Tour of India 1983-84                Captain:  Clive Lloyd

26th West Indies Test tour

Sixth Test-playing tour of India by West Indies

(September 1983  -

                    January 1984)

On 18 July Clive Lloyd reversed his decision to resign from the West Indies' captaincy, made after having been beaten by India in the 1983 World Cup.

Partly because they stood little chance of gaining a place in the Test squad, “… dozens of West Indian players turned their backs on the foreign policy, anti-apartheid positions of their nations in personal quests to accumulate cash” (Beckles). None of the 'rebel' cricketers who had played in South Africa the year before was considered, yet such was the depth of West Indies' playing might that a normal full-strength side could be sent on this sixth tour of India. The West Indians not only won the Test series decisively 3-0 but also exacted revenge for the Prudential World Cup defeat earlier in 1983 by winning all five of the one-day internationals, and even a one-day benefit match for Ghulam Ahmed.

During the final Test match in Madras, Sunil Gavaskar beat Sir Donald Bradman's world record when he scored his thirtieth Test century. Earlier, he had become the highest scorer in Tests, overtaking Geoff Boycott's aggregate. For the West Indians Marshall equalled the West Indian record for most wickets in a series - 33 - while Holding was close behind with 30 wickets.

After the Indian section of the tour, the West Indies party went to Australia to take part in a triangular one-day tournament with Pakistan and Australia, extending the tour by a further six weeks.  Between September 1983 when they came to India and April 1985 when a series against New Zealand concluded in the Caribbean, they played 26 Test matches and X one-day internationals

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

To Australia 1981-82

Next tour

To England 1984

Next tour to India

1987-88

Members of the Test tour party

(16)

Opening batsmen  Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes.

Middle-order batsmen:   Larry Gomes, Clive Lloyd, Gus Logie, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson.

Wicket-keepers:  Jeffrey Dujon, Mylton Pydanna.

Spin bowler:  Roger Harper

Fast bowlers:  Eldine Baptiste, Wayne Daniel, Winston Davis, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts.

Regional representation :

B - Barbados (4)

G  - Guyana (3)

Ja -  Jamaica (2)

L  - Leeward Islands (5)

T  - Trinidad & Tobago 2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(21 Octobber 1983) :

      28 yrs  0 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Lloyd 90, Richards 52, Roberts 45, Greenidge 41, Holding 36, Haynes 29, Gomes 27, Marshall 17, Dujon 8, Logie 5, Daniel 5, Davis 1, Baptiste 0, Harper 0, Pydanna 0, Richardson 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Clive Lloyd, who had on 18 July decided to stay on as West Indies captain, joined Basil Butcher, Jackie Hendriks and Clyde Walcott for the selection meeting. They met on 22 July in Barbados.

Selection

Clive Lloyd was named to lead the tour of India and on to Australia for a one-day series. But at the end of June he announced his retirement as captain; he had injury problems and was very disappointed at losing the World Cup final.  On 18 July he reversed his decision to step down and accepted the appointment.

Wesley Hall was named manager on 23 July.

Simultaneously, the selectors announced their B team to tour Zimbabwe.

Unavailable: Joel Garner (Barbados) 30 was not considered. He had a nagging shoulder injury and his doctor advised that he should rest for two months. All players were chosen subject to stringent medical examinations.

All the rebel cricketers who toured South Africa in 1982-83 were excluded on principle. They were in any case playing there again in mid-November.  They were :  H L Alleyne, G D Armstrong, R A Austin, H S Chang, S T Clarke, C E H Croft, A T Greenidge, B D Julian, A I Kallicharran, C L King, M A Lynch, E H Mattis, D A Murray, A L Padmore, D R Parry, F D Stephenson, E N Trotman, R R Wynter and the captain L G Rowe.

Tour Party Announced :  23 July 1983.

Not selected : Faoud Bacchus, who subsequently signed a contract to play in South Africa; Thelston Payne

Reserve: The selectors named the Antiguan and Leicestershire fast bowler George Ferris as cover for Andy Roberts but, after recovering from an operation on his left knee, Roberts played a full part in the tour.

Time between selection and departure from West Indies

 67 days

 (23 July  - 28 September)

Travel

BridgetownQ  New York Q Bombay

Barbados played against an International XI for Gordon Greenidge's benefit fund on 26 September.

The West Indies team embarked on a six month-long world tour when Wes Hall, Pydanna, Haynes and Davis set off from Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados, on 28 September (Advocate issue missing)  Malcolm Marshall missed the flight. Gomes and Logie joined this group from Trinidad; Richards, Richardson, Roberts and Baptiste joined the same flight.  Dujon, Holding and Harper from Kingston joined the group at New York 

The team arrived in New Delhi from Bombay on the night of 30 September, having flown from the West Indies by way of London where Clive Lloyd joined the team after the 1983 county season. He and Daniel were already in London. Greenidge travelled later and joined the team in India.

Time spent in India

   91 days

(30 September - 30? December)

On-tour selection panel

Clive Lloyd,  Wesley Hall,  Viv Richards,  Gordon Greenidge.

Reinforcements

None.  Although Andy Roberts passed a fitness test on his knee, he strained his back at net practice which kept him out of some matches.  Greenidge took the captaincy against East Zone.

Joel Garner and Richard Gabriel joined the team for the Benson & Hedges one-day series in Australia. Michael Holding was captain in the 3rd ODI final when neither Lloyd nor Richards played owing to injury.

Fixtures/Results

§  ODI

† not first-class

Time spent in India before First Test:   21 days

(30 September - 21 October)

.

Test appearances on tour

6  -  Davis,  Dujon,  Gomes,  Greenidge,  Haynes,  Holding,  Lloyd,  Marshall,  Richards.

3  -  Daniel,  Logie

2 -   Harper,  Roberts

1  -  Baptiste,  Richardson.

0  -  Pydanna.

Time from end of final Test until departure from India      1 day

(29 December - 30? December? )

Match appearances

 Indian tour 1983-84

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

 W won  L lost  D drawn   N no result   A abandoned   u unknown result

Highlights

•   Greenidge’s 194 at Kanpur was his highest Test score, adding 152 (with Dujon) and 130 (with Marshall) in two consecutive stands. Dujon passed fifty four times during the series.

•   Clive Lloyd with 103* at New Delhi and a long innings of 161 not out at Calcutta was the Windies’ top scorer.

•   Wayne Daniel had 5-39 in 11 overs at Ahmedabad

•   Haynes was given out handled the ball at Bombay

•   Vivian Richards scored 120 at Bombay

•   In his first appearance in the series in the 5th Test  Andy Roberts passed 200 Test wickets bowling Kirmani

•   Malcolm Marshall equalled Valentine’s West Indian record for most wickets in a series - 33 in 1950.

Tour Summary

This tour record excludes the 18 one-day matches on the Australian tour.

Return to West Indies

MadrasQ  Sydney

Sydney  Q  

Greendige (to England) and Pydanna (to Guyana) went directly home from India. 

Joel Garner, fit again, flew in to Brisbane on 1 January. He and Richard Gabriel (T & T) joined the team for the Benson & Hedges one-day series in Australia.

The team left Madras on New Year's Day 1984 and arrived in Sydney on 3 January with Mr Rex Fennell, secretary of the Jamaica Board of Control, now taking the role of assistant manager.

After 18 more matches, including victory in the B & H series, the tourists finally set off for the Caribbean and home on Tuesday 14 February, only to start another Test series against Australia almost as soon as they were home.

Time away from West Indies

  140 days 

 (28 September to 15 February)

Finances

The West Indians won $54 000 prize money for winning the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup and $2000 for Joel Garner as player of the series. The Australian Cricket Board added a $30 000 bonus to appease them after they were convinced that tieing at Melbourne and losing fewer wickets was enough to win the trophy.

Published accounts of the tour

Postscript