At the beginning of the 1970's, the cricketing world was preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of test match cricket. The grand celebration eventually took place at Melbourne in March, 1977 with Australia prevailing in an exciting finish. The game was full of incidents; but this can be said about world cricket throughout the decade. For the game of cricket, it was the era change. Kerry Packer introduced changes (floodlit games, colored clothes, white balls) that still remain part of international cricket. Helmet was introduced to combat the growing menace of fast bowling. In 1975 World cup cricket started, which had since grown manifolds in size and stature.
In this two part article I would be looking at the changes, controversies, events that made the headlines over the 1970's. I will focus in this 1st part, however, on how the major cricket playing nations fared over the decade. The controversies can be left for the 2nd part.
Australia: The Aussies started the decade disastrously, losing badly to the Proteas, and finished the decade with a home loss against the mighty Windies; yet for most part of the decade they were the dominant force in World cricket. The batting was dominated by the Chappell brothers, along with Doug Walters, while Lillie and Thomson formed on e of the most fearsome new ball attack ever. Ashley Mallet was their main spinner; and Rod Marsh was generally accepted as the no. 1 WK in world. The only problem was in the opening position, a weakness which was cruelly exploited by the fast bowlers (Snow, Imran, Roberts, Holding & Garner) at different stages of the decade.
After the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of SA (in 1970), followed by an Ashes defeat at home, Bill Lawry lost his captaincy and his place in the side. His deputy, Ian Chappell took over the captaincy starting the Chappell family era which lasted for almost the entire decade.
Australia under Ian Chappell played cricket the hard way. All the opponents were treated as enemies. They were not ready to surrender anything to the opposition. Sledging became a commonplace thing. They were not the most popular team in World cricket, but at least on the field Ian produced the desired results. In the spring of 1973, he led his team to a 2-0 series victory at the Caribbean. (It would be after another 22 years that the next time Windies would lose a home series, again to the Aussies led this time by Mark Taylor). But, Ian's greatest moment would come during the 1974-75 Ashes series. With Lillie and Thomson at their best (58 wickets in between them), and Rodney Marsh extremely busy behind the stumps England were badly beaten (4-1).
The Aussies went one better, the next season, beating Clive Lloyds WI 5-1. But, on this occasion Greg Chappell had taken over the captaincy from his elder brother. Although, he was extremely popular among the Aussie players, Ian was consistently at odds with the ACB officials. He was constantly in the news, and not always for the right reason. There was a rumor that Ian might be sacked despite his team's successes. However, he was determined to go out in style, and after leading his side to a 1-0 series win in the Ashes tour in the summer of 1975, he surprised everybody by stepping down from the captaincy job (though he still remained in the team as a batsman).
Greg was a different type of character from his brother Ian. Lot more reticent, he was far more comfortable with the authorities than his brother was. Nevertheless, he ran into controversy late in his career following the infamous ‘underarm bowling' incident (involving the 3rd member of the family Trevor) against the Kiwis in 1980-81 season.
Greg didn't possess the motivating ability of his brother, instead he believed more in leading by example. In his debut test as captain, at Gabba, he scored 123 & 109*, leading his side to an 8 wicket victory. He added 182* at Sydney, and eventually finished his first series as captain with a grand total of 702 runs at an extraordinary average 117.00. The bowling was, as usual dominated by LIllie and Thomson, sharing 56 wickets this time. WI players like Viv Richards and Gordon Grennidge, destined for greatness later in their career, struggled badly to cope with the extra pace and extra bounce in the Aussie wickets.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Pakistan provided more stiff opposition in the short 3 test series in 1976-77. With Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal in splendid form with the bat, and with Imran Khan finally coming out of age (6/102 & 6/63 at Sydney), Pakistan fought for every inch to achieve a highly creditable 1-1 draw. Greg then led the Aussies to a narrow victory in the centenary test against the old rivals England. But, the team performed poorly during the Ashes tour, the following summer, losing 3-0.
It was during this tour the news about the Packer's affair (this topic will be discussed in details in the 2nd part) was first heard about. There was a clear rift among the Aussie players. This rift widened even further over the next two years, as the best Australian players, including Greg would be away from the official test cricket arena, instead playing under Ian Chappell in the ‘rebel' Packer's series. At their absence, the 2nd string Aussie team struggled. Although the conflict between Kerry Packer and the Aussie board was resolved, and the rebels returned during the 1979-80 season, the team unity was not fully restored. There was a clear division among the ‘Packer' and the ‘Non-Packer' players. Although, Greg Chappell led the Aussies to a 3-0 whitewash against the English, a 2-0 series loss against the Windies suggested that the Aussies no longer held their supremacy over the rest of the field. Instead, it was the West Indies who were all set to rule the cricketing world over the next decade.
England: England started the decade on a high; Ray Illingworth's men winning the Ashes series 2-0 down under during the 1970-71 season. Superb batting by Boycott, and hostile fast bowling by John Snow, combined with the shrewd captaincy by Ray Illingworth made England one of the toughest side at the time.
Overall England did pretty well in the Ashes series over the decade, although the 5-1 triumph by Mike Brearly's men over the 2nd string Aussie outfit in the 1978-79 season cannot be taken too seriously. There were setbacks as well, the 4-1 defeat during the 1974-75 tour plus the 3-0 defeat at home against WI in 1976 suggested clear weakness against quality fast bowling, a problem that would become more severe during the 80's, after the departure of Boycott and Amiss.
Over the decade, England had five captains, all with their interesting characters and backgrounds. Illingworth, the proud Yorkshire-man is still best remembered for winning the Ashes down under. Swansea born Tony Lewis was the surprise choice for the captaincy job for ‘The passage to India' during the winter of 1972-73. At Delhi, in Dec. 1972, he became the last England cricketer to lead the team on his test debut. He was out for a duck in the first innings, but led his side to a 6 wicket victory with a defiant 70* in the 2nd. Mike Denness, from Scotland, successfully led the England side against India in 1974, but he ran out lucks against the Aussies. South Africa born Tony Greig took over from Mike in the middle of the 1975 Ashes series, only to lose it on the eve the 1977 series, as his role in the Packer series came to the limelight. Cambridge educated Mike Brearly became one of the most successful test captains in English cricket history, with series victories against Australia (at both home and away), plus home series wins against Pakistan, NZ and India. Some of the gloss, however, is taken away, if we consider the fact that almost all these oppositions were of sub-standards.
The Tony Greig era was without doubt, the most eventful one, full of controversies and incidents. Making his captaincy debut at Lord's, he brought back veteran Edrich to open the innings. But, Grieg's real masterstroke was introducing David Steele into test arena. Already well into his 30's, with a modest 1st class batting record (only 16 hundreds over a career spanning for 12 years, with an average of 31), Steele was picked for his sound technique against fast bowling. He went onto play only 8 test matches for England, but during this period he fully vindicated Greig's faith on him. Bating at no.3, not only did he fearlessly counterattacked Lillie and Thomson, he did equally well against the fearsome new ball attack of Roberts and Holding of WI a year later.
Greig's un-orthodox tactics worked well against the Aussies to the extent that England achieved creditable draws in all three tests under his leadership. Greig's effectiveness, as a captain, however, came under scrutiny after England was badly beaten by the Windies 3-0 in 1976. The England bowlers suffered at the hands of Viv Richards, and Gordon Greenidge, while the hostility of Roberts and Holding proved too much for most of the England batting. Despite this defeat, Greig was selected to lead the side for the tour of India, in the following winter, and he led his side to a 3-1 victory. The tour however, was not free from controversies. At Delhi, in the first test, John Lever, the Essex left arm seamer achieved prodigious swing on perfect batting conditions to take 7/46 and 3/24, and take England to an innings victory. Later on during the series, some of the Indian cricketers accused Lever, along with his new ball partner Willis, of using unethical means to keep the shine of the ball (with the help of Vaseline). Greig, as captain of England didn't find it necessary to use any diplomacy in handling this situation. Not only did he deny the charges, he rather rudely pointed fingers at the poor condition of the Indian team at that time.
Greig's international career ended after the summer of 1977, as he was among the leading men of Packer's series. On the field, he led the World XI, off the field, he along with Ian Chappell and Asif Iqbal were prominent in recruiting players from different parts of the world. Originally from South Africa, Greg helped a number of players from that region, unable to play test cricket due to international ban, find their way to World Series Cricket.
Although England was badly beaten by Australia (3-0) during the 1979-80 season, the prospect for England's immediate future looked quite bright. Gower and Botham were two of the best emerging talents in world cricket, while Graham Gooch emerged as a steady opening partner for Boycott. Things, however, didn't go according to the plans for England cricket. In fact, the English team would reach new lows during the 80's.
India: India's performance in the 70's can be said to be exactly opposite to that of Australia. India started the decade on a high; winning their first ever test match and their first ever series win in WI. A young opener, by the name of Sunil Gavaskar broke records after records against a hapless WI attack. India finished the decade by beating arch rivals Pakistan 2-0 at home. This time the young all-rounder Kapil Dev stole the limelight.
For most part though, India struggled at the highest level over the 70's. Two world class batsmen, in the forms of Gavaskar & Vishwanath, plus a quartet of quality spinners, were not enough to achieve results consistently at the highest level.
Gavaskar made his test debut in the 2nd test match of the 1971 series at Port of Spain. His 65 ad 67*, combined with the efforts of the spinners, helped India to an historical win. For young Gavaskar, it was just the beginning though. 116 at Georgetown was followed by 117* at Bridgetown, and he finished off with 124 and 220 in the 5th test match, again at Port of Spain. With Gavaskar in brilliant form, and Dilip Sardesai holding the middle order together, the WI bowlers struggled badly in slow unresponsive wickets.
As for Kapil Dev, he produced an outstanding all round display against Asif Iqbal's men in the 1979-80 season. In the process he completely outclassed his counterpart, Imran Khan (to be fair to Imran, he was struggling with injures). With the bat he scored a total of 278 runs at an average of more than 30. With the ball he took 32 wickets, at 17.68 apiece. His most memorable effort came in the 5th test match at Madras (Chennai). There he took 11 wickets and scored 84 (of just 98 deliveries) to lead his side to a 10 wicket victory.
Winning the series against the bitter rivals must have been especially sweet for Gavaskar and his men. But, for most Indian supporters, their most memorable events of the decade came at the Ovals, 1st at Kensington Oval, London, on a bright August Day of 1971, and then at Queen's Park Oval , Trinidad, during the spring of 1976.
Against the Englishmen, Ajit Wadekar's team conceded a 1st innings lead of 71. But, the English batting collapsed badly on the 4th day. They were bowled for just 101, with the leggie Chandrasekhar taking 6/38. A target of 173 looked modest, but the millions of Indian supporters following the game over radio were alarmed, when Gavaskar fell for a duck, LBW to Snow. But, the middle order (Wadekar, Sardesai & Vishwanath) held their own to take India home for the loss of six wickets. Illingworth, one of the shrewdest captains England ever had, was his usual self, encouraging his spinners to provide the killer blow. But, there were not enough runs at the board, and India were the deserved winners of the match, and the series.
At Port of Spain, Bedi was the Indian captain. Here, India was set a target of 406 on the final innings. Almost all the pundits ruled out any chances for India. The pundits however, missed a couple of points. First, the wicket at Queen's Park oval was tailor made for batting. The pitch could last for 10 days if necessary. Secondly, the WI bowling was very inexperienced. The spinners were ordinary, and at the absence of Andy Roberts, Holding had to take all the responsibility of the pace attack. Gavaskar, always at home in the slow pitch of Queen's Park, led the chase with 102. After his departure Vishwanath (112) and Amarnath (85) took India towards a six wicket victory.
India very nearly improved upon this performance against England, at the Oval in 1979. Chasing 438 for victory India were again put on course by Gavaskar (Who else?). But this time, his 221 was not enough. Inexperience of some of the players, combined with some tactical mistakes by captain Venkat, saw India slump from 366/1 to 429/8. The match ended in a draw.
While the Oval in London provided the Indian supporters of some of their best memories ever, the other ground in London, the Lord's on the other side of Themes, provided their most painful memory. There, in the 2nd test match of the disastrous series in 1974, England amassed 629 all-out with Amiss, Denness and Greig all reaching three figures. In reply, India made a good start with Gavaskar and Engineer posting a century opening stand. But the middle order batsmen failed to convert starts into scores, and India ended at 302, Chris Old taking 4/90. For, India, the worst was to follow. Following on, they were bowled out for only 42. E. Solkar 18*, was the only batsman to reach double figures, as Old (5/21) and Geoff Arnold (4/19) demolished the Indian batting line up.
Most of India's bowling success over the decade was built upon the three spinners, Bedi, Chandra, and Prasanna. All of them, however, were gone from the international arena before the decade was over. Their replacements were not up to the mark. Only Doshi did an adequate job, that too for only a short period of time. Kapil Dev had to lead the Indian attack virtually on his own. Not surprisingly Indian team continued to struggle badly (except few successes here and there like winning the 1983 WC, or winning the series 2-0 in England, in 1986) for many years to come.
Pakistan: The political situation in Pakistan was in turmoil at the beginning of the decade. In fact, the country was divided into two parts in December, 1971, with the Eastern part (previously known as East Pakistan) emerging as the new independent nation of Bangladesh. Fortunately things were lot more steady in the cricket arena where they performed admirably throughout the decade.
During the summer of 1971, the Paks were distinctly unlucky to lose the 3 match series 1-0 in England. At Edgebaston, in the 1st test Pakistan scored 608/7declared. Zaheer Abbas, playing only his 2nd test match scored a classy 274. Mushtaq Mohammad and Asif Iqbal also reached 3 figures. England was struggling after following on but the weather intervened on the final day to deny Pakistan any chance of a victory. England won the series after prevailing in a close finish in the 3rd test at Headingley.
The Paks impressed again 3 years later as the 3 match series in England ended 0-0. Zaheer again stole the limelight, this time scoring 240 at the Oval. By this time, the Pak batting had become quite formidable. Apart from Zaheer, there were Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal (ironically both these players started their careers as bowlers). Left handed Sadiq Mohammad had emerged as a capable opening partner for Majid. Mushtaq and Wasim Raja were highly competent all-rounders. Still, Pakistan was not winning as many test matches as they would have liked, mainly because the bowling didn't have enough venom in it. Asif Masood, Sarfraz Nawaz and Intikhab Alam were steady, but they lacked the ‘'Killer Instinct''. That instinct finally came with the arrival of Imran Khan. Although, he had made his test debut way back in 1971, it was only during the 1976-77 series against the Aussies that the cricketing world first learned about his pace and his ability to swing the ball late.
In fact, the whole Pak team surprised the Aussies with their overall strength in batting and bowling. At Adelaide, in the 1st test, The Paks conceded a 1st innings lead of 182, but then they hit back with Asif (152*) and Zaheer (101) to enforce a draw. The Aussies thoroughly dominated the 2nd test at Melbourne and were the deserved winners. But, the 3rd test at Sydney belonged to Pakistan, especially to a young man from Lahore. Imran took 6/102 and 6/63 in the match, and with Asif continuing his fine form with the bat, scoring 120, the Paks won the match by 8 wickets, and the series ended 1-1.
25 years after making their test debut, Pakistan cricket had reached its peak. Although, they lost a hard fought series 2-1 in the Windies, they were still regarded, along with Australia, as the strongest cricket playing nation at the time. Unfortunately, five of their best players, Asif, Zaheer, Majid, Mushtaq and Imran soon signed contacts with the World Series Cricket. Initially, the Pak authorities banned these players, but when the 2nd string side was badly beaten in England, in 1978, the selectors decided not to take any risk for the important home series against India and recalled the 5 ‘rebels'. And as expected, these players played a key role in helping Pakistan win the series 2-0.
Zaheer and Javed dominated the Pak batting. Zaheer started the series with 176 at Faisalabad, and followed this with 235* at Lahore. Javed made 154* at Faisalabad and 100 at Karachi. Javed, Asif and Imran all featured prominently as Pakistan chased 164 runs in less than 25 overs to win the Karachi test. The 97 run 2nd wicket stand between Asif and Javed was based on brilliant running between the wickets by the two fastest runners between the wickets in word cricket. After that, Imran produced the late flourish, lofting Indian captain Bedi for two huge sixes. The bowling was dominated by the fast bowlers, Sarfraz and Imran. In contrast, the famous Indian spinners (Bedi, Chandra and Prasanna) all struggled on the lifeless tracks. The only bright spot from the Indian perspectives was the arrival of a young all rounder, named Kapil Dev.
Thus the 70's was a highly successful time for Pak cricket. Sadly, the decade ended in a disappointing note, as the Asif Iqbal's men lost the 6 match series 2-0 at India during the 1979-80 season. Zaheer and Majid were completely out of touch, Asif himself struggled against the Indian spinners. Imran struggled with injuries, and conspicuously missing from the squads in all six matches was Sarfraz Nawaz. After the series, Sarfraz complained about the time that Asif spent with an Indian gambler. No one at the time took his accusations very seriously, and the rather controversial personality of the accuser himself made it look more like ‘sour grapes' than anything else. From hindsight, it now seems that, we could (and perhaps should) have taken the accusations more seriously.
Fully aware of what awaits for him back home in Pakistan, Asif declared his retirement from international cricket towards the end of the India tour. And, the Pak selectors surprised everybody by naming Javed Miandad as his successor, overlooking the claims of the more senior pros like Zaheer and Majid. Javed, however, lost his captaincy in rather acrimonious circumstances within two years, Imran khan took over from him. Under the able leadership of Imran, Pakistan again became an extremely strong force in World Cricket. In the 80's, they were the only team that could challenge the supremacy of the West Indies in Test cricket.
West Indies: The WI cricket was going through a transition period at the beginning of the decade. The great WI team of the 60's under Sir Frank Worrell had disintegrated. Most of them were retired, Worrell himself had passed away, and while Sir Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai still carried on, they too were coming towards their career. In this situation, a rebuilding of the team was required.
The rebuilding gathered momentum under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd during the 1974-75 season. Three youngsters made their marks during the tour of India. Gordon Greenidge marked his test debut at Bangalore with a hundred, Viv Richards scored 192* at Delhi, ruthlessly smashing the famed spinners of India to all parts of the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Young speedster Andy Roberts took 32 wickets in the series, producing unbelievable pace from the slow flat tracks of the subcontinent.
Lloyd's young team won the first Prudential World Cup in England in 1975, with Lloyd leading from the front in the final. But, then the team lost 5-1 down under, and they looked less than convincing in a 2-1 series win at home against Bishen Bedi's India. Lloyd showed his inexperience as captain during the infamous Kingston test match.
On paper the team looked quite strong. Fredericks, Greenidge, Richards, Kallicharran, Rowe and Lloyd formed a formidable batting line up; while Roberts and Holding formed a new ball attack that could match Lillie and Thomson in pace and variation. Yet, the results were not coming consistently. The main reason was that while the ability was there, there was lack of cohesion and professionalism.
Somewhat unexpectedly, that cohesion and professionalism came during the Packer Series. The strictly professional environment of World Series cricket helped many of the Caribbean cricketers to develop themselves. So, when the Packer saga was over and Lloyd's men toured Australia during the 1979-80 season, they were fully prepared for the Aussies.
The first test match at the Gabba was drawn. Viv Richard's effortless 140 helped The Caribbean team take a huge first innings lead, but the home side hit back with centuries from skipper Greg Chappell and his deputy Kim Hughes. But none of the Australian batsmen could stand against the four prong pace attack of Roberts, Holding, Garner, and Croft at MCG (in the 2nd match) as the tourists won by 10 wickets. Viv continued his excellent form with 96. In a desperate bid the Aussie selectors recalled Ian Chappell for the 3rd test at Adelaide, but to no avail. The fast bowlers again destroyed the Aussie batting, while Lloyd (121 in the 1st innings), Kallicharran (106 in the 2nd) and Sir Viv Richards (76 and 74) held the Caribbean batting together.
Although WI lost the 3 test series in NZ, early in 1980, in acrimonious circumstances, with numerous controversial umpiring decisions going against the tourists, Lloyd's men were all set to dominate the world cricket over the 80's. Only Imran Khan's Pakistan managed to offer any resistance to the WIndies during the 1980's.
New Zealand: New Zealand started the decade with the tag of the weakest team in the test arena; but they gradually build their team over the decade; and made themselves a difficult side to beat. The team was built around two players; opener Glenn Turner gave the top order stability; while the charismatic all-rounder Sir-Richard Hadlee provided the main threat to the opposition batting.
Turner was at the peak of his form during the tour of WI in 1972. There, in the 5 test series, he scored 672 runs at an impressive average of 96.00. More of an accumulator of runs, rather than a stoke-maker, Turner thrived on the slow pitches of the Caribbean. His career best 259 came in the 4th test at Georgetown. Here, he shared a mammoth opening stand of 387 with TW Jarvis. But perhaps Turner's best effort was in the first test at Kingston. Here he carried his bat through the Kiwi innings, finishing with 223* out of a team score of 386. The 5 match series ended 0-0 with the batsmen from both the sides scoring heavily. Turner could never quite reach the same kind of form afterwards; but he remained a consistent performer and at Christchurch, in March 1974, he scored centuries in both innings (101 and 110*) to lead his side to a famous 5 wicket win over Australia.
Hadlee was instrumental in most of the test victories of NZ in the 70's (and in the 80's). His 4/35 followed by 7/23 against India in 1976, helped NZ win the match at Basin Reserve, Wellington, by an innings. With Gavaskar unable to bat because of injury, the Indians were bowled out for only 81 in their 2nd innings. At the same venue, couple of years later, he destroyed the English batting with 6/26 in the 2nd innings. Needing only 137 runs for a victory, the tourists were bundled out for 64, with Botham top scoring with 19.
NZ would become a formidable force in world cricket in the 80's. With Hadlee reaching his pick during the mid 80's, the Kiwis would enjoy series victories (at both home and away) against England and Australia. They were especially impressive at home where they wouldn't lose a series for almost 15 years.
South Africa; In 1970, the Springboks showed their overall strength by thrashing Bill Lawry's Australia 4-0. The highlight of the series was a brilliant 274 at Durban, by Graeme Pollock, arguably the greatest left handed batsman ever. With players like the Pollock brothers, Barry Richards, Mike Proctor, Eddie Barlow and others, South Africa possessed the nucleus of a potential world beater. But, the apartheid policy of the Pretoria government meant that very soon SA was banned completely from the international cricket arena, not to return until 1991.
This decision imposed meant that the world cricket missed some of the best talents ever. Graeme Pollock ended up with playing just 23 matches, Proctor only 7. But, perhaps Clive Rice was the unluckiest of them all. Approaching his best form at a time when SA was about to be banned, he had to wait for more than two decades to make his international debut. At the age of 42, he led SA in their first three ODI matches against India in 1991. Many of the SA players became regulars in the county circuit. Some like Richards and Rice showed up in the Packer series. While, the players from SA showed their class in different parts of the world, as a national team SA was non-existent in the 70's.
Sri Lanka: With their long tradition of cricket, The Lankans were by far the strongest Associate member nation; a fact that was appreciated by the WC organizers in 1975. SL was invited to take part, and although they lost all their 3 matches, some of their batsmen gave pretty good account of themselves. They went one better in 1979, (this time they had qualified by winning the 1st iCC Trophy in England) by beating India.
They eventually played their first official test match against England, in Feb. 1982. But it came a bit too late for Anura Tenikoon, their popular skipper of the 70's. With Tenikoon already retired, Bandula Warnapura got the responsibility of leading the islanders in their maiden test match
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