flew in to Melbourne on 23 June. As World Cup winners,
they were given a ticker-tape parade and the keys to the city. A few days
later another 100 000 fans watched the team parade the World Cup trophy
through Sydney
city centre.