West Indies vs England: The five best Test matches
West Indies and England will be the first two teams to take to the field as international cricket returns next month with the Wisden Trophy. After a prolonged period of suspension, cricket will resume as the Caribbeans visit the British Isles for a three-test series.
Last year, England and West Indies squared off in a 3-match Test series in the Caribbeans, which the home side won 2-1. The first meeting between the two sides dates back to 1928 and since then they have locked horns on more than 100 occasions. On that note, let us look at the five best Test matches played between England and West Indies.
Five best Test matches played between England and West Indies:
#5: West Indies vs England in Antigua (2009)
In a high-scoring third Test of the 2009 series between the two nations, England rode on centuries from captain Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood to post a formidable score of 566 on board. In reply, West Indies could only muster 285, with Ramnaresh Sarwan top-scoring with 94.
With England opting not to enforce the follow-on, the hosts were asked to chase down an improbable target of 503 runs to chase. West Indies closed out Day 4 on 143-3 with the pair of Ramnaresh Sarwan (47) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (18) at the crease.
The hosts had an outside chance of pulling off their tall target on the final day but Sarwan and Chanderpaul wisely opted for caution over exuberance as they added 43 runs to the overnight total without getting separated.
Chanderpaul soon brought up his 50 and Sarwan his 100 as England were running out of options and time to force a victory. The much-needed breakthrough arrived with the new ball as Stuart Broad skittled the off stump of Ramnaresh Sarwan and returned to take the outside edge of Chanderpaul's bat as West Indies reached 279/5 at tea.
Buoyed by the wickets of the two set batsmen, England had their tails up in the last session of the Test match. Graeme Swann took the wicket of Brendon Nash to set back the hosts, and James Anderson, who had gone wicketless in the game, snuffed out a dogged Jerome Taylor to push West Indies further down the abyss.
Anderson castled the last remaining batsman, Denesh Ramdin to take England to the brink of a thrilling win. Once Sulieman Benn was gone it seemed only a matter of time before West Indies would capitulate.
Fidel Edwards walked out to the crease to accompany Darren Powell and see out 14 overs. England went in with aggressive field set ups to try and sneak edges from the Windies batsmen. However, the last wicket pair managed to survive. After half an hour of facing the English attack, the umpires stepped in and offered light to the batsmen, one that they graciously accepted.
#4: England vs West Indies, Manchester (2007)
Talking in Old Trafford's footballing parlance, this was indeed a game of two halves. Alaistair Cook had put England in cruise control with a century and Steve Harmison did the early damage to follow it up. At the end of Day 3, West Indies reeling at 22-1, were 433 runs adrift of their target.
Steve Harmison got Chris Gayle early on Day 4, leaving Windies tottering at 35/2. West Indies did not back out of the fight, though. Devon Smith and Runako Morton stitched together a 50-run stand, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul also got into the act.
Chanderpaul's unbeaten 81 thwarted Monty Panesar's web of spin at the other end as West Indies ended the penultimate day at 301/5. The game was very much in the balance going into the final day.
Panesar got the early breakthrough for England in the third over of the fifth day. Denesh Ramdin was deceived in the air by the flight of the ball and played a backfoot defensive stroke, only for Paul Collingwood to pouch the chance. At lunch, West Indies were 76 runs away from their target with three wickets in hand.
Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 104 but the tail had to wag if the West Windies stood any chance of winning. Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar, however, cleaned up the visiting tail shortly after lunch. The last three wickets fell in a space of four overs and 15 runs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 116 but it was Monty Panesar's 10-wicket match haul that shone out brighter.
#3: England vs West Indies, Lord's (1995)
This was the first series in-charge for England team manager Ray Illingworth who incidentally was the Chairman of Selectors too. Thanks to Illingworth, the game made news even before a single ball was bowled.
Illingworth was a fan of having five bowlers in the team and he also held a relatively unknown 'right to select or veto' for any player in the team other than the captain. On the eve of the game, after the initial selection meeting, Illingworth controversially dropped keeper Steve Rhodes to accommodate an extra bowler.
This meant that Alec Stewart had to keep wickets instead. It was Illingworth's risk since the decision was taken after the selection meeting but it was a gamble that eventually paid off. The extra bowler accommodated was Dominic Cork who broke the record for the best spell on Test debut by an English bowler.
England strode to 185/3 on the opening day before collapsing to 255/8. With the ball, Angus Fraser came to the party with a five-wicket haul to restrict West Indies to a first innings lead of just 40 runs.
On Day 3, Courtney Walsh dismissed both openers cheaply before England fought back with Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe and Robin Smith's contributions. Smith's 90 along with useful contributions from Cork and Darren Gough set a target of 296 for the West Indies. Only once a higher fourth innings score was successfully chased down at Lord's; it was by the West Indies themselves in 1984.
Coming out to bat in the final session on Day 4, Brian Lara went all guns blazing against the English bowling attack. He scored 38 runs off 44 balls, scoring seven fours. Lara was dismissed on the last ball of the day after completing his half century when keeper Alec Stewart grabbed a brilliant single-handed catch.
Once Lara was back in the pavilion, West Indies kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Debutant Dominic Cork chipped in with a couple of wickets in three different spells and ultimately ended with figures of 7-43.
West Indies were on course to win at the end of Day 4 but eventually fell 72 runs short of the target on the final day as Cork made a debut to remember.
#2: England vs West Indies, Headingley (2017)
Ah, Headingley! West Indies were 1-0 down in the series and hadn't won a Test in England in 17 years. The Caribbeans found themselves staring at an uphill task of getting 317 runs on the final day to pull off a win.
With Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad spearheading the bowling attack for England, a West Indies win on the final day seemed unlikely. But the opposite unfurled in Headingley.
Kraigg Braithwaite was dropped twice - once by Alaistair Cook at slip while batting on 4 and then by Stuart Broad on 29. Although when Stuart Broad dropped the catch, the ball deflected off his fingers onto the stumps that saw non striker Kyle Hope short of his crease. Shai Hope then arrived at the crease and swung the game in West Indies' favour.
Scoring their first half centuries of the series, both players played impressively and added 144 vital runs for the third wicket. Braithwaite narrowly missed out on a twin century after getting dismissed on 95 by Moeen Ali on the stroke of tea to set up a nail-biting final session.
With 35 overs to go, West Indies needed 123 to win and had seven wickets in hand.
Shai Hope went on to accomplish what Braithwaite narrowly missed out on - become the first player to score twin centuries in Headingley. Once Roston Chase was dismissed, Jermaine Blackwood came out to the crease and took the attack to England. A huge straight six over James Anderson's head spoke volumes about the confidence and intent of the West Indian batsmen. They were going for glory against all odds.
Blackwood was stumped by a mile in an attempt to finish with aplomb but the job was almost done by then. Windies needed only two runs to complete a historic chase and Shai Hope completed thee honours as Headingley witnessed yet another classic Test match.
#1: England vs West Indies, Lord's (2000)
After three days of back and forth action between England and West Indies, with the bowlers being the standouts for both teams - the Lord's Test was a real tug of war between both teams.
At one stage of the West Indies innings, when the visitors were coasting at 162/1, Dominic Cork's bouncers came out of the blue to dismiss Sherwin Campbell and Wavell Hinds in quick succession.
Darren Gough and Dominic Cork both took four wickets each as West Indies were bowled out for 267, their last nine wickets falling for 105 runs. In response, England didn't fare any better. They ran into merciless bowling spells from Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. Four wickets apiece from the duo bundled England out for a paltry 134.
When the Caribbeans came out to bat for a second time, the English bowlers wreaked havoc again. Andrew Caddick led the way with five wickets, Cork and Gough chipped in with three and two wickets respectively. West Indies were left to wonder what hit them as they were dismissed for 54, as none but one batsman registering a double digit score.
Mark Ramprakash and Michael Atherton came out to bat for one over on Day 2. Day 3 was set to be a nerve wracking encounter as England needed 188 runs to win.
The day had everything one could have asked for. A solid foundation built by Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan was followed by a deadly spell of bowling by Courtney Walsh. Finally the gutsy Dominic Cork had to hold his own to see England through with two wickets to spare.
At one point, Walsh took six wickets to have England reeling at 140/6. But his inspiring spell went in vain as the hosts eked out a narrow win.
Dominic Cork triumphantly drove Courtney Walsh through the covers to get the winning runs. A golden Saturday at Lord's saw the series levelled at 1-1. England would go on to regain the Wisden Trophy after 27 long years by winning the five-match series 3-1.