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 The Windies 

 Results and Dates 1998

First Test Match abandoned after 56 minutes Jan 29 The First Test was abandoned because of the poor state of the pitch at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. England's physiotherapist, Wayne Morton, was called onto the pitch six times to treat English batsmen as the ball struck hands or body. With less than an hour played, and England standing at 17 for 3, the umpires stopped the game. West Indies take the Second Test by three wickets Feb 5- 9 With the West Indies at 121 for 5 on the afternoon of the fourth day, it seemed to be England's match, but a brilliant innings from Carl Hooper with 94 not out gave the West Indies a victory. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad England level the series Feb 13-17 Relief and smiles in the English camp as England win by three wickets in the Third Test. Mark Butcher, who joined the team at the last minute with no match practice, scored 28 in the first innings and had a second innings (24 not out) lasting two-and-a-quarter hours. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad West Indies re-establish their lead with an impressive win Feb 27-Mar 3 West Indies took the Fourth Test by 242 runs with a day to spare following an impressive bowling display by the two West-Indian fast bowlers, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, in England's second innings. Georgetown, Guyana Forthcoming Tests Mar 12-16 Fifth Test Bridgetown, Barbados Mar 20-24 Sixth Test St John's, Antigua

 History of the Event

West Indies cricket tours date back as far as the 19th century, but the West Indies were not awarded Test status until 1928. Their first Test Match was played against England at Lord's.

England first toured the West Indies in 1929-30, playing four Tests - Bridgetown, Port of Spain, Georgetown and Kingston. The series was tied one all when the final match was rained off.

The sides have played 115 matches with 27 wins to England, 48 to the West Indies and 40 draws.
There have been 65 Test Series in England (Eng 18 wins, WI 28 wins 19 Draws) and 50 in the West Indies ( Eng 9 wins, WI 20 wins, 21 Draws). England have not won a series in the Caribbean for 30 years. When the West Indies last toured England in 1995, the series ended in a draw.

[See the History of West Indies v England: http://www.windies.com/history/history.htm]

 Famous West Indian Cricketers

Sir Learie Nicholas Constantine (1901 - 1971)
Sir Learie was an all round cricketer. In 18 Tests, he scored 635 runs at an average of 19.24 and took 58 wickets, averaging 30.10

Everton de Courcy Weekes
Everton Weekes scored 4,455 runs in 48 Tests, averaging 58.61. When he stopped playing cricket, he became an international bridge player.

Sir Garfield Sobers
Sir Garfield excelled at batting and bowling. In 93 Tests he scored 8032 runs, averaging 57.78 and took 235 wickets, averaging 34.03. He set a Test record of 365 runs against Pakistan in the 1957- 58 Series that was to last almost twenty years until it was broken by another Windies batsman, Brian Lara.

Viv Richards
A popular batsman in the 1970s, Viv Richards scored 2061 runs in 34 Tests, averaging 37.47.

Brian Lara
The current Windies captain only started his Test career in 1990 at the age of 21, but has played regularly for the Windies since 1991. His statistics read 3493 runs in 38 matches, averaging 56.33. A memorable moment in his test career was against England when he established a new test record of 375 runs, beating Sir Garfield Sobers Test record by 10 runs.

 The Test Matches

Test matches are played between the top cricketing nations - Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, the West Indies, England and Zimbabwe. Each test match lasts up to five days (or less if the match is won earlier) and is usually played as part of a series. The number of test matches played in a series is determined by the governing cricketing bodies of each country.

Each team has two innings - that is two chances to bat and score runs. A team's innings ends when 10 of 11 batsmen are out, or when the captain of the batting team chooses to declare the innings finished because he feels the team have a sufficient number of runs to ensure victory.

In a test series, the matches are played at various grounds. In the West Indies matches are held at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica; Port of Spain in Trinidad; Georgetown, Guyana; Bridgetown, Barbados; and St John's in Antigua. Usually only one match is held at a ground but for the first time, two matches are being played in Trinidad because of the poor state of the pitch in Kingston.

 Contacts

The English Cricket Board Lords Cricket Ground St Johns Wood London NW8 8QZ Tel. 0171 432 1200