Cricket: West Indies vs England (24th February to the 1st March 1990)

England's sensational 9 wicket Test Match victory in Jamaica, the first against the West Indies for 16 years, took the sporting world by surprise in one of the biggest cricketing upsets of recent times.
Believed to be invincible, the West Indies team was tipped to humiliate England, repeating the terrible 'blackwash' bludgeoning of 1986.
It was rumoured that Viv Richards opted to bat first to make the First Test at Sabina Park last more than three days.
But after the bitterness of recent defeats came the sweet champagne taste of victory for an England team given no hope even by its supporters.
In the event, Lamb's courageous century to tame the awesome four-pronged West Indies pace attack, Fraser's inspired defensive and attacking bowling, and the thoughtful captaincy of Gooch made the impossible come true, as England outplayed the foe in every department, with the only threat coming from the rainstorms.
The heroic feat was a triumph of modest strength over individual brilliance made complacent by years of unassailable superiority, and a tribute to the teamwork, planning and grit needed to overcome a side whose relentlessly destructive spell has at last been broken and suddenly appear merely mortal.

[@terminatah500]

Greenidge and Hanes needs more credit..what a pair of opening batsmen

[@lestercharles9856]

Angus bowled his heart out this series. As a windies native I believe that this series was the time when our invincibility as a team really began. Still had amazing players but things began to change. Viv and his generation were on the verge of retirement

[@juanestadian8471]

yeah.......although Imran's Pakistan had exposed a few weaknesses, they were the second best team in the world, so a close series between Pakistan and us would not have been totally unexpected. But England had just been battered at home by a previously very unfancied Australia team. The closeness of the series showed more cracks in the WI invincibility than English promise. England went right after this series to a beating down under.....not even winning a single test again. It should have been the time we should have taken stock and invested in younger talent.....but that kind of foresight is rare in the WI(partially resources are scarce) and even rarer in WI cricket circles.

[@lestercharles9856]

@@juanestadian8471 correct.. I guess you are referring to the Pakistan tour of WI in 1987 I believe. That was a hard fought and exciting series . Funny enough that was the very first time I started to follow cricket, listening on the radio. I was 11 years old. Thanks for reminding me of my history. Lol

[@juanestadian8471]

@@lestercharles9856 yeah.....WI vs Pakistan series were always tightly fought affairs. Both teams played attacking cricket and no one gave an inch. Now the teams with the most resources, by and large are the best teams.....in the 80s, the two poorest boards had the two best sides. The world was a little fairer then

[@lestercharles9856]

@@juanestadian8471 speaking facts buddy

[@CurtisBell-oe3zs]

7😊

[@That_Random_Bloke]

One of my happiest moments as an England fan. A wonderful experience victory. Sure we lost the series, but 2-1 in 1990 was a hell of a lot better than 1985!!! And no one was expecting this after the sheer misery of the 1989 Ashes humiliation.

[@waynesudama111]

This is the test match that got me into loving cricket

[@billybank2012]

It's a wound that will never heal though I remember it as a positive. Superb series and a trip down a wonderful memory lane. Superlative performance by England. I'll always remember this test match because it did send shockwaves everywhere. England beating West Indies at Jamaica. Bettered by the 91 series which ended in a fair 2-2 draw in England.

[@voliscar]

Those were the good days if classic cricket very good bowlers and batsmen. I would always loved those days of cricket forever.

[@jamieread8266]

Elroyj john I couldn't agree more . I always get nostalgic watching this . First televised sky tour . West Indies had a fantastic side then ,and England had some gutsy players ,especially against that pace attack .

[@chhassan7896]

Elroyj john

[@fredgassit5418]

Brilliant stuff, thx for uploading!

[@sunilvlog8822]

Pure Gold Classic Cricket😊

[@kokamoa]

Thank you for uploading this. I remember getting my mum to stay up and record the highlights of each day's play as we didn't know how to set the video at the time :o)

[@kevinstoneham1245]

Good old Mum.

[@keithpinnado6263]

It Reminds me of my boyhood days when test cricket was the best of all the versions of the game

[@blooter6360]

Sky televised this live it was great watching it , Devon and his MAGNIFICANT Yorker too king viv

[@peterichards3261]

Remember listening on the radio at the time. With all due respect to the English bowlers concerned I was totally amazed that we could win this match by such a margin. The quartet of Fraser, Small, Capel and Malcolm wouldn't normally strike fear into the opposition but they bowled excellently

[@dmoorb]

Capel wasn't even a bowler really, just a competent batsman who could bowl a bit of military medium to give the strike bowlers a breather.

[@steverousseau9601]

Wow Memories thanks

[@bartlettbigx]

I wondered what Courtney Walsh was doing coming in at 10. And then realised Patrick Paterson was playing. Thanks for uploading.

[@alexandersimpson4849]

M.j,,c ,, Z mlm moo

[@MARKETMANTRA_LiveTrading]

wht an upload ...u are a superstar .....seriosuly waitng for more uploads frm dis great series

[@mohammadjahangiralam9294]

Many many thanks for uploading this match that England wins in 1990

[@jakubwidlarz]

Eurosport, back when it was one of only four Sky channels, accually showed AUS v WI in Adelaide on Sky's launch night of February 5th 1989, but it only showed the first session live that day and probably on days 4 & 5.

[@mrkipling2201]

Jakub Widlarz this was originally shown live on Eurosport?? I thought it might have been on the sports channel, the forerunner to sky sports. Had sky and BSB merged by that time ??

[@curwinprovidence3427]

the west indies were the best for a long long time

[@johncourtneidge]

Well done England! Thank-you!

[@oleggorky906]

Thanks for the upload. I remember this match very well. In fact I remember the whole series very well. England were unlucky not to win the second Test Mach also. They were just about forty runs shy of victory with five wickets remaining and David Capel going like a bomb when bad light ended the match. The West Indies went on the go slow to stave off defeat, bowling only 21 overs in the last two hours. Had England had another four or five overs they could have possibly pulled it off, but that's life and they are by no means the only team ever to have done it so I don't have any complaints, just reminisces, that's all. And from then on in, the relieved to still be in the series home team took heart from this and rallied to win the last two Test Matches and the series, 2 - 1. Still, credit to Viv Richards for his sporting praise for England after the first Test and also for his team's brilliant comeback.

[@verleymiller6510]

,

[@mrkipling2201]

This result was such a shock considering how badly they had beaten us in the 2 or 3 previous series. ‘ blackwashes ‘ were the order of the day. It should have been 2-0 after the 3rd test as well.

[@kevinstoneham1245]

I remember the highlights being on the BBC about 11.00 in the evening and recording on the old VHS. Couldn’t believe we won the game. First time I had seen it in my lifetime.

[@JohnWilson-fd5zx]

Saw. . cct

[@dfb1976]

Absolutely brilliant upload, can you upload the remaining tests as well

[@andysutton1]

Loved gladstone small

[@michealblackman6441]

Love your service.

[@ashleyogarro2686]

Devon was fearless and Viv knew it.

[@dexter9396]

Classic Tony Greig at 8.30

[@mrkipling2201]

“ goodnight Charlie !!”

[@chaitnath]

good job...classic

[@ganesans8803]

More than anything else it is the commentary by Greig and Boycott that enthralls listeners

[@johncourtneidge]

Yes!

[@dazpearce2096]

Gus shows us THAT's how you bowl to tailenders!!

[@carmenlottner297]

I think Phil Edmonds should've commentated more often....

[@artiniedwards8022]

When the windies were in top form smh

[@waseemchaudhry2933]

Why no more uploads on your channel since long time?

[@jeremygeduldt936]

Umpire Lloyd Barker .

[@dylan180303]

sum people don't know that the West Indies were once the best in the world

[@mohammadjahangiralam9294]

Some not sum

[@famefed01]

wi over confident and never had the players to be there when it matters the quality was not with this wi team, viv thinking and the selectors they could not be beaten with low quality players esp lower order from the fifth downwards proves to be their downfall, history shows of failures for swollen headed attitude results was defeat luckily it was a game of cricket.. this is a good example for all to see how failure can be. take heed it can happen in any undertaking.

[@AudreyHenriques]

Q

[@manzurelahi4873]

Nasser Hussain should have played for Pakistan

[@karlditz8631]

This is cricket and why i have no respect for the caliber of the current players.

[@deonlindsay5396]

Wc,

[@roybennett9284]

Rather drastic!!