Tour of  West Indies 1989-90                  Captain :  Graham Gooch       

England's 70th Test tour

(January - April 1990)

Tenth Test-playing tour of West Indies

   (previous tour 1985-86)

The tour got the go-ahead after the Caribbean (CARICOM) Heads of Government conference in Grenada which supported the ICC ruling on players with connections to South Africa. The West Indies Board of Control had pressed for the ICC resolution to be accepted and was relieved that, while players breaking the sporting boycott after 1 April 1989 would not be given entry visas, players who had previously had sporting contacts with South Africa could apply to become eligible again.

England, after capitulating to Australia in the previous summer and losing several leading players to a South African venture, were given little chance of matching the West Indies but won the first Test match at Kingston convincingly with an unexpectedly strong performance.

The second Test was abandoned as a rainy fortnight in Guyana saw only two days’ cricket completed, but England kept their momentum and had victory in their sights at Port of Spain until Gooch’s injury, rain and some time-wasting by West Indies finally made the match a draw.

Now the fortunes had turned, and England could not hold out for a draw at Barbados despite sterling resistance, before losing by a wide margin in Antigua as injuries weakened the side.

All England tours

Previous Test tour

India 1988-89  cancelled

New Zealand 1987-88

Next Test tour

Australia 1990-91

Next tour of  West Indies

1993-94

Members of the Test tour party (16  + 3)

Opening batsmen:  Graham Gooch, Rob Bailey, Wayne Larkins

Middle-order batsmen Allan Lamb, Robin Smith, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart

Wicket-keeper: Jack Russell

All-rounder : David Capel

Slow bowlers: Eddie Hemmings, Keith Medlycott

Fast bowlers: Gladstone Small, Devon Malcolm, Angus Fraser, Phil DeFreitas, Ricardo Ellcock (replaced by Chris Lewis)

County representation:

Dy – Derbyshire (1)

Ex - Essex (2)

Gs - Gloucestershire (1)

Ha - Hampshire (1)

La - Lancashire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Nth - Northamptonshire (4)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)

Sy - Surrey (2)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(24 February 1990) :

 29 yrs 8 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Gooch 73,  Lamb 57,  DeFreitas 13,  Capel 11,  Hemmings 9,  RA Smith 8,  Russell 7,  Larkins 6,  Small 6,  Fraser 3, DM Smith 2,  Bailey 1,  Malcolm 1,  Hussain 0,  Ellcock 0,  Medlycott 0,  Stewart 0,  Lewis 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Ted Dexter (chairman),   Micky Stewart (coach),  Graham Gooch (captain).

Selection

Unavailable :  Ian Botham was persuaded to make himself available then not picked. Gooch did not want David Gower in his side.

Not considered:  It was announced on 1 August that Mike Gatting and other 16 other England players had signed a contract with the SACU (South African Cricket Union) to tour South Africa and so became ineligible for any international cricket under the control of the ICC for five years.

Philip DeFreitas and Roland Butcher then withdrew from the South African tour and became available. The other players were: David Graveney, Bill Athey, Kim Barnett, Chris Broad,  Chris Cowdrey,  Graham Dilley, Richard Ellison,  John Emburey,  Neil Foster,  Bruce French,  Paul Jarvis,  Matthew Maynard,  Tim Robinson.

Tour party announced :  September 1985.

Time between selection and departure from England

   days

 (September  - 25 January)

Travel

London Q Bridgetown

Pre-tour training took place with Geoffrey Boycott called in as a batting adviser

Departure was from Heathrow Airport on 25 January 1990.

Time spent in West Indies

    83 days

(25 January -  18 April)

On-tour selection panel

Graham Gooch (captain),  Allan Lamb (vice-captain),  Micky Stewart  (cricket manager)

Reinforcements

Chris Lewis was brought in for Ricky Ellcock who returned without playing a match owing to a back injury.

Graham Gooch broke a finger in the 2nd Test, and would have been replaced by Mike Atherton but he had pulled a groin muscle on the England 'A' tour in Zimbabwe. So David Smith joined the tour in place of Gooch before he, too,  broke a finger. Angus Fraser was also ruled out of the last part of the tour by a rib injury.

David Gower played in one match against Barbados, and David Bairstow was asked to come on in the same match as a substitute wicket-keeper.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in West Indies before First Test:   30 days

(25 January - 24 February)

Test appearances on tour

(v  West Indies 1990 - excluding the abandoned Test match)

4 -   Capel,  Lamb,  Larkins,  Malcolm,  Russell,  Small,  R.A.Smith,  Stewart

3 -   Bailey,  Hussain.

2 -   DeFreitas,  Fraser,  Gooch.

1 -  

0 -   Ellcock,  Hemmings,  Medlycott.  D.M.Smith.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

∙ appearaed as substitute

 W won  L lost  D drawn

N no result   A abandoned

u unknown result

England announced their twelve before the Test at Bourda was abandoned  (match j)

Robin Smith played in every match possible.

England’s six previous Test tour results

Highlights

•  Allan Lamb scored 132 in the first Test at Kingston, sharing a stand of 172 with Robin Smith

•  Angus Fraser took 5-28 at Kingston; and Devon Malcolm took the first 4 wickets in the second innings

•  Devon Malcolm took 4-60 and 6-77 in the Port of Spain Test, giving him match figures of 10 for 137.

•  Graham Gooch (84) and Wayne Larkins (54) shared an opening partnership of 112 at Port of Spain.

•  Allan Lamb, now captaining the side, scored another century at Bridgetown (4th Test)

•  Gladstone Small took eight wickets (4-109 and 4-74) at Bridgetown

•  Robin Smith batted for eleven hours in scoring 62 and 40 not out, attempting to save the Bridgetown Test

Tour Summary

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

Return to England

Bridgetown  Q  London

18 April 1990.

Time away from England

    83 days

(25 January -  18 April)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

Video : "Victory!"  (Castle Hendring Communications) 63 minutes.

Postscript