English cricket team in the West Indies in 1980–81

The England national cricket team toured the West Indies from January to April 1981 and played a five-match Test series against the West Indies cricket team which the West Indies won 2–0. England were captained by Ian Botham; the West Indies by Clive Lloyd. The second Test of the tour was cancelled, after Robin Jackman's visa was revoked by the Guyanese government, for playing and coaching in South Africa.^[1] In the third Test, England's opening batsman Geoff Boycott was dismissed for a duck, after six balls bowled by Michael Holding.^[2] It has been described as the greatest over in Test cricket.^[3]

English cricket team in the West Indies in 1980/81
	West Indies	England
Dates	23 January 1981 – 15 April 1981
Captains	Clive Lloyd	Ian Botham
Test series
Result	West Indies won the 5-match series 2–0
Most runs	Clive Lloyd (383) Viv Richards (340) Desmond Haynes (234)	Graham Gooch (460) David Gower (376) Geoffrey Boycott (295)
Most wickets	Colin Croft (24) Michael Holding (17)	Ian Botham (15) Graham Dilley (10)
Player of the series	Clive Lloyd

In addition, the teams played a two-match Limited Overs International (LOI) series which the West Indies won 2–0.^[4]

Test series summary

First Test

13–18 February 1981 (5-day match) Scorecard

West Indies	v	England
426/9d (147 overs) DL Haynes 96 (199) JE Emburey 5/124 (52 overs)		178 (78 overs) DI Gower 48 (140) CEH Croft 5/40 (22 overs)
		169 (f/o) (99 overs) G Boycott 70 (229) MA Holding 3/38 (18 overs)

West Indies won by an innings and 79 runs Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Umpires: CE Cumberbatch and D Sang Hue Player of the match: CEH Croft (WIN)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• 16 February was taken as a rest day.
• PR Downton (ENG) and EH Mattis (WIN) made their Test debuts.

Second Test

28 February–5 March 1981 (5-day match) Scorecard

West Indies	v	England

Match cancelled Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana Umpires: CE Cumberbatch and CF Vyfhuis

• The match was cancelled when the Guyanese Government cancelled the visa of Robin Jackman who had previously played and coached in apartheid South Africa.
• 3 March was planned as a rest day.

Third Test

13–18 March 1981 (5-day match) Scorecard

West Indies	v	England
265 (90.1 overs) CH Lloyd 100 (167) IT Botham 4/77 (25.1 overs)		122 (47.5 overs) GA Gooch 26 (35) IT Botham 26 (40) CEH Croft 4/39 (13.5 overs)
379/7d (109 overs) IVA Richards 182* (256) IT Botham 3/102 (29 overs)		224 (91.2 overs) GA Gooch 116 (210) CEH Croft 3/65 (19 overs)

West Indies won by 298 runs Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Umpires: DM Archer and D Sang Hue Player of the match: CH Lloyd (WIN)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• 16 March was taken as a rest day.
• RO Butcher and RD Jackman (both ENG) made their Test debuts.

Fourth Test

27 March–1 April 1981 (5-day match) Scorecard

England	v	West Indies
271 (90.2 overs) P Willey 102* (158) CEH Croft 6/74 (25 overs)		468/9d (155 overs) IVA Richards 114 (226) IT Botham 4/127 (37 overs)
234/3 (93 overs) G Boycott 104* (257) CEH Croft 2/39 (16 overs)

Match drawn Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda Umpires: DM Archer and S Mohammed Player of the match: P Willey (ENG)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 30 March was taken as a rest day.
• There was no play on the fourth day.

Fifth Test

10–15 April 1981 (5-day match) Scorecard

England	v	West Indies
285 (83 overs) GA Gooch 153 (213) MA Holding 5/56 (18 overs)		442 (163.1 overs) CH Lloyd 95 (168) GR Dilley 4/116 (28.4 overs)
302/6d (128 overs) DI Gower 154* (403) MA Holding 2/58 (28 overs)

Match drawn Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Umpires: CE Cumberbatch and D Sang Hue Player of the match: GA Gooch (ENG)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
• 13 April was taken as a rest day.

One Day Internationals (ODIs)

1st ODI

4 February 1981 Scorecard

West Indies  127 (47.2 overs)	v	England 125 (48.2 overs)
EH Mattis 62 (126) GA Gooch 2/12 (6 overs)		IT Botham 60 (108) CEH Croft 6/15 (9 overs)

West Indies won by 2 runs Arnos Vale Playing Field, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Umpires: DM Archer and S Mohammed Player of the match: CEH Croft (WIN)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• EH Mattis (WIN) made his ODI debut.

2nd ODI

26 February 1981 Scorecard

England  137 (47.2 overs)	v	West Indies 138/4 (39.3 overs)
MW Gatting 29 (50) CEH Croft 3/9 (6.2 overs)		DL Haynes 48 (77) JE Emburey 2/22 (10 overs)

West Indies won by 6 wickets Albion Sports Complex, Albion, Guyana Umpires: DJ Narine and CF Vyfhuis Player of the match: HA Gomes (WIN)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

References

1. "Blast off". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
2. "Boycott b Holding". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
3. "The greatest over of them all?". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
4. "England in the West Indies 1981". CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 July 2014.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo