West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1968–69
The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1968-69 season and played a five-match Test series against Australia. Australia won the series 3-1 with one match drawn.
Test series summary
First Test
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- West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
- 9 December was taken as a rest day.
- The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
Second Test
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- Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- 29 December was taken as a rest day.
- The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
- CA Davis, RM Edwards and RC Fredericks (all WIN) made their Test debuts.
Third Test
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0/42 (8 overs)
KR Stackpole 21* (31) AP Sheahan 21* (33) |
- West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
- 6 January was taken as a rest day.
Fourth Test
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- West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
- 26 January was taken as a rest day.
- The Test set the record for the highest match aggregate in a 5-day Test match (1,764 runs) and held it until the Rawalpindi Test of England's tour of Pakistan from 1–5 December 2022 with a total of 1,768 runs. The aggregate remains the 4th highest in Test history.[1]
- Records related to the high aggregate runs are: most fifties in a Test match,[2] Test match with most runs and no wides being bowled[3] and highest match aggregate without a partnership of 150 runs or more.
- The Test is also one of the closest ever drawn Tests as the match was drawn with nine wickets down with 21 runs required. There are only 4 drawn Test matches ending with nine wickets down and fewer runs remaining.[4] Garry Sobers called it "the most exciting match I have played in next to the tied Test." [5]
- A key element of the exciting fourth innings was the record 4 run outs (an innings record shared with just one other Test match [6]). The first run out was a Mankad run out (Ian Redpath by Charlie Griffith, the second of only 4 such run outs in Test matches). The other run outs were the first three partners of the very fast runner between wickets Paul Sheehan (Doug Walters on 50, Eric Freeman and Barry Jarman). Australia slumped from 4 for 315 to 7 for 322 in their quest for either the 360 target or survival for a draw, with Sheehan left with the tailenders. The pitch was described as "still perfect".[7]
Fifth Test
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- West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
- 17 February was taken as a rest day.
External sources
Annual reviews
References
- ^ "Highest match aggregates". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ "Test Most Fifties in a Match". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley. p. 375. ISBN 0947540067.
- ^ "Closest draws by wickets remaining". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
- ^ "West Indies play thriller at Adelaide in 1969". cricketcountry. Indiadotcom Digital. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
- ^ "Most batsmen run out in an innings". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
- ^ "ROHAN RIVETT AT THE TEST Wild run-outs end victory hopes". The Canberra Times. 30 January 1969. p. 30 – via National Library of Australia.
Further reading
- Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
- Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
- Phil Tresidder, Captains on a See-saw: The West Indies Tour of Australia, 1968-69, Souvenir, 1969
- R.S. Whitington, Fours Galore: The West Indians and Their Tour of Australia, 1968-69, Cassell, 1969