# West Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 1979–80

The West Indies cricket team toured New Zealand from 6 February 1980 to 5 March 1980, playing 3 Tests and 1 One Day Internationals against New Zealand. The West Indies were coming after their first test series win on Australian soil. However, Vivian Richards who scored 400 runs in the Australian tour returned home with a sore back. As a result, New Zealand won the test series 1-0 as well as the only ODI by 1 wicket.
The series is remembered for West Indian complaints about the standard of umpiring, which led to a number of on-field incidents in the three Test matches. This series was the West Indies' last defeat in a Test match series until 1994–95.

## Touring team

The West Indies Cricket Board of Control named the 16 players to tour Australia and New Zealand on 27 September 1979.
| Player | Date of birth | Batting style | Bowling style | First class team |
| Clive Lloyd (c) | 31 August 1944 | Left-hand | Right-arm medium | Guyana |
| Deryck Murray (vc) | 20 May 1943 | Right-hand | Wicket keeper | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Colin Croft | 15 March 1953 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Guyana |
| Joel Garner | 16 December 1952 | Right-hand | Right-arm fast | Barbados |
| Larry Gomes | 13 July 1953 | Left-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Gordon Greenidge | 1 May 1951 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Desmond Haynes | 15 February 1956 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Michael Holding | 16 February 1954 | Right hand | Right arm fast | Jamaica |
| Alvin Kallicharran | 21 March 1949 | Left-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Guyana |
| Collis King | 11 June 1951 | Right-hand | Right-arm medium | Barbados |
| Malcolm Marshall | 18 April 1958 | Right-hand | Right arm fast | Barbados |
| David Murray | 29 May 1950 | Right-hand | Wicket keeper | Barbados |
| Derick Parry | 22 December 1954 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Leeward Islands |
| Viv Richards | 7 March 1952 | Right-hand | Right-arm offbreak | Leeward Islands |
| Andy Roberts | 29 January 1951 | Right-hand | Right arm fast | Leeward Islands |
| Lawrence Rowe | 8 January 1949 | Right hand | Left arm fast medium | Jamaica |

## Tour matches
### First match

* 3–5 February 1980 Scorecard
* Match drawn Seddon Park, Hamilton Umpires: Bruce Bricknell and John Hastie
* Northern Districts won the toss and elected to bat.
* Gordon Greenidge (West Indians) and John Wright (Northern Districts) passed 17,000 and 6,000 runs in first-class cricket respectively.
* Geoff Howarth (Northern Districts) claimed his 100th first-class wicket.
The West Indies' first game of the tour was against Northern Districts on 3 February 1980. The three-day match ended in a draw after the West Indies finished up on 132/8, chasing 153. Gordon Greenidge made 116 for the West Indies in the first innings, the only century of the match.

### Second match

* 15 February 1980 Scorecard
| Central Districts 130 (44.4 overs) | v | West Indians 132 (33 overs) |
| Matthew Toynbee 27 Andy Roberts 4/20 (9 overs) | | Gordon Greenidge 64* |
* West Indians won by 10 wickets Pukekura Park, New Plymouth Umpires: David Kinsella and Graeme Reardon Player of the match: Andy Roberts (WI)
* Toss not known

### Third match

* 16-18 February 1980 Scorecard
* Wellington won by 6 wickets Hutt Recreation Ground, Lower Hutt Umpires: Ralph Gardiner and David Kinsella Player of the match: Ewen Chatfield
* Wellington won the toss and decided to field
* This was Wellington's first win over a foreign first-class team since beating the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1935

## One-day international

The only limited overs match of the series was held on 6 February 1980. A close game, New Zealand won by 1 wicket with two balls remaining.
* 6 February 1980 Scorecard
| West Indies 203/7 (50 overs) | v | New Zealand 207/9 (49.4 overs) |
| Gordon Greenidge 103 (137) Richard Hadlee 2/28 (10 overs) | | Jeremy Coney 53* (65) Derick Parry 3/47 (10 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 1 wicket Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: Fred Goodall and Robert Monteith Player of the match: Richard Hadlee (NZ)
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
* Paul McEwan and John F. Reid (both NZ) made their ODI debuts.

## Test series summary
### First Test

* 8 – 13 February 1980 (5–day match) Scorecard
* New Zealand won by 1 wicket Carisbrook, Dunedin Umpires: Fred Goodall and John Hastie
* West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
* 11 February was taken as a rest day.
* Peter Webb (NZ) made his Test debut.
The First Test was scheduled over 8–13 February. The West Indies won the toss and elected to bat, where they made 140, Richard Hadlee taking 5-34 for New Zealand. New Zealand, braving the West Indies' renowned four-man pace attack, made 249 in their innings, a lead of 109. 105 from Desmond Haynes ensured New Zealand had to bat again, but the target of 104 appeared to be too little for the West Indies to defend. Nevertheless, determined bowling by the West Indies took the game to the wire, with New Zealand at one stage reduced to 54/7. New Zealand eventually won by one wicket after their number 10 and 11 batsmen scored the winning runs off a leg bye. The exciting finish was overshadowed, however, by West Indian complaints of poor umpiring throughout the match. Michael Holding had kicked the stumps in frustration after having an appeal turned down in New Zealand's second innings, an action which was assured of worldwide attention when it was captured by a newspaper photographer at the grounds. After the match, the West Indies' manager, Willie Rodriguez, complained, "We got two men out and they were not given. They were atrocious decisions."
The West Indies then played their nest tour match against Wellington (see above) on 16 February. The low-scoring game was won by Wellington by 6 wickets.

### Second Test

* 22 – 27 February 1980 (5–day match) Scorecard
* Match drawn Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: Fred Goodall and Steve Woodward
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
* 25 February was taken as a rest day.
The Second Test was held over 22–27 February. The match ended in a draw with the West Indies on 447/5 in their second innings, a lead of 215 after having been behind by 232 in the first innings. The match was more renowned for tensions between the West Indians and the New Zealand umpires coming to a head. At tea on the third day, the West Indies refused to return to the field until the New Zealand umpire Fred Goodall was replaced. After being convinced by New Zealand captain Geoff Howarth to return to the field, the West Indians resumed play after a 12-minute delay. Nevertheless, the West Indians began packing their bags after the day's play with the apparent intention of abandoning the Test and series and returning home. This option was forbidden, however, by the chairman of the West Indian Cricket Board, Jeff Stollmeyer. On the fourth day, West Indian anger again spilled over when bowler Colin Croft shoulder-barged Goodall in his run-up; when Goodall complained to Lloyd, Lloyd made Goodall walk up to him by not moving from his position in the slips. Croft and Lloyd maintained after the series that the shoulder-barging had been an accident, although New Zealand captain Howarth disputed this.

### Third Test

* 29 February – 5 March 1980 (5–day match) Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Ralph Gardiner and John Hastie
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
* The match was scheduled for five days but extended to six, by playing on the scheduled rest day.
* There was no play on the third day.
* Paul McEwan (NZL) made his Test debut.
The third and final Test of the series was held over 29 February to 5 March. Again ending in a draw, New Zealand were left on 73/4 chasing 180 at stumps on the fifth day. While not reaching the heights of the Second Test, the match was still marred by some controversy when four senior West Indian players indicated that they would be catching flights home at lunch on the final day, substitute fielders taking their places for the remaining sessions. The players involved were persuaded out of this action.

## Aftermath

What was from a spectator's perspective a remarkable series—a closely fought 1-0 victory by lowly New Zealand against the then unofficial cricket world champions—was marred by acrimony and complaints from the teams involved. The West Indies maintained their bitterness towards the umpiring after the series, with Rodriguez complaining that the umpiring had not been biased so much as incompetent and that the West Indies had been "set up; that there was no way we could win a Test." Lloyd later conceded, however, that he should have taken a firmer line with his players and that some of the incidents had not been in the best interests of the game. New Zealand's Goodall, however—the principal target of the West Indies' anger—compounded the bitterness by allegedly making racist comments about the West Indies at an after-dinner speech following the series.
Cricket-wise, the series was a watershed for both teams—the West Indies would go on to establish a record unbeaten run in Test match series until 1994–95, while the victory heralded the emergence of New Zealand's best Test team.