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The World of Cricket: 25 Years Ago
I got the idea to write this article during the recently concluded test series between England and India. England surprised a lot of people with their strength as they demolished Dhoni's men. Indian supporters were heartbroken, me a neutral wasn't crestfallen, but nevertheless was a bit shocked watching the misery of mighty Indians.
My mind went back to the summer of 1986, when Kapil Dev's India performed so brilliantly to win the series in England 2-0. Of course, at that time there was no such widespread TV coverage of test cricket. Instead we had to follow the Test Match Special of BBC. Gavaskar, in his final tour of England with the Indian team, as a player, failed to get a big score. His opening partner Srikkanth also underperformed. But, the middle order, led by Dilip Vengsarkar held firm. In the bowling department, Kapil got excellent support form Binny and Chetan Sharma. Left arm spinner Maninder Singh, rekindled the memories of Bishen Singh Bedi with his flight and variation.
Initially, my plan was to write simply on that series. But, eventually I decided to look at all the cricket played in the year 1986. I would be looking at the performances of 10 teams, 7 test playing nations at the time, plus banned South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh; the last two at that stage were gradually developing their cricket at the time.
Australia: Australia cricket was passing a difficult transition period during the mid 80's. During the 1983-84 season three legends, Chappell, Lillie and Marsh retired. Then Kim Hughes led a rebel Aussie team to SA. Apart from Hughes, there were a number of experienced players in the side, like Yallop, Hogg, Alderman, Rackeman etc. Also, SA born Keppler Wessles left Aussie cricket (in late 1985) following an altercation with the ACB.
So, the year 1986 the Aussie selectors were busy rebuilding the team under the leadership of Allan Border (himself pretty inexperienced as a captain). While David Hookes and Greg Ritchie (both talented but erratic batsmen), disappointed the supporters with their lack of consistency, the younger brigade of Geoff Marsh, David Boon, Dean Jones and Steve Waugh provided greater hope. The bowling however was a big headache. Mcdermott was quick, but not consistent enough. Left armer Bruce Reid was steady, but injury prone. And of course, for most part of the 80's Australia lacked a quality test spinner. (The problem would be solved in the early 90's with the arrival of young Shane Warne). Not surprisingly Australia finished 1986 without winning a single test match. They, however, came desperately close in the tied test at Chennai in September.
After their triumphs in England, India went in to the first test as the favorites; but their sprit was dampened after spending the first two days in the field in extreme heat. Dean Jones (210), David Boon (122) and skipper Border (106) helped the Aussies reach 574/7. Jones' effort was a memorable one; heavily dehydrated at the end, he had to be carried off the field, and was sent to hospital. Fortunately, nothing serious happened, except him losing considerable weight.
Despite the massive Aussie total, Indian batsmen started in aggressive mood. The experienced Gavaskar (1) and Amarnath (8) failed; but Srikkanth (53), Azza (50) and Shastri (62) all looked good. But, then Gerg Matthews ran through the home side middle order and when the Indians finished the 3rd day at 270/7 they were staring at a follow on and a possible humiliating defeat. Fortunately their captain Kapil dev took control the next day. With him making 119, and the tail wagging India reached a respectable 397. Australia finished the day at 170/5.
A draw looked on the card, but Allan Border declared on the next morning, setting India 348 for victory, from 87 overs, required run rate exactly 4. Sriikanth's dismissal for 39 (team score 55) was a blow to India, as the local boy was the ideal man for quick run chase. But, India had a long batting line up and a good plan. The veterans Gavaskar (90) and Amarnath (51) build the innings. India was on target with 190/2 at tea. Gavaskar perished after tea, but with 20 overs to go India needed 118 from 20 overs with 7 wickets still in hand; they looked the favorites. Then the Aussies in typical fashion started their fight-back. Azhar (42) and Kapil (1) perished in quick succession. For their credit, India didn't stop their chase; Ravi Shastri took control as he smashed a number of massive sixes of the spinners. At 331/6 India looked safe. But, left arm spinner Ray Bright dismissed Sharma and More. When he accounted for Yadav in the 4th ball of the penultimate over, for the first time on the day, an Aussie victory looked probable. Maninder Singh, a genuine No 11, came out to bat. He survived the two deliveries, as the 30,000 strong crowd held their breath. Greg Mathews started the final over, bowling to Ravi Shastri. At 344/9, India needed a boundary. But, Ravi took the cautious approach. A two followed by a single ensured India's safety. Maninder had three balls to hit the winning run. The huge crowd was waiting in anticipation. But, their joy turned into despair, as Maninder was adjudged LBW in the 5th delivery, becoming the 10th victim of Matthews in the match. It looked a dubious decision, but there were no reviews in those days. So, a test match,, played under the extreme conditions, which looked fairly dull for the first 4 days, had a memorable ending. The 30,000 Monday crowd (a good number of them skipping office or school) saw a dramatic finish at the end.
Interestingly, the two teams met again a year later, at the same venue, in a WC fixture. The Aussies won by 1 run, Maninder was last man out, to the 5th ball of the 50 th over, this time being bowled by Steve Waugh.
Australia eventually won the WC, but didn't become a major test power before the end of the decade.
Bangladesh: Still an associate member, Bangladesh made their official ODI debut against Pakistan, at the 2nd Asia Cup in SL (March 1986). Bangladesh had qualified for this cup after winning the SEA cup in 1984. Gazi Ashraf hossain Lipu was the captain, the other players in this historical match for Bangladesh were, Raqibul, Nurul Abedin, Minhajul Abedin Nannu, Rafiq, Shahid, Suru, Badshah, Hafizur Rahman (WK), Sami and Prince. Shahid top scored with 37, and medium pacer Badshah took 2/23, but as expected, the Paks won by 7 wickets. Couple of days later Bangladesh lost to the hosts SL by the same margin. SL was the eventual champions.
In the summer, Bangladesh left for England, under the captaincy of Lipu, to participate in the 3rd ICC trophy. We were expected to pose a threat to the supremacy of Zimbabwe. But, at the end were eliminated at the group stage. We lost against Zimbabwe, East Africa, Malaysia and Denmark, and only managed to beat Kenya and Argentina.
Following the disaster in England, the cricket authorities here, quite rightly, decided to concentrate mostly on domestic cricket over the next 2/3 years.
England: 1986 was a year of despair of the English cricketers, and only couple of victories down under towards the end of the year avoided them becoming the ‘sick man' of the cricketing fraternity. Yet, at the begining of the year there was lot of optimism. Following their 3-1 success the previous summer against a depleted Aussie side, the Englishmen went to WI hoping to give Viv Richards' team a scare or two. They had no idea about the things to come. Mike Gating had his nose broken, Ian Bothammade the headlines in the tabloids, for his love affair with a Barbados beauty queen; and in the field, England followed one humiliating defeat after another.
Things hardly improved during the summer. Following the Lord's defeat against India, Mike Gatting replaced Gower as skipper. But there was little change of fortune. The 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Indians (this series will be discussed later in the India part) was followed by 1-0 reversal against NZ. The return of Ian Botham (He was banned early in the summer on disciplinary ground) in the final test at Oval against NZ bolstered the fledging moral of the side. The team did lot better in the Ashes tour, and it was Botham who started the things off with a century at Gabba.
Bowling first, after winning the toss, the inexperienced Aussie attack failed to exploit the favorable conditions properly. Botham (138), Athey (76) and Gatting (61) helped the tourists reach a highly respectable 456. In reply, a number of home players got going, but the highest score was only 56, as Dilley of Kent, bowled his hearts out taking 5/68. Botham played his part also with the ball, picking up couple of late wickets to restrict the Aussies to 248 all out. Following on, Geoff Marsh scored a brave hundred, but spinner Emburey took 5 wickets as England won by 7 wickets.
After couple of high scoring draws at WACA and the Adelaide Oval, England thrashed their rivals on the boxing-day test match at MCG. The capacity crowd on the first day saw Australia bowled out for only 141. With Dilley injured, his replacement Gladstone Small stole the show, taking 5/48. Botham was there too, taking 5/41. Dean Jones' brave 59 went in vain. Chris Broad (112) scored his 3 rd century of the series, as England took a sizeable lead. The England spinners did the rest as mike Gatting's team won by an innings and 14 runs. Australia won the exciting last test at SCG to restore some pride, but England retained their Ashes.
However, England failed to build on this success, in fact, for the remainder of decade, they won only one more test match, against the lowly Sri-Lankans, at the Oval in 1988.
India: Kapil Dev's men performed brilliantly to win the Series in England, 2-0; but overall the team failed to perform up to expectation. In Jan, at SCG, with hundreds from the top three, Srikknath, Gavaskar and Amarnath, India raced to 600/4 (Decl.). But, the lack of penetration among the spin bowlers combined with some untimely rain intervention meant that the test and the series ended in a draw; despite the fact that India outplayed their opponents in every department of the game.
Laxman Shivaramakrishnan, the leg spinner lost his place in the side for his failure. He would make brief return in the 1987 WC, but would then quickly go in to oblivion. Shivlal Yadav, the off spinner remained in the touring party for England, but it was the left arm spinner Maninder Singh who emerged as the main spinner for India. And he played his part at Lord's in the 1st test. His 3/9. combined with Kapil's hostile bowling with the new ball (4/52) restricted England to 180 in the 1st innings. There were other heroes as well; Chetan Sharma took 5 wickets in the first innings, and Dilip Vengsarkar completed his 3rd test hundred at Lord's. Chasing a small target; there were alarms early on when the openers went cheaply. But, almost everybody in the middle order made small contributions as India won by 5 wickets.
Even more emphatic was India's triumph in Headingley by the margin of 279 runs; this despite missing two key players in Amarnath and Chetan Sharma. Vengsarkar continued his fine form with 61 and 102*. Medium pacers Binny and MadanLal destroyed the England batting in the first innings, while Maninder with 4/26 proved almost unplayable in the 2nd.
The 3rd test at Edgebaston was evenly contested and ended in draw. The highlight from India's point of view was the 10 wicket haul for Chetan Sharma (4/130 & 6/58).
The 1986-87 season saw a long series of home tests; but the Indian team (apart from Vengsarkar & Maninder) failed to continue their fine form of the England tour. Honors were shared in the series against Australia, and although India as expected won the series against SL 2-0, a 1-0 loss to the arch rivals Pakistan, early in 1987, disappointed the million of Indian cricket fans.
New Zealand: AT a time when the Australians and the English were struggling in the test arena, New Zealand cricket was enjoying its best moments. Early in the 1985-86 season they won 2-1 at Australia. (Sir) Richard Hadlee with 33 wickets in just 3 tests was their biggest star. Early in 1986, NZ won their home series against the Aussies, 1-0. So, they left for England, in the summer full of confidence.
After the honors were shared in the opening test at Lord's, NZ dominated the 2nd test at Trent Bridge to win by 8 wickets. Hadlee again impressed with 10 wickets, and off spinner John Bracewell emerged as the unlikely batting hero with a century. Rain badly affected the 3rd test at the Oval denying England any chance of revenge.
The New Zealand team under Jeremy Coney was a united group. There were only two star players, Martin Crowe and (Sir) Richard Hadlee; but almost everybody contributed to the team's cause. They were not a particularly spectacular team, but they were tough and extremely difficult to beat. Even the mighty WI could only manage a 1-1 draw during their tour to NZ early in 1987.
Pakistan: The Pak team under the able leadership of Imran was a well-balanced outfit. With the retirement of Zaheer Abaas, Javed Miandad was the undisputed best batsman of the team; Ramiz Raja and Salim Malik were talented middle order bats. Wasim Akram was fast emerging as a world class fast bowler, and along with his captain formed a hostile new ball attack. The spin combination of Qadir and Tausif was highly effective, especially in the sub-continent conditions.
In the spring the Pak-SL series ended 1-1. The Paks were the comfortable winners in the 1st test; but were badly beaten in the 2nd. The Paks were extremely upset about a number of umpiring decisions that went against them in the 2nd match. In fact, things got so bad, that there was a possibility of the tour being abandoned at that stage. Fortunately, high officials from Islamabad intervened, and Imran's men continued their tour of the island. Later, they were beaten in the finals of the Asia Cup, to the hosts SL. But, the Pak side bounced back brilliantly, with their last ball victory over India, at Sharjah, in April, to lift the 1st Australasia Cup. (More about this later)
The Pak-WI series in autumn was one of the highlights of the year. It fully lived up to its billing as the ultimate fight for supremacy in the test arena. The pitches in Pakistan were slow, resulting in absorbing, fascinating battle between the two best teams in world cricket.
The WI selectors decided to rest Garner and Holding for this tour (both would be ending their career at the end of the season). This, however, hardly weakened the bowling, as the young brigade, (Walsh, Gray, Patterson) were more than ready to support the main weapon, Malcolm Marshall. Half way through the morning session of the first day of series, at Faisalabad, it appeared that Marshall didn't need any help. Bowling at a blistering pace in a slow wicket, he accounted for the Pak top three, Moshin, Mudassar, Ramiz. With Gray and Patterson also joining in the party, the home-side was restricted to 37/5 at one stage. Salim Malik produced a brave resistance, But, his innings, ended after he was hit in the finger by a rising delivery from Walsh. He retired hurt, 21. Pakistan eventually reached 159, thanks mainly to the heroics of their captain, Imran Khan; he was the last man out for 61.
The Pak captain having shown the fighting-sprit, it was next the duty of his ablest Lieutenant, Wasim Akram to carry on the fight. His 6/91 restricted the opposition to only 248. Wasim then top scored with 66, in the Pak 2nd innings, batting in his usual aggressive fashion, as the home side took command scoring 328. Almost everybody contributed; Mohsin Khan (40), WK salim Yousuf, coming as night-watchman (61), Qasim Omar (48), Miandad (30), Imran (23). Even Salim Malik, who was expected to play no further part in the match, came out to bat at the fall of the 9th wicket. He made only 3*, but shared a vital 32 run partnership with Akram.
WI batting collapsed badly on the final innings. They were bowled out for just 53, with Qadir (6/16) and Imran (4/30) doing the damage. (This was the 1st West Indies defeat in test matches for almost 5 years, There previous test defeat was at the hands of the Australians in the boxing day test match during the 1981-82 season). The WI however bounced back immediately thrashing Pakistan, by an innings and 10 runs in the next match at Lahore. Walsh with 3/56 and 4/21 emerged as the destroyer in chief. So, everything hung on the decisive final test at Karachi.
The pitch at the national stadium was painfully slow. Yet, the crowd saw fast bowling of the highest class from the two best fast bowlers of world cricket at the time, Imran and Marshall. After WI started batting 2nd time, with a slender 1 run lead, they were restricted to 211 all out. Imran produced a superb efforts to finish with 6/46. Only opener Desmond Haynes defied him, carrying his bat through for 88*. Any hope of a Pak victory, however, vanquished completely, as Marsahll restricted them to 25/4. He finished the series, just the way he had started it, and at the end the home side was happy to finish at 125/7.
While, the WI-Pak series satiated the Pundits immensely (the only regret from their perspective was that this was not a full 5 test series); for most Pak cricket fans, their most memorable moment of the year had come earlier, in April, at Sharjah.
In the final of the Australasia cup, against the bitter rivals India, Imran's decision to bowl first seemed to backfire as Gavaskar-Srikknath partnership raced to a century stand. Srikknath, the more belligerent of the two, departed after scoring 75 of just 80 deliveries (117/1), Gavasakr, accompanied by Vengsarkar carried on the good work. At one stage, India reached 216/1, but a spectacular collapse saw them restricted to 245/7 from 50 overs. Gavaskar fell victim to the nervous 90's, bowled by his old foe Imran. Imran and Akram bowled superbly in the slog overs.
Still, the Indian total was highly respectable for those days' standards, and for most part of the Pak innings it seemed enough. A number of Pak batsman got starts, but then threw it away. Fortunately, Miandad, the experienced pro held firm at one end. Still it seemed a lost cause when Imran fell to MadanLal (209/6). Aided by the tail-enders Miandad reached his hundred, but his task was not complete yet. Pakistan needed 4 runs of the last delivery; Miandad was in strike. Fortunately for him, Chetan Sharma, still pretty inexperienced at the time, lost his nerves, and presented Javed with a leg stump full toss; which was promptly dispatched over the mid-wicket fence for a six, and the Paks won by 1 wicket. Miandad was carried off the field by the jubilant supporters.
This game incidentally, started a long domination of the Paks over their rivals in ODI cricket. Over next 12 months or so they would beat India twice more at Sharjah, and would thrash them 5-1 in their home soil. Miandad would feature prominently in a number of these victories.
In 1987, Imran's Pakistan would record historic test series victories in India and England; but then would fail in the WC; losing to the eventual champions Australia in the Semis at Lahore.
South Africa: By 1986, the rebel tours had become quite common in South Africa. Australian sides, led by Kim Hughes toured there in 1985-86 and again in 1986-87. On each occasions the hosts won 1-0. Important from SA perspective was the debut of two youngsters, all rounder Brian McMillan and fast bowler Allan Donald. Both would play vital roles in the initial years of SA's return to the international cricket. Kepler Wessels, after leaving Australian test team over pay dispute, joined the 2nd rebel team to play against his own countrymen. In 1992, he would captain SA in the WC and also in their return to the test arena.
Sri- Lanka: SL, the youngest test playing nation at the time, had already tasted test victory in Sept. 1985, at Colombo against India. Then in March, 1986, they defeated Imran Khan's Pakistan by 8 wickets at Colombo (CCC). Ranatunga with a patent 77 held the Lankans' batting together, while the Pak batting struggled badly against inexperienced SL pace attack. This match however was filled with controversial umpiring decisions, most of them going in favor of the home team. The Paks were obviously not too pleased about it; and at one stage even threatened to cancel the remainder of the tour. Fortunately, intervention from home somewhat mitigated the problem.
SL followed this success by winning the Asia Cup, by beating Pakistan in the final. But, overall they struggled. India proved too strong in the winter tour there; the Lankans lost the 3 match series 2-0. A big concern at the time for the team was the form (or rather the lack of it) of the two most established batsmen of the team, Duleep Mendis, and Roy Dias. Gradually, they went into decline as the younger brigade of Madugale, Arvinda De Silva and Ranatuga took over the responsibilities.
The political situation of SL worsened badly during this period with the Tamil problem drawing worldwide attention. Home test matches became a rarity over the next 5/6 years slowing the development of SL cricket.
West Indies: Unbeaten for more than 4 years in test matches,, there was an aura of invincibility about the Windies side at the time. Indeed during the spring they thrashed David Gower's England 5-0 at home. Pakistan, though provided much stiffer opposition in autumn.
In the series against England, Richie Richardson emerged as their most consistent batsman; while the bowling, as usual, was dominated by Marshall, Garner and Holding. In Pakistan, the bowlers again did well, but the batting struggled against the varied Pak attack. Gordon Greenidge's patient 75 helped the team win the Lahore test; Haynes's 88* turned out to be the highest individual score in the series for both sides.
At the end of the 1986-87 season, Holding, Garner & Larry Gomes retired from international cricket. There appeared a crack or two over the next year or so. But, the team regained its composure before the tour to England, in the summer of 1988.
Zimbabwe: Despite the absence of Zimbabwe's most famous cricketer Graeme Hick, Zimbabwe easily won the ICC Trophy in the summer. They were simply too good for the rest of teams. Andy Pycroft, MoM of the 1982 final, started from where he had left off 4 years earlier, smashing the Bangladesh bowling to all corners of the ground, on his way to 135. In the SF, they thrashed Bermuda by 10 wickets. Paterson with 123* led their charge. Netherlands provided tougher fight in the final at Lord's. They restricted the reigning champions to 101/4 at one stage, but Waller led a middle order recovery with 59, before being run out. Chasing 244 for victory, the Dutch were restricted to 218 all out. All rounder Ian Buchert emerged as the bowling hero for Zimbabwe with 4/33. A number of Dutch batsmen got going, but at the end opener Litmann's 41 was their highest individual score.
Despite this success, Zimbabwe failed miserably in the WC, a year later, where they lost all their 6 matches.
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