The spirit among the West
Indies team changed from the winter when the team had been overwhelmed by Australia.
Perhaps provoked into a new resolve by the results on that tour (losing five
Test matches) or perhaps inspired to make England captain Tony Greig eat his
words after saying the West indies would ‘grovel’, the West Indies played
irresistibly, sweeping to three decisive Test victories.
As well as all their skill
to admire, there was also controversy over the fast bowling, especially
during the third Test when England's
veteran opening batsmen had to endure a hostile and intimidating session of
bouncers. The manager Clyde Walcott shrugged and said that fast, short
pitched bowling had always been a part of cricket but the ICC condemned
bouncers at their July meeting and limited the number that could be bowled.
The summer's newspaper headlines
were dominated by drought affecting England but the low, slow pitches had
little effect on the strokemaking of Vivian Richards or the pace bowling of
Roberts and Holding.
Viv Richards, who became
recognised as the world's best batsman, scored a phenomenal numbers of runs:
829 runs in four Tests.
As holders of the 1975
World Cup, West indies achieved effortless
victory in the three one-day internationals which took place at the end of
the season.West
Indies’ percentage of matches won on the 1976 tour was an
incredible 75 per cent. England
were well and truly beaten and the mood changed. The black spectators were no
longer bringing noisy partying to reserve English stadiums but “their
drumming is no longer perceived as a welcome soundtrack to a joyous event; it
is seen as intimidation”. (Cricket and Identity in the Post-colonial Age)
Barbadian Frankie Thomas was
a fast-medium bowler who played only one first-class match before moving to St Vincent in 1946 for his work in the civil
service.He held a place on the
national selection panel between 1968 and 1974, and was a force behind St
Vincent and Windward Islands cricket for
many years.
Selectors
Clyde Walcott (chairman), Andy Ganteaume, Joe Solomon.
Selection
The Chairman of Selectors
was also appointed tour manager on 11 February.
The captain and
vice-captain were appointed on 11 April.
Unavailable:None
Tour Party Announced :26 April
1976
All of the seventeen chosen had played cricket in England
before, and all but five were representing English counties.
Not selected :Keith
Boyce,Lance Gibbs.
Time between selection
and departure from West Indies
7 days
(26 April- 3? May)
Travel
Port
of SpainQLondon
The team flew from Trinidad
and arrived at Heathrow Airport, London,
on 4 May, six hours late.
Lloyd had arrived on 30 April.
In ‘Big Bird Flying High’. Joel Garner wrote"I flew from Barbados to England
[to play Lancashire league cricket] on 16
April 1976 with Collis King"
Time spent in England
130 days
(4 May - 11 September)
On-tour selection panel
Clive Lloyd, Deryck Murray, Roy Fredericks, Clyde Walcott.
Reinforcements
None. Kallicharran missed the latter part of the tour
with a dislocated right shoulder.
Fixtures/Results
a
†
Arundel
Duchess
of Norfolk's
XI
Won 7
w
b
†
Kennington Oval
National
Cricket Association
Drawn
c
Kennington
Oval
Surrey
Drawn
d
Southampton
Hampshire
Won
inns 88 r
e
Canterbury
Kent
Won
152 r
f
Lord's
M C C
Won
219 r
g
Taunton
Somerset
Won
141 r
h
Hove
Sussex
Drawn
i
TRENT BRIDGE
ENGLANDFirst Test
DRAWN
j
Cambridge
Oxford & Cambridge
Universities
Won 8
w
k
Old
Trafford
Lancashire
Won 6
w
l
LORD'S
ENGLANDSecond Test
DRAWN
m
Northampton
Northamptonshire
Won
10 w
n
Leicester
Leicestershire
Won 7
w
o
Sheffield
Yorkshire
Won
19 r
p
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
Won
10 w
q
OLD TRAFFORD
ENGLANDThird Test
WON 425 r
r
† Dublin
Ireland (two day)
Won
204 r
s
Edgbaston
Warwickshire
Drawn
t
HEADINGLEY
ENGLANDFourth Test
WON 55 r
u
Chelmsford
Essex
Won
105 r
v
Lord's
Middlesex
Lost
4 w
w
Torquay
Minor
Counties
Won 7
w
x
Swansea
Glamorgan
Won
inns 141 r
y
† Swansea
Glamorgan
(one day)
Won
108 r
z
KENNINGTON OVAL
ENGLANDFifth Test
WON 231 r
a’
Worcester
Worcestershire
Won 8
w
b’
Bristol
Gloucestershire
Drawn
c’
§ Scarborough
England (1st ODI)
Won 6
w
d
§
Lord's
England (2nd ODI)
Won
36 r
e’
§
Edgbaston
England (3rd ODI)
Won
50 r
f’
Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire
Won 5
w
g’
Scarborough
T N Pearce's XI
Lost
2 w
h’
† Scarborough
T N
Pearce's XI (one day)
Won 8
w
§ODI
(Prudential Trophy matches)
† not first-class
.
Time spent in England
before First Test:
30 days
(4 May - 3 June)
Time from end of final Test until departure from England
25 days
(17 August- 11 September)
Test appearances on tour
5-Fredericks, Greenidge, Lloyd, DL Murray, Roberts
4- Daniel, Holder, Holding, Richards
3-Kallicharran, King
2 -Gomes, Julian, Rowe
1-Jumadeen, Padmore
0 -Findlay.
Match appearances
West
Indies tour 1976
TTest match
oone-day international
x other match
⊕ T/20 international
W wonL lostD drawn
Ttie
N
no resultA abandonedu unknown result
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
RESULTS
Highlights
•In the first
Test Viv Richards scored 232
•Michael
Holding had figures of 14 for 149 at The Oval
Tour Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
5
3
0
2
-
Other first-class matches
21
15
2
4
-
ϯ Minor matches
6
5
0
1
-
§ One-day
internationals
3
3
0
0
-
All Matches
35
26
2
7
-
Return to West Indies
LondonQBridgetown
Thirteen of the players, with Walcott and Thomas,
flew out of Heathrow on 11 September, arriving at Seawell Airport
that evening.
Findlay and Thomas spent the night
in Bridgetown then flew on to St Vincent. The rest went to Piarco
Airport, Trinidad, and Fredericks to Georgetown
that night.Richards and Roberts flew
to Antigua the next day.
Rowe and Holding landed at Norman Manley
International Airport
on Sunday 12 September.
Greenidge arrived in Barbados a week later.
Kallicharran, Lloyd and Murray remained in England.
Time away from West Indies
131 days
(3 May ? - 11 September)
Finances
Published
accounts of the tour
"Frindall's Scorebook" Bill Frindall (1976)Lonsdale Press.
"Grovel! -The Story & Legacy of the Summer of 1976" by David Tossell (Know The Score Books,
2007)