On this day: West Indies rout England in England, once again!
The English summer of 1988, without a doubt, was an enthralling one. For England cricket fanatics, it was a ‘disastrous’ summer involving ‘four captains’ as their side took the field with four different skippers in the five Tests against a dominant West Indies side.
The West Indies side, led by Vivian Richards, was undergoing significant changes. Yet, the men from the Caribbean were still successful in making the summer an awful one for the English side.
The horrid series
England’s captaincy saga started from the first Test where Mike Gatting was at the helm as England managed to draw the match at Trent Bridge. But things were going to get uglier as Gatting was sacked for an alleged off-field indiscretion with a barmaid ahead of the second Test.
Gatting was replaced as the captain by his Middlesex teammate John Emburey. What followed was England receiving a 134-run drubbing at Lord’s. The touring part completely dominated the English bowler in the second innings, amassing a brawny 397-run total with Gordon Greenidge amassing a ton. England, in response, were all out for 307 and lost the Test.
England went with John Emburey for the third Test but it all boiled down to England suffering a batting collapse in both innings. After electing to bat first, England was curtailed to 135 as Courtney Walsh picked a four-wicket haul. Things went from bad to worse in the second innings for England, with Malcolm Marshall wreaking havoc and scalping seven wickets– best figures of his career– to curb England to 93.
#OnThisDay 1988: The great Malcolm Marshall ended with 10 wickets in the match as West Indies beat England at Lords. pic.twitter.com/PX7jOlgPxC
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) June 21, 2016
West Indies won by an innings and 156 runs in a one-sided affair, forcing England to shuffle with their captaincy yet again. It was announced that England’s third captain of the series would be all-rounder Chris Cowdrey. England, at Leeds, braced the field with seven new faces to seek redemption. However, things didn’t change for the hosts as West Indies clinched the rain-marred affair to gain a 3-0 unassailable lead in the series.
The fifth and final Test at Oval witnessed the English side, in desperation, presenting their fourth captain of the series. 35-year-old Graham Gooch was assigned the responsibility of clinching a consolation win to salvage something. But the West Indies side was unperturbed as they continued their winning momentum and strolled to the triumph with more than a day to spare.
