The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1975–76 season and played six Test matches and 1 ODI against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The test series was built up as an unofficial World Championship series for the title of best test team in the world. The West Indies came into the series after winning the inaugural 1975 World Cup, defeating Australia with several exciting young talents, most notably in

Gordon Greenidge Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge (born 1 May 1951) is a Barbadian retired cricketer who represented the West Indies in Test and One Day International (ODI) teams for 17 years, as well as Barbados and Hampshire in first-class cricket. Greenidge is r ...

, Andy Roberts and

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is a retired Antiguan cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Usually batting at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

. Australia won the first test in Brisbane at

The Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

convincingly by eight wickets but West Indies came back and defeated them in Perth at the WACA by an innings. However, Australia recovered and beat the West Indies in the remaining four tests, winning the series 5–1. The series was a watershed event in West Indies cricketing history, thereafter adopting the formula of playing four out-and-out fast bowlers after witnessing at first-hand the destruction caused by

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

and

Jeff Thomson Jeffrey Robert Thomson (born 16 August 1950) is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he is one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket; he bowled a delivery with a speed of 160.6 km/h against the West Indies in Perth ...

bowling close to 100 mph.

, who went into the tour as an exciting young batter, struggled badly against Lillee and Thomson before eventually being dropped after suffering a lack of confidence. Therefore, Clive Lloyd opted to use

as opener with

Roy Fredericks Roy Clifton Fredericks (11 November 1942 – 5 September 2000) was a West Indian cricketer who played Test cricket from 1968 to 1977. He was a member of the squad which won the 1975 Cricket World Cup. He was an opening batsman for the West Indi ...

in the final two tests. Despite getting good starts, Richards failed to capitalise in the first four tests, but whilst opening the batting in the final two tests, he scored two centuries and one fifty, ending the tour with 426 runs in 10 innings. This tour was also described as "the coming of age for Viv Richards", who went on to become the best batsman in the world and one of few positives for West Indies in a dreadful tour. This was first test series for

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminent ...

as captain of Australia, succeeding his brother

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. Known as "Chappelli", he is considered as one of the greatest captains the game has seen.

. In the last test at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

Lance Gibbs Lancelot Richard Gibbs (born 29 September 1934) is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player (after Fred Trueman) to pass 300, the first spi ...

took his 308th test scalp, passing

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

Test series summary

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

Sixth Test

Only ODI

Between the 2nd and 3rd Tests a 40 over ODI was played.

References

Annual reviews

* ''

Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to revie ...

'' 1976 * ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1976

External links

West Indies tour of Australia 1975-76
on

ESPN Cricinfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

CricketArchive – tour summaries
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1975-76 1975 in Australian cricket 1975 in West Indian cricket 1975–76 Australian cricket season 1976 in Australian cricket 1976 in West Indian cricket International cricket competitions from 1975–76 to 1980 1975-76