Was the 1979-80 win at Adelaide the most defining moment and best achievement ever in the history of West Indies test cricket?

[Harsh Thakor]

40 years ago in from January 26-30th in 1980 with a thumping 408 run win at Adelaide West Indies defined a new era in their cricket history.For the 1st time they were crowned the undisputed champions of test cricket.In the past they were a bunch of highly talented individuals but it was in the late 1970's that they bound themselves in a cohesive unit to emerge as champion team.Defeating Australia on their home soil took West Indian cricket to to its pinnacle of glory with Australia just comprehensively trouncing England by a 3-0 margin.This win was the precursor to West Indies establishing supremacy in sport,let alone cricket as few nation sever did.The body language of the West Indies cricketers on the field told it all.Their pace bowlers took agression in sport to its crescendo resembling an army seeking revenge.I just cannot forget the sight of the quartet thundering in like like a bulldozer making the impact of lightning being struck.It was a revelation witnessing the fiery exuberance of the West Indians in the field resembling a battered  army resurrected from the grave to rise like  a phoenix from the Ashes.The team took spirit of vengeance in Sport to its deepest depth..To me this win at Adelaide was the most defining moment in the history of West Indies cricket.

The architects of this great turning point at Adelaide were Andy Roberts and Clive Lloyd,who delivered the final knockout punch.

 

On the 1st day Lloyd made a spectacular return to form with a blistering 121.He executed some of the most dazzling strokes with one boundary even surpassing the domination of Sir Viv Richards on the same day.It was reminiscent of an emperor ressurecting himself on the battlefield to attain glory,similar to Muhammad Ali.Lloyd treated the likes of Dennis Lillee with sheer disdain taking strokeplay to regions of the sublime.It enabled West Indies to reach a competitive total of 328.To me it was one of the most majestic batting exhibitions ever expressing the command of a great military general and pounding the bowling attack like the onslaught of a military tank.I can never foget how he mercillesly he drove,cut and pulled Lilllee and Pascoe all around the ground.Earlier in the day t was Viv Richards who had writtten the script with a majestic 76 with Lloyd going on to light the silvers screen of it like a spark turning into a prairie fire.Clive was literally cometh the hour cometh the man.,as he was o many times before ,being his nation's most faithful servant.

The next day Andy Roberts bowled what were arguably the 2 best successive deliveries in test cricket giving a perfect illustration to why he was dubbed as 'the silent asassin.'Storming in he resembled a tiger prowling and stealthily attacking its prey.Ist he removed Ian Chappell with a snorter rising from a good length to be caught after a succession of deliveries with disconcerting bounce. The next ball again rose up alarmingly to have Greg Chappell hopping and fending of a catch to gully.I just don have an adjective to describe the elation in the West Indies camp who liked like a new spirit was infused into them and were on the verge of acheiving untold glory.2 of the greatest batsmen of the last decade were dismissed with pace bowling artistry taken to heights of the sublime.Ian Chappell was the best batsmen of his era in a crisis while brother Greg was arguably the closest to the perfect batsmen.Andy had laid the base for the attack to deliver a final knockout blow and roll over the opposition.It is difficult to even conceive a pace bowler today surpassing Andy's skill with the bouncing ball.Those deliveries were testimony of why he was ranked as the hardest pace bowler to face in his time. or such a scourge of great batsmen.No over could have better illustrated Roberts supreme craft,variety and intelligence to outwit or set up the greatest opponents.Arguably no 2 consecutive deliveries bowled by a bowler so much defined its cricket history.

 

The West Indies went on to run through the rest of the Aussie batting line up to skittle them for 200.In the 2nd innings their batsmen went on barrage to give a target of 573 runs to win .The West Indies pace bowlers demolished the Aussie batting line for a mere 165 in the 2nd innings with the impact of a bomber attacking an airbase.There could never have been a more ample illustration of a tiger going for the kill.

In that series and test West Indies took spirit of vengeance to its boiling point after its 5-1 humiliation in Australia in 1975-76.It was reminiscent of an army avenging defeat in a battle with the players looking like an army batallion determined to seek revenge from an enemy.Cllive Lloyd had marvellously united a bunch of scattered talent like an Army rising like a phoenix from the Ashes.Viv Richards was simply in another league being the outstanding batsmen in the series .Colin Croft was the most successful bowler.In my view this win was the best achievement ever of West Indies in a test series if you consider the opposition.Clive Lloyd must be given credit for garnering or  his resources or galvanizing its potential so methodically.What gave this Calypso pace attack the cutting edge was the variety and hostility in its pace attack  and versatility in its batting.The sheer speed through the air of Holding,the craft and variety of Roberts,the pin point accuracy and steep bounce of Garner with the hostility of Croft made it the most potent pace attack ever .Viv Richards superlative domination or unmatched genius played a major or decisive  factor but it was topped with the base of the opening pair of Greenidge and Haynes,the grace of Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kalicharan and power of Clive Lloyd.

 

To me this was the best West Indies team ever better than the teams led by Frank Worrell and Gary Sobers in 1963 and 66 or the team sof 1984-85.Viv was at his best and so was Garner,Greenidge and Clive Lloyd.It conquered an Australian team containing the likes of the Chappel brothers,Border,Hughes,Lillee ,Thomson and Pascoe.

Even if overall out performed by other stars in the series it was fitting that it was Clive Lloyd and Andy Roberts who defined the moments when West Inside cricket reached its pinnacle.Even with Viv Richards ,Michael Holding or Joel Garner at their best in the crux situation they were overshadowed by Lloyd and Andy who took agression and craftsmanship to its ultimate height.The cricket world can never forget the extent to which the pair lifted the face of West Indian cricket in the darkest waters.

Here is a youtube of what was arguably West Indies cricket most defining moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X611cmsV4c

Edited January 29, 2020 by Harsh Thakor

[Tattieboy]

This was a pretty average Australian side especially 1980 .  Ian Chappell was finished as a player , he retired one month later , Julian Wiener and Bruce Laird were hardly a good opening partnership , Wiener played his last test 3 months later as did Dymock, Ashley Mallet played his last a few months later . Rod Marsh did his usual of flattering to deceive an average of 26.51 ..3/16 as against Alan Knott's 32.75 ..5/30  shows that . 

This was a very much declining side against a West Indies at the top of their game nothing special about it it was what was expected .

So in my opinion no it wasn't their greatest and defining moment .

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, Tattieboy said:

This was a pretty average Australian side especially 1980 .  Ian Chappell was finished as a player , he retired one month later , Julian Wiener and Bruce Laird were hardly a good opening partnership , Wiener played his last test 3 months later as did Dymock, Ashley Mallet played his last a few months later . Rod Marsh did his usual of flattering to deceive an average of 26.51 ..3/16 as against Alan Knott's 32.75 ..5/30  shows that . 

This was a very much declining side against a West Indies at the top of their game nothing special about it it was what was expected .

So in my opinion no it wasn't their greatest and defining moment .

You are spot on , 1980 Australian team was one of its weakest teams.Winning against it by one of the strongest teams in history of cricket is not a big deal at all.

[Harsh Thakor]

21 minutes ago, putrevus said:

You are spot on , 1980 Australian team was one of its weakest teams.Winning against it by one of the strongest teams in history of cricket is not a big deal at all.

A team that beat England 3-0.A team with Chappell brother,sLillee ,Border and Hughes?With so many WSC players?please explain.