Tour of  West Indies 1967-68             Captain : Colin Cowdrey
	England’s fifty-first Test tour (December 1967 -          April 1968)       Sixth Test-playing tour of West Indies by England     (previous tour 1959-60)	Brian Close was expected to be captain but, after his alleged time-wasting in the Warwickshire v Yorkshire county match at Edgbaston, M.C.C. ruled him out of the tour on 21 August. The Chairman of Selectors admitted that Close would have been skipper but for this incident, so Cowdrey became captain by default. He viewed the West Indies tour as the beginning of a campaign challenging, firstly, West Indies on their home pitches, then Australia at home and away, and finally South Africa, also twice. However, the captain could never have foreseen how being deprived of so many key players would wreck his planning. On this tour Fred Titmus lost four toes in a boating accident. West Indies had the best all-round cricket team in the world but the first three Test matches were drawn. The first at Bridgetown England might have won. West Indies fell just short of the follow-on target and, when Dave Brown took three wickets in an over just before tea, were 180-8 but held out for a draw. It was England’s turn to hold out for a draw at Kingston, having made all the running when Snow’s fast bowling forced West Indies to follow on again and then lose five wickets with an innings’ defeat still in sight. A crowd disturbance, and the police response with tear gas, interrupted England when they were on top and next day, set 158 to win, England collapsed to 68-8. Another draw followed at Bridgetown before Sobers, in an optimistic gamble, declared at Port of Spain, thinking he could spin England out before they could score 215 on the last afternoon of the 4th Test.  England won with three minutes to spare, and then got away with a tense draw in the final Test to take the rubber one-nil and win the Wisden Trophy for the first time.	Other England tours       Previous Test tour Australia & New Zealand 1965-66     Next Test tour South Africa 1968-69   cancelled Pakistan 1968-69       Next tour of  West Indies 1973-74
	Members of the Test tour party (16  +  1)     Opening batsmen:  Geoff Boycott, John Edrich, Colin Milburn Middle-order batsmen Ken Barrington, Tom Graveney, Colin Cowdrey, Basil D’Oliveira Wicket-keepers: Jim Parks, Alan Knott Slow bowlers: Fred Titmus (replaced by Tony Lock), Pat Pocock, Robin Hobbs Fast bowlers: Jeff Jones, John Snow, David Brown, Ken Higgs.	K F Barrington Sy 37 RHB         LBG His great assets were concentration and determination in a crisis. Picked up several useful wickets with leg-spin G Boycott Yo 27 RHB opener     (RM) Leading run-scorer with 1200 runs in all matches, he grew in stature into perhaps the best opener in the world D J Brown Wk 25 RFM With Jones and Snow, formed England’s strongest opening attack for years M C Cowdrey Kt 35 RHB  captain Often held the innings together with a masterly display of strokes. As skipper could not be more determined to win B L D'Oliveira Wo 36 RHB          RM Lusty striker of the ball and all-rounder essential for the balance of the side but became prone to errors in the field J H Edrich Sy 30 LHB opener The ideal opening partner for Boycott, gutsy, patient and dependable. T W Graveney Wo 40 RHB       deputy-captain Appointed vice-captain after Titmus’s injury. As commanding and elegant a driver of the ball as ever K Higgs La 31 RFM Always on the fringe, he bowled well but without penetration because the pitches did not suit him R N S Hobbs Ex 25 LBG Took plenty of cheap wickets in the side matches but unable to hold a place in the Test side I J Jones Gm 26 LF Aggressive left-arm pacer capable of high speed but bowled too many bouncers and too much on leg-stump A P E Knott Kt 21 WK A cool temperament as well as high ability with gloves and bat to take his place as England’s no 1 for many years C Milburn Nth 26 RHB  opener Poor umpiring decisions at the start of the tour and some intemperate shots meant he never got a start in Tests J M Parks Sx 36 RHB        WK Lost his ‘keeping place because of a back injury and broken finger. Remained a hard-hitting free scorer with the bat P I Pocock Sy 21 OB Becoming the main off-spinner when Titmus went home but, without much experience, Lock was preferred J A Snow Sx 26 RF Always hostile and threatening in short bursts, he demolished the West Indies batting twice in the Tests F J Titmus Mx 35 OB       vice-captain Usually steady and economical, if not often able to break through.	County representation:   Ex  -  Essex (1) Gm - Glamorgan (1) Kt  -  Kent (2) La - Lancashire (1) Mx - Middlesex (1) Nth - Northamptonshire (1) Sy - Surrey (3) Sx - Sussex (2) Wk - Warwickshire (1) Wo - Worcestershire (2) Yo - Yorkshire (1)        Average age of  team at time of first Test match (19 January 1968):  30 yrs  3 months.
	Test Appearances made before the tour	Cowdrey 92,  Barrington 74,  Graveney 65,  Lock 47,  Titmus 47,  Parks 43,  Boycott 27,  Edrich 21,  Higgs 14,  Brown 11,  Jones 10,  Snow 9,  D'Oliveira 9,  Milburn 6,  Hobbs 4,  Knott 2,  Pocock 0.
	Tour Officials	Les Ames Manager Jack Jennings Physiotherapist   The manager's name was announced on 2 August.
	Selectors	Doug Insole (chairman), Alec Bedser,  Peter May,  Don Kenyon,  David Clark,  Arthur Gilligan (sitting in for Gubby Allen, who was in hospital with an arthritic hip),  Colin Cowdrey and Billy Griffith.
	Selection	Unavailable : Bob Barber (business), Mike Smith (temporary retirement for business reasons), Not considered:  John Price was injured and Barry Knight still playing 2nd XI cricket while qualifying for Leicestershire The M.C.C. committee ruled out Brian Close from the captaincy, and then invited Colin Cowdrey to become captain on 27 August, but did not announce it until 30 August. Tour party announced : 30 August 1967. Not selected:   Derek Underwood,  Geoff Arnold.	Time between selection and departure from England    119 days  (30 August - 27 December)
	Travel London  Q  Bridgetown	On 27 December 1967 the team flew from Heathrow Airport, London, to Bridgetown, Barbados. As M.C.C. flew in to Seawell Airport at 7:50 pm on 27 December, the Speedbird steelband welcomed them.  Lance Gibbs was also flying in on the same B.O.A.C. plane	Time spent in West Indies     99 days (27 December  -  4 April)
	On-tour selection panel	Colin Cowdrey (captain),  Fred Titmus (vice-captain),  Les Ames (manager). Tom Graveney later joined the selectors
	Reinforcements	G A R Lock WA 37 SLA Finger-spinner brought his aggressive attacking approach from Australia - as well as making his highest score in Tests   Tony Lock, now a Western Australia player, was called in to the side for Fred Titmus who lost four toes of his left foot in a boating accident before the Barbados match. Lock arrived on the penultimate day of the third Test. Titmus left for London on Thursday 7 March. Tom Graveney took over the vice-captaincy.
	Fixtures/Results	a ϯ Bridgetown Barbados Colts (2-day) Drawn b Bridgetown WI Board President's XI Drawn c Port of Spain Trinidad & Tobago Drawn d ϯ Pointe-a-Pierre Trinidad Colts (2-day) Drawn e PORT OF SPAIN WEST INDIES  First Test DRAWN f ϯ Montego Bay Jamaica Colts (2-day) Drawn g Kingston Jamaica Won 174 r h KINGSTON WEST INDIES  Second Test DRAWN i St John’s Leeward Islands Drawn j Bridgetown Barbados Drawn k BRIDGETOWN WEST INDIES  Third Test DRAWN l Castries Windward Islands Drawn (rain) m PORT OF SPAIN WEST INDIES  Fourth Test WON 7 w n Georgetown Guyana Won 10 w o ϯ Georgetown Guyana Colts (reduced by weather to 1-day) Won 6 w p GEORGETOWN WEST INDIES  Fifth Test DRAWN	† not first-class   Time spent in West Indies before First Test:    23 days (27 December  - 19 January)
	Test appearances on tour (v  West Indies 1967-68)	5 -  Barrington,  Boycott,  Cowdrey,  D'Oliveira,  Edrich,  Graveney,  Jones. 4 -  Brown,  Snow. 3 -  Parks. 2 -  Knott,  Lock,  Pocock,  Titmus. 1 -  Hobbs. 0 -  Higgs,  Milburn.
	Match appearances           T  Test match x other match     W won  L lost  D drawn  T  tied N no result   A abandoned u unknown result	a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p K F Barrington   x x x T   x T x x T x T   x T G Boycott x x x   T x   T x x T x T x   T D J Brown x   x   T     T     T x T   x   M C Cowdrey   x x x T x x T     T x T   x T B L D'Oliveira x x x   T x x T x x T   T x x T J H Edrich x x x x T x x T   x T   T x   T T W Graveney   x x x T   x T x x T   T x x T K Higgs   x   x   x x   x x   x   x x   R N S Hobbs x     x T x x   x     x   x     I J Jones x   x   T     T x   T x T x   T A P E Knott x   x x   x     x x   x T x x T G A R Lock                       x T   x T C Milburn x   x x   x x   x x   x   x x   J M Parks x x   x T x x T   x T x   x     P I Pocock x x   x   x x   x x T     x x T J A Snow   x   x   x x T   x T   T   x T F J Titmus x x x   T     T x                R E S U L T S D D D D D D W D D D D D W W W D	England’s six previous Test tour results
	Highlights	•   England began with the series with a total of 568 including centuries from Ken Barrington (143) and Tom Graveney (118). Barrington typically reached his century with a six. •  West Indies were forced to follow on and slumped to 180-8 when Brown took three wickets in an over but held out for an eventual draw. •   Colin Cowdrey (101) and John Edrich (96) scored 129 together for the 2nd wicket at Kingston. •   John Snow’s 7 for 49 at Kingston forced West Indies to follow on for the second match in succession •   John Edrich (146) and Geoffrey Boycott (90) shared an opening partnership of 172 at Bridgetown •   England responded to Gary Sobers’ declaration at Port of Spain by winning with three minutes to spare. •   Tony Lock who had his debut in 1952, made his highest score (89) at Georgetown in his final match for England •   Geoff Boycott topped 1200 runs in all matches for the tour.
	Tour Summary	F W L  D Aban Test Matches   5 1 0   4 - Other first-class matches   7 2 0   5 - †Minor matches   4 1 0   3 - All Matches 16 4 0 12 -	F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned
	Return to England   Georgetown   Q  London	After the final Test at Bourda a crowd attacked the M.C.C. team as their bus left the ground. Tony Lock was hit by a stone, and the police had to escort them to their hotel.  The team flew out of Atkinson Air Field, 30 miles from Georgetown, to Bridgetown the next day, 4 April, and landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday 5 April, Cowdrey bringing the Wisden Trophy with him. Gary Sobers, who would be playing for Nottinghamshire in 1968 was on the same plane.	Time away from England   100 days   (27 December - 5 April 1968)
	Finances
	Accounts of the tour	"In the Main"   by J S Barker (Pelham, 1968) "The M.C.C. Tour of West Indies 1968”   by Brian Close (Stanley Paul, 1968) “Cricket in Three Moods"  by Henry Blofeld (Hodder & Stoughton, 1970)
	Postscript
	Other Test tours in 1967-68	India to Australia & New Zealand 1967-68

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