Greatest turning point of West Indian cricket in their reign at the top?

[Harsh Thakor]

No team in the history of test cricket dominated the world arguably with the supremacy of the West Indies under Clive Lloyd from the late 1970's to the mid -1980's.They reminded you of an invincible army.We were reminded of King Alexander leading a victory parade.Even previous teams under Frank Worrel and Gary Sobers could not match the achievement of Clive Lloyd's invincibles. Cllive Lloyd brilliantly re-organized his team after the 5-1 drubbing in Australia in 1975-76.He literally resurrected the West Indian team after the Australian debacle like a military commander raising the morale of a battered batallion.The bouncer war waged at Kingston turned the tables in favour of the Calypos at Kingston v India after they were in danger of being beaten.India had just acheived the record 4th innings wining total in a run chase in the 3rd test at Trinidad successfully chasing a target of 406 runs to win by 6 wickets.This infuriated the West Indies who looked like tigers coming out of a bush.The history of bodyline repeated itself. In England in 1976 West Indies demolished England 3-0 with Viv Richards exhibiting the supreme command of an emperor dictating his knights.When batting Viv looked like a player moving his pawn son a chessboard.Holding ,Robers and Daniel demoralised the English batting with brutal pace. West-Indies won a hard fought series by a 2-1 margin at home in 1977 after coming within touching distance of defeat in the 1st test at Barbados.The final test at Kingston was the decider where the Calypsos registered an emphatic win. In Kerry Packer World Series cricket the West Indies won their 1stInternational series in Australia by winning the Garfield Sobers trophy against the hosts,Australia by a 2-1 margin.Both tests were won in tight finishes.In the home edition of World Series Cricket in West Indies however the Calypsos only mange to draw 1-1 ,inspite of dominating 3 of the 4 supertests. In 1979-80 the West Indies made a bid to win a test series on Australian soil for the 1st time.The 1st test ended in a hard fought draw.However the West Indies came back superbly to win the remaining 2 test matches at Adelaide and Melbourne.The greatest turning point to me was Andy Robert's capturing of Ian and Greg Chappell of succesive balls in the 1st innings of the third and final test at Adelaide that set the base at Adelaide for the West Indies to topple Australia and capture their 1st ever test series winon Australian soil.Both deliveries were unplayable rising steeply from just short of a good length with the batsman struggling to fend them off and offering a catch.It was difficult to describe the jubilation of the West Indian camp after the dismissal of both the Chappel brothers by Roberts.Andy's bowling exhibited every component of great pace bowling-be it pace,control or movement.In the 2nd innings Australia crashed to lose by 408 runs.Clive Lloyd's 1st innings century,Alvin Kalicharan's 2nd innings century and the 70's of Viv Richards made an important contribution.In the series Viv Richard's batting was majestic while the West Indian pace quartet was the best ever bowling attack to ever perform in Australia. Strangely the Calypsos were beaten 1-0 by New Zealand after a sensational 1 wicket defeat at Dunedin.The absence of Viv Richards was a major factor. In 1980 West Indies only manged to win 1-0 in a series marred by rain,which morally they should have won 3-0.Infact the Carribeans were lucky to win at Trent Bridge where dropped catches cost the home team a famous victory.Inpsite of the loss of some senior members the West Indies beat Pakistan 1-0 in Pakistan and gave a 2-0 battering to England at home.Viv Richards was again at his best in all 3 series.He treated the likes of Botham ,Willis and Imran like cannon fodder. In 1981-92 West Indies came close to being beaten before a great upsurge in the 3rd test at Adelaide which the West Indies won by 5 wickets to level the series regain the Frank Worrel trophy.Australia had won the 1st test by 58 runs,drawn the 2nd and were well placed at 341-4 on the 4th day of the final test after being 151 runs behind in the 1st innings.However Joel Garner ran through the Australian batting as though slicing a cake and the Kangaroos lost their last 6 wickets for a mere 26 runs.Clive Lloyd's unbeaten 77 and a blazing fifty by Viv Richards took West Indies to glory. In 1983 West Indies beat India 2-0 with a dramatic win at Kingston where they skittled the last 4 Indian wickets just 2 overs before tea on the final day and chased down a target of 172 runs in the final over of the game. In 1983 the West Indies demolished India 3-0 to avenge their defeat at the hands of India in the 1983 Prudential world Cup.The bowling of Malcolm Marshall was their trumpcard in addition to the batting of Clive Lloyd and Gordon Grenidge.At Kanpur,Ahmedabad and Calcutta the West Indies were literally blazing fire.The thirst for revenge was reflected in the body language of the West Indian team whose atatck resembled a bomber raiding an airbase. In 1984 West Indies had their best year ever .They beat the Aussies 3-0 at home.After 2 draws in the 1st 2 tests where the home team were on the brink of winning the West Indies came back at the Aussies with the impact of a cake being sliced. In England in 1984 the West Indies gave England the most comprehensive drubbing they ever received in their history,defeating them 5-0.One was reminded of Bradman's invincibles,but many experts feel they were superior to the Bradman led Aussie team of 1948.The Calypsos looked like a programmed machine with an incomparable aura of invincibility.Gordon Greenidge and Malcolm Marshall were at their best,arguably giving the best batting and bowling performance by a West Indian on Englsih soil.At Lords chasing a target of 342 runs to win after lunch Greenidge's blistering 214 n.o got his side home by 9 wickets.In the 4th innings it was arguably the best knock ever in a winning run chase in a test match.Arguably there has never been as good an exhibition of such controlled,calculated hitting.Greenidge tore the English attack like a tiger tearing his prey.It was a knock even Barry Richards would have been proud to play. In Australia in 1984-85 Lloyd's men won 3-1with the pace attack making the most vital contribution.The Australian batting were all at sea against the pace of Marshall and Holding. Under Viv Richard's the West Indies declined temporarily after giving England a 5-0 drubbing at home.they drew 4 successive series against Pakistan ,New Zealand and India in 1986-88.Infact only dubious umpiring decisions in the final test at Barbados saved them from losing their test crown in 1988 v Pakistan .However in England in 1988 the West Indies came back to their prime winning 4-0.Malcolm Marshall bowled arguably better than any fast bowler ever in England superbly deploying his skidding bouncer and deliveries swinging at different speeds.Lillee ,Lindwall and Holding were more classical than Marshall but still did not posess Marshall's originality and innovative genius.Malcolm was ably aided by Courtney Walsh.Patrick Paterson and Curtly Ambroes. In 1988-89 in Australia the spirit of Clive Lloyd's winning team was ressurected with Walsh.Ambrose and Patterson bowling like men posessed.The Australian batting were intimidated by short -pitched bowling.Viv Richards was at his best with Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson as a batsman.This team could well have given Clive Lloyd's team a run for their money.Marshall,Ambrose,Walsh and Paterson matched the quartet of Roberts,Holding,Garner and Croft. After the retirement of Viv Richards West Indian cricket went on a decline.The Calypsos defended the Crown in Australia in 1992-93 wi8th a comeback at Adelaide to win by 1 run and a brilliant win in the final test at Perth.Curtly Ambrose's bowling spell at Perth enabled West Indies to retain their crown of world test champions.Ultimately the saga of West Indian cricket at the top ended when Australia defeated them in 1995.Since then it has been a story of abject decline. So to sum up which was the greatest turning point for West Indian cricket in their reign at the top ?To me it was their crushing 408 win at Adelaide in 1979-80 where the West Indies won their 1st series on Australian soil.True they morally beat Australia by a 2-1 margin in World series cricket in 1977-78 but that did not have the same effect.For the 1st time West Indies could claim that they were the world champions of test cricket.Andy Robert's successive dismissal of the Chappell brothers should be written in letters of gold-like hammering nails in a coffin.The 5-1 defeat of 1975-76 was avenged .The West Indian team were superbly re-moulded like a great army unit,who resurrected the indomitable spirit of the black race.The same Australian team beat a Mike Brearley led England team by a 3-0 margin. that summer.I rate this performance as the best by any touring West Indian team in Australia.The other major turning points in order of merit was their win at Kingston versus India in 1975-76 ,against Australia at Adelaide in 1981-82 ,in Barbados in 1988 and in Calcutta in 1983-84.At Kingston, Adelaide and Barbados the Calypsos were on the threshold of facing series defeats while West Indies toured India in 1983-84 to avenge the 1983 World cup defeat at the hands of India. The best performance by West Indies at the top were by Clive Lloyd's team in 1984 who whitewashed England in all five test matches ,followed by Viv Richard's men who won 4-0 in 1988 .In 3rd place I would place the 1979-80 triumph in Australia and in 4th place the 3-0 triumph in India in 1983-84.Close on the heels would be the 3-0 win in England against Tony Greig's team and the 1-0 triumph in Pakistan in 1980.I may have unfairly excluded the triumph by a 2-1 margin in Packer cricket against Australia in 1977-78 but to me the adrelanin just did not flow in the same manner as in formal cricket.Neverthless it was an all-time great triumph. Although Viv Richards played a major role in the West Indian domination I would rate both Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge more responsible batsman.If I chose a single cricketer who played the most significant role then I would choose Clive Lloyd.In a crisis Clive Lloyd would be my choice.His leadership was outstanding from 1975-1985.Remember Lloyd's efforts in a crisis. Lloyd's spectacular batting in 1983-84 in India when he topped the batting averages and where his 161 n.o at Calcutta won his team the series.Against England in the home series in 1981 he was the leading run scorer and in Australia in 1979-80 and in 1981-82 his batting in the final test at Adelaide enabled his side to regain and retain the Frank Worrel trophy.Gordon Greenidge was the architect of his team's 5-0 triumph in England in 1984 and his batting made an important contribution to wins in series at home and away against India and versus Australia at home in 1984.Viv Richards was at his best from 1976-81 while Greenidge was arguably the best batsman in the world in 1984-the best ever year for West Indian cricket.Viv Richards was the supreme entertainer who arguably even surpassed the agression of the batting of Garfield Sobers in yesteryears.In the bowling department Malcolm Marshall was the ultimate match-winner followed closely by Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose.Marshall's bowling was decisive in series triumphs in 1983-85 (particularly in England in 1988 when he took 35 wickets)and from1988-89.Ambrose's bowling enabled West Indies to retain their supremacy against England at Barbados in 1990,against South Africa at Barbados at Perth in 1992-93 and at Trinidad in 1994 when the West Indies were in a precarious position. Sorry If I am repeating myself but if I had to pick a single moment then My choice would be Andy Robert's dismissal of the Chappel brothers at Adelaide in 1979-80.It is symbolic that their cheap dismissal dethroned Australia from the throne of world champions of test cricket. Just behind would be Joel Garner's spell on the final day of the Adelaide test in 1981-82 Loyd's match-winning 77 not out in the same match in Adelaide and Curtly Ambrose's sensational spell to skittle South Africa chasing a target of a mere 201 runs in 1992 after being placed at 122-2. Few sights were better to witness than West Indies at the top.They breathed the fire of Greek Gods and made Cricket an art.Their pace bowlers were majestic reminding you of acrobats in a circus while their batsmen were scintillating.Viv Richards batting was more entertaining than a great Hoywood star,who would intimdate the opposition more than any cricketer ever and was the best batsman since Bradman from 1976-81.Michael Holding's bowling contained an aesthetic beauty which no pace bowler ever posessed in the history of the game.No paceman was as arguably as lethal as Malcolm Marshall who had variations of swing at different speeds and a skidding bouncer which no bowler ever posessed.For accuracy,Joel Garner was the king of paceman ,Courtney Walsh the metronome and Curtly Ambrose the most relentless of all paceman.Above all they were led by a great leader in Clive Lloyd who had the presence of great military commander.

[Scarves]

No idea but for me the Windies downfall started in that CWC semi final in 1996. Richardson stranded while everyone got out.

[Gunner]

what's with the "like a military commander leading his troops to glory" in all of your posts?

[Deleted_User_1]

Abe Harsh ke bachhe, tu asli incident bhool gaya? Turning point is when they got walloped by Lillee and Thommo Down Under in 1975-76. Clive Lloyd realized that life he had four quickies, play them. That began their ascendancy.