# English cricket team in the West Indies in 1985–86

The England national cricket team toured the West Indies from February to April 1986 and played a five-match Test series against the West Indies cricket team which the West Indies won 5–0. England were captained by David Gower; the West Indies by Viv Richards. In addition, the teams played a four-match One Day International (ODI) series which the West Indies won 3–1.

## Background

England had just beaten Australia 3–1 in the 1985 Ashes. As with the 1980–81 tour, Guyana’s government rigidly refused to admit cricketers who had ever played in apartheid South Africa, so England did not visit there. Antigua Sports Minister Lester Bird wished leading rebel player Graham Gooch to apologise and to promise he would never return to South Africa until apartheid was dismantled. To compensate two Tests were scheduled for Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, but for a time it was feared that the government there would follow Guyana and Bird and exclude or demand apologies from those linked to South Africa.

## Tour

The tour began poorly for England, losing by seven wickets to the Windward Islands despite a 77 from Mike Gatting and five wickets from Phil Edmonds. They almost lost their next game, against the Leeward Islands. After batting well in the first innings (Gatting, Gooch, Robinson and Lamb all scoring half centuries) England collapsed in the second and were lucky to escape with a draw.
Things improved when they beat Jamaica, chiefly due to the batting of Gatting and Lamb and the bowling of Edmonds.
Gatting had been England's in-form batsman, but in the first one-day game his nose was broken. England collapsed and the West Indies won easily.
Gatting was unable to play in the first test, which the West Indies won easily. Richard Ellison took a five wicket haul and Peter Willey scored a second innings 71, forcing the West Indies to bat again, but England were unable to resist the West Indies fast bowlers, especially debutant Patrick Patterson, and the game was over inside three days.
England's next game, against Trinidad and Tobago, was a draw.
They bounced back to win their next game, a one-day international against the West Indies due to a century from Graham Gooch.
For the Second Test England decided to go with four specialist batsmen and lost the game. England's star players (especially Ian Botham) continued to struggle, while Richie Richardson made a century and Malcolm Marshall took eight wickets. Assisted by John Emburey's bowling and a last wicket stand from Richard Ellison and Greg Thomas, England managed to take the match into a fifth day and take three of the mere five second-innings West Indies wickets they would take all series, but these were meagre achievements.
The tour went downhill even further when they lost to Barbados by three wickets.
The West Indies easily won the next one day international. They won the 3rd test by an innings and 30 runs. Then they won the 4th ODI by eight wickets.
The West Indies won the 4th test by ten wickets. They won the 5th handsomely as well, Viv Richards scoring a century in 56 balls, which was at the time the fastest in terms of balls faced in Test match history.

## Touring party

England :
| Name | Style | Domestic team |
| Captain and Batsman |||
| David Gower | LHB, OB | Leicestershire |
| Wicketkeepers |||
| Paul Downton | RHB | Middlesex |
| Bruce French | RHB | Nottinghamshire |
| Batsmen |||
| Mike Gatting | RHB, RM | Middlesex |
| Graham Gooch | RHB, RM | Essex |
| Allan Lamb | RHB, RM | Northamptonshire |
| Tim Robinson | RHB, RM | Nottinghamshire |
| Wilf Slack | LHB, RM | Middlesex |
| David Smith | LHB, RM | Worcestershire |
| All-Rounders |||
| Ian Botham | RHB, RFM | Somerset |
| Peter Willey | RHB, OB | Leicestershire |
| Spin Bowlers |||
| Phil Edmonds | RHB, SLA | Middlesex |
| John Emburey | RHB, OB | Middlesex |
| Fast Bowlers |||
| Richard Ellison | LHB, RFM | Kent |
| Neil Foster | RHB, RFM | Essex |
| Les Taylor | RHB, RFM | Leicestershire |
| Greg Thomas | RHB, RF | Glamorgan |

## Test series
### 1st Test

* 21–23 February Scorecard
* West Indies won by 10 wickets Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Umpires: David Archer (WI) and Johnny Gayle (WI) Player of the match: Patrick Patterson (WI)
* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* David Smith, Greg Thomas (both Eng), Carlisle Best and Patrick Patterson (both WI) all made their Test debuts.

### 2nd Test

* 7–12 March Scorecard
* West Indies won by 7 wickets Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Umpires: David Archer (WI) and Clyde Cumberbatch (WI) Player of the match: Malcolm Marshall (WI)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
* Wilf Slack (Eng) and Thelston Payne (WI) made their Test debuts.

### 3rd Test

* 21–25 March Scorecard
* West Indies won by an innings and 30 runs Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Umpires: David Archer (WI) and Lloyd Barker (WI) Player of the match: Richie Richardson (WI)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* Monday 24 March was a rest day.

### 4th Test

* 3–5 April Scorecard
* West Indies won by 10 wickets Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Umpires: Clyde Cumberbatch (WI) and Sadique Mohammed (WI) Player of the match: Viv Richards (WI)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

### 5th Test

* 11–16 April Scorecard
* West Indies won by 240 runs Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua Umpires: Clyde Cumberbatch (WI) and Lloyd Barker (WI) Player of the match: Viv Richards (WI)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* Monday 14 April was a rest day.

## One Day Internationals (ODIs)

West Indies won the series 3–1.

### 1st ODI

* 18 February 1986 Scorecard
| England 145/8 (46 overs) | v | West Indies 146/4 (43.5 overs) |
| GA Gooch 36 (72) MD Marshall 4/23 (10 overs) | | CG Greenidge 45 (80) GA Gooch 1/0 (2 overs) |
* West Indies won by 6 wickets Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Umpires: DM Archer and AJ Gaynor Player of the match: MD Marshall (WIN)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 46 overs per side.
* LB Taylor and JG Thomas (both ENG) and BP Patterson (WIN) made their ODI debuts.

### 2nd ODI

* 4 March 1986 Scorecard
| West Indies 229/3 (37 overs) | v | England 230/5 (37 overs) |
| IVA Richards 82 (39) NA Foster 1/42 (10 overs) | | GA Gooch 129* (118) J Garner 3/62 (9 overs) |
* England won by 5 wickets Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Umpires: CE Cumberbatch and S Mohammed Player of the match: GA Gooch (ENG)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 37 overs per side.
* WN Slack and DM Smith (both ENG), and CA Best (WIN) made their ODI debuts.

### 3rd ODI

* 19 March 1986 Scorecard
| West Indies 249/7 (46 overs) | v | England 114 (39 overs) |
| RB Richardson 62 (74) IVA Richards 62 (53) NA Foster 3/39 (9 overs) | | RT Robinson 23 (42) MD Marshall 3/14 (6 overs) |
* West Indies won by 135 runs Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Umpires: DM Archer and LH Barker Player of the match: IVA Richards (WIN)
* England won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 46 overs per side.

### 4th ODI

* 31 March 1986 Scorecard
| England 165/9 (47 overs) | v | West Indies 166/2 (38.2 overs) |
| RT Robinson 55 (107) MD Marshall 4/37 (9 overs) | | DL Haynes 77* (114) NA Foster 1/27 (6 overs) |
* West Indies won by 8 wickets Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Umpires: CE Cumberbatch and S Mohammed Player of the match: J Garner (WIN)
* West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was reduced to 47 overs per side.