Tour of West Indies 1980-81               Captain :   Ian Botham               

England’s sixty-first Test tour

(January -  April 1981)

Eighth Test playing tour of West Indies

   (previous tour 1973-74)

A political upheaval, followed in quick succession by tragedy and defeat, ruined this tour. Robin Jackman was called up as a reinforcement but the Guyanan government announced it would deport him because he had coached and played in South Africa for the last twelve winters. Consequently, England withdrew from the Georgetown Test and the future of the tour was in the balance.  The BCCP quickly offered to send a Pakistan team for a 3-Test tour if England went home but the tour proceeded in Barbados.

During the third Test match in Bridgetown, England's assistant manager Ken Barrington suffered a heart attack and died, aged 50. These events put further strain on the young captain Ian Botham, leading England for the first time abroad. Nobody had expected things to be easy for him because West Indies possessed such a strong team. Bad weather in the pre-tour practices, the loss of the vice-captain Bob Willis, and frequent injuries added to Botham's difficulties.  

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

Australia & India 1979-80

Next Test tour

India 1981-82

Next tour of  West Indies

1985-86

Members of the Test tour party (16)

Opening batsmen:  Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Brian Rose

Middle-order batsmen David Gower, Peter Willey, Roland Butcher, Mike Gatting

Wicket-keepers: David Bairstow, Paul Downton

All-rounders:  Ian Botham

Slow bowlers: Geoff Miller, John Emburey,

Fast bowlers: Chris Old, Bob Willis, Graham Dilley, Graham Stevenson

County representation:

Dy – Derbyshire (1)

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Kt  -  Kent (1)

Le -  Leicestershire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (4)

Nth - Northamptonshire (1)

Sm - Somerset (2)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(13 February 1980) :

28 yrs 2 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Boycott 94,  Willis 57,  Old 43,  Botham 31,  Gooch 26,  Miller 24,  Gower 22,  Willey 12,  Emburey 10,  Rose 8,  Gatting 7,  Dilley 5,  Bairstow 3,  Athey 1,  Stevenson 1,  Butcher 0,  Downton 0,  Jackman 0.

Tour Officials

The manager's name was announced on 12 August and his assistant on 7 November 1980.  At first the plan was not to take an assistant manager, whose duties were essentially those of coach.

Selectors

Selectors :  Alec Bedser (chairman), Ken Barrington,  Brian Close,  Charlie Elliott.  Peter May,  Alan Smith,  Charles Palmer (chairman of the TCCB) and  Ian Botham (captain).

Selection

Unavailable :   Mike Brearley,  Mike Hendrick,  Alan Knott.

Announcement of the touring party was delayed by ten days to allow fitness tests to be carried out on Dilley, Willey, Willis and Old.

Tour party announced :  15 September 1980.

Roland Butcher, who had opted to play for England rather than West Indies in July 1980, was returning to his native Barbados for the first time since his family left in 1967.

Five members of the team - Botham, Miller, Old, Willey, Willis - had to undergo a stringent medical test before the tour.                      

Time between selection and departure from England

   122 days

 (15 September - 15 January)

Travel

London  Q  St John’s

The team flew from London Airport on 15 January 1980 to St Johns, Antigua, for a week of acclimatisation.

Time spent in West Indies

    92 days

(15 January  -  17 April)

On-tour selection panel

Ian Botham (captain),  Ken Barrington (cricket manager),  Alan Smith (manager),  Bob Willis (vice-captain)

Reinforcements

Bob Willis  left the West Indies on Friday 20 February. Damaged left knee ligaments forced him to return

Robin Jackman arrived in Georgetown, Guyana, at 3 am on 23 February to replace Willis.

Geoff Miller succeeded Willis as vice-captain and joined the tour committee.

Brian Rose had a defect in his right eye and returned home from Georgetown at the end of February. In his place,  Bill Athey, who had playing grade cricket in Australia, flew in via Hawaii on 6 March.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in West Indies before First Test:

  29 days

(15 January - 13 February)

Test appearances on tour

   (v West Indies 1980-81)

4 -   Botham,  Boycott,  Dilley,  Emburey, Gooch,   Gower,  Willey.

3 -   Butcher,  Downton

2 -   Athey,  Jackman.

1 -   Bairstow,  Gatting,  Miller,  Rose,  Stevenson.

0 -   Willis.

Match appearances

T  Test match

x other match 

 W won  L lost  D drawn 

T  tied   C  cancelled

N no result   A abandoned

u unknown result

England’s six previous Test tour results

Highlights

•  T

• 

• 

• 

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to England

Kingston  Q  Bermuda  Q  London

Bob Willis arrived back in England on 21 February for an operation on his knee. Brian Rose also returned home early for treatment to his right eye, arriving back at Heathrow airport on 27 February.

The team flew out of Norman Manley International Airport, Kingston, via Bermuda, to Heathrow on 17 April 1981.

Gower went to Barbados for a holiday.

A benefit match (for Zaheer Abbas) was not part of the official tour programme.

Time away from England

  92 days 

 (15 January - 17 April)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

"In the Fast Lane"   by Geoffrey Boycott  (Arthur Barker, 1981)

"My Cricket Diary"   by Graham Gooch (Hutchinson, 1988)

"Another Bloody Day in Paradise"   by Frank Keating (Andre Deutsch, 1981)

"The England Team Tour Book"   by Peter Smith (T.C.C.B.) (Pelham Books, 1981)

“After a Remarkable Recovery”   by J M Cajetan Gomes (Book Guild Publishing Ltd (1982))

Postscript

Other tours in 1980-81

West Indians in Pakistan 1980-81 - captain Clive Lloyd

Indians in Australia & New Zealand 1980-81 - captain Sunil Gavaskar

New Zealanders in Australia 1980-81 - captain Geoff Howarth