{"id":5653,"date":"2024-12-09T11:17:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T01:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sams-blog.com\/?p=5653"},"modified":"2024-12-13T06:20:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:20:58","slug":"after-1968-australia-has-not-won-a-series-after-losing-the-first-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sams-blog.com\/?p=5653","title":{"rendered":"After 1968, Australia has not won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Australia wins the current Test series against India, it would be the first time since 1968-69<\/a><\/strong> that it has won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test. That season, Australia played the West Indies and lost the first Test at Brisbane.<\/p>\n

But the locals then bounced back with wins in Melbourne and Sydney, before a thriller in Adelaide ended in a draw. The fifth and final game saw the West Indies thrashed by 382 runs in Sydney, giving the home team a 3-1 series win.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s win against India in the second Test of the current series has levelled things at 1-1, with three games left. Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney will host those three Tests. Given the way the series has see-sawed thus far, it is difficult to predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of these three games.<\/p>\n

I remember the 1968-69 series as if it were yesterday because I listened to commentary on the games from Radio Ceylon (the old name for Sri Lanka). Commentary was broadcast from both England and Australia \u2013 despite the fact that Ceylon was not even close to gaining admission to the club of Test-playing nations. I was then a 11-year-old, obsessed with the game and more so when the West Indies were involved.<\/p>\n

I recall clearly the gravelly tone of Australian expert Alan McGilvray and the language of West Indies ace Tony Cozier as they covered the game. Their knowledge of the game was vast, they both had extensive vocabularies and their commentary was both entertaining and exciting.<\/p>\n

The 1968-69 West indies team was an ageing one with the pace duo of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith heading the bowling attack. Lance Gibbs was the main spinner while Gary Sobers was captain. The team was not expected to do well against a strong Australian outfit which included Ian Chappell, Doug Walters and Ian Redpath. Leading the team was one of the meanest captains of all time: Bill Lawry.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, the West Indies took the lead in Brisbane,<\/a><\/strong> despite a first-day collapse, when they floundered from 188 for one to 267 for nine at the end of the first day. Ending on 296, they, again surprisingly, bowled out Australia for 284, a total largely built on centuries from Lawry and Chappell.<\/p>\n

The West Indies\u2019 second innings seemed to be going nowhere until Clive Lloyd stepped in with a blistering knock of 129. He was aided by opener Joey Carew who was batting down the order due to an injury and contributed 71. The West Indies set Australia 366 to win.<\/p>\n

Sobers opened the bowling and came up with a superlative performance, in fact returning what would turn out to be his best Test figures of six for 73, to ensure a 125-run for the visitors.<\/p>\n

At the MCG<\/a><\/strong>, on what was the first Boxing Day Test, the West Indies went into reverse. Apart from Roy Fredericks, who was making his debut and contributed 76, the Windies had no answer to Graham McKenzie who took eight for 71.<\/p>\n

Lawry (205) and Chappell (165), along with Walters\u2019 contribution of 76, ensured a 310-run lead for the home team. Only Seymour Nurse (74) and Sobers (67) made any scores of note in the West Indies second effort as they were soundly beaten by an innings and 30 runs. Leggie John Gleeson grabbed five wickets in this rout.<\/p>\n

Come the third Test<\/a><\/strong> and it was more of the same. The West Indies batted first after winning the toss and could only muster 264. Australia, with Walters scoring the first of his centuries in the series, took a 283-run lead and then kept the Windies down to 324 in their second innings. Basil Butcher top-scored with 101 and Rohan Kanhai got 69 but they were the only two to make meaningful scores. Australia needed only 42 in the fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead.<\/p>\n

The fourth Test<\/a><\/strong> was a classic. West Indies again batted first and a swashbuckling 110 from Sobers carried them to 276. Australia ensured that they would have a massive lead once again, reaching 533 off the back of Walters (110) and half-centuries from Lawry, Keith Stackpole, Chappell, Paul Sheahan and McKenzie.<\/p>\n

This time, however, the West Indies did not fold. They reached 261 for three at the end of day three with Carew (90) and Kanhai (80) being responsible for the resistance. The next day, there was more of the same, with even nightwatchman Griffith (44) getting among the runs, and Butcher scoring his second ton of the series.<\/p>\n

Things seemed to be approaching the end when the West Indies were 492 for eight but then David Holford (80) and Jackie Hendricks (36) took over and carried the total beyond 600.<\/p>\n

The final day saw Australia chasing 360 to win. Lawry (89) and Chappell (96) looked to be leading the way to victory but then a spate of run-outs \u2013 including Griffith running out Redpath who was backing up too far \u2013 saw Australia start the final over at 333 for nine, with Sheahan to face eight balls from Griffith. He managed to block those eight deliveries successfully and Australia escaped with a draw. [As an aside, the Ceylon Daily News<\/em> did not know how to describe Redpath’s dismissal, so it simply printed “I. Redpath…………………..9 on its sports pages. The unofficial name for such a dismissal was being Mankaded<\/a><\/strong> as the first person to effect such a dismissal in the modern era was Indian Vinoo Mankad.]<\/p>\n

The final Test<\/a><\/strong> was an anti-climax after the heroics of Adelaide. Sobers inserted the Australians after winning the toss \u2013 and had to watch as the home team amassed 619, with Walters getting another ton, this time a double. Lawry added to his tally as well, with 151.<\/p>\n

The West Indies could only manage 279 in reply, but Lawry, determined to grind his opponents into the ground, batted a second time and set the visitors 735 to win. Walters got a second ton in the match, becoming the first batsman in Test history to do so. [As of today, eight batsmen have achieved this feat<\/a><\/strong>.]<\/p>\n

When the West Indies collapsed (yet again) to 102 for five in pursuit of this huge target, the match looked destined to end before the final day. But Sobers and Nurse did not give up. Nurse was injured but both got centuries, and finally the West Indies ended up with 352.<\/p>\n

With five games in a series, there can always be twists and turns in a cricket match. Only only hopes that the remaining Australia-India Tests are even half as exciting as the Adelaide Test of 1968-69.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Australia wins the current Test series against India, it would be the first time since 1968-69 that it has won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test. That season, Australia played the West Indies and lost the first Test at Brisbane. But the locals then bounced back with wins in Melbourne … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “After 1968, Australia has not won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,40,45,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-cricket","category-england","category-sri-lanka","category-west-indies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5674,"url":"https:\/\/sams-blog.com\/?p=5674","url_meta":{"origin":5653,"position":0},"title":"Why choose Brisbane for the third Test and not the first?","date":"December 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It's difficult to understand why the Australian cricket authorities decided to stage the third Test of the current series against India in Brisbane, a city known for its rain and storms in December and early January. 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