English cricket team in West Indies in 1959–60
| English cricket team in West Indies in 1959–60 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 21 December 1959 — 31 March 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | West Indies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | England won the 5-Test series 1–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 West Indies
|
 England
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| Captains | |||
| Gerry Alexander | Peter May | ||
| Most runs | |||
|
GS Sobers (709) RB Kanhai (325) FMM Worrell (320) |
ER Dexter (526) MC Cowdrey (491) KF Barrington (420) |
||
| Most wickets | |||
|
WW Hall (22) S Ramadhin (17) CD Watson (16) |
FS Trueman (21) JB Statham (10) |
||
The English cricket team in the West Indies in 1959–60 played five Test matches, eight other first-class matches and two minor games. England won the Test series by one match to nil, with the other four matches being drawn.
Following the unsuccessful tour of Australia a year earlier, the selectors opted for youth, with only May, Cowdrey, Trueman and Statham having had substantial Test experience.
Matches were played over six days, each of five hours.
Centuries by Barrington (his first Test hundred) and Dexter ensured that England made a big score. Alexander took five catches. In response, West Indies were 102/3, but then a mammoth fourth wicket partnership of 399 (still the record for that wicket for West Indies against all countries) by Sobers and Worrell took them into a first innings lead. In the circumstances, Trueman's analysis was a good one. West Indies had scored at under two and a half runs per over, and by the time that they declared England only had to bat for 140 minutes in their second innings. Allen for England, and Scarlett and Watson for West Indies, made their Test debuts. Statham was unfit, Moss playing in his stead.
England lost three early wickets, but centuries by Barrington and Smith and 77 by Dexter ensured a competitive score, even though none of the last five batsmen managed more than 10. By the end of day two West Indies had reached 22/0 in reply. The third day's play was severely curtailed by a riot, but it was still the decisive day of the match, for West Indies slumped to 98/8. When their innings ended the next morning, Trueman had figures of 5/35 and Statham 3/42. West Indies' cause had not been helped by the other two wickets falling to run outs. Despite a first innings lead of 270, May did not enforce the follow-on. England in turn found batting difficult, at one point being 133/7, before useful contributions from Illingworth (41) and Trueman (37 made in 30 minutes) enabled them to declare on day five, setting West Indies an improbable 501 to win. A partnership between Hunte and Kanhai of 78 for the second wicket gave West Indies some hope of avoiding defeat, but Hunte was out for 47 before close of play, when West Indies were 134/2. On the final day, they could manage only another 110 runs before being all out. Only Kanhai, who batted for 378 minutes, offered the prolonged resistance that was needed. Singh made his Test debut for the West Indies.
The riot on the third day began soon after tea when Singh was adjudged run out, and prevented any further play that day. There was a crowd of almost 30,000, a record for any sporting event in the West Indies. A few spectators started throwing bottles onto the outfield. Many others followed their lead, after which many of the crowd came onto the field and a riot developed. The England players were escorted from the field, though the rioters had shown no hostility towards them.
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