The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1984–85 season and played 5 Test matches 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 ...

. West Indies won the series 3–1 with one match drawn. The West Indies won the first three Tests quite easily against a very weak Australian team. Then captain

Kim Hughes Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of ...

lost the captaincy due to his and the Australian Cricket Team's poor form after the Second Test and

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the Captain (cricket), captain of the Australia national cricket team, Australian team, and l ...

took over. The Fourth Test at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

ended West Indies' then world record of 11 consecutive Test wins as Australia held out for a draw. West Indies lost the Fifth Test by an innings at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

where

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese- British former cricketer and captain of the West Indies cricket team. Lloyd is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains of all time. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in ...

played the last of his 110 Tests.

Test series summary

First Test

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a Jamaican former cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the team in 22 Test matches. He played as a fast bowler and is considered one of the all-time greats, ...

was selected for his Test debut, and would go on to have a stellar career for the West Indies, taking over 500 wickets. Midway through the opening day, it seemed like

' decision to field first was the right one. Two days of rain in Perth before the match had left the pitch unpredictable, and swing bowler

Terry Alderman Terence Michael Alderman (born 12 June 1956) is a former Australian international cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He began his first-class cricket career during the 1974–75 season with Western Australia in t ...

, playing in his first Test since his altercation with a pitch invader at the same ground two years before, took four wickets for five runs in 26 balls to have the West Indies at 104 for five, after

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 ...

and

Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994. He was a member of the squads which won the 1979 Cricket World Cup as well as finis ...

had put together an opening partnership of 83. Jeff Dujon and

Larry Gomes Hilary Angelo Gomes (born 13 July 1953) is a Trinidad and Tobago and West Indian former cricketer of Portuguese descent. He was a member of the squad which won the 1979 Cricket World Cup and finished as runners-up at the 1983 Cricket World Cu ...

steadied the innings, leaving the West Indies at 211 for six at stumps on the first day. Dujon had actually taken a blow to the head from Alderman, and had to go off briefly due to complaints of blurred vision. The pair batted all the way through until an hour after lunch on the second day, putting together 149 runs for the seventh wicket, before Dujon was caught behind off Alderman for a well-made 139 which included 21 fours. Gomes was the last man out, by which time he too had made a century (127) and the West Indies had scored 416. Australia got off to a dreadful start, limping to 36 for three at the end of day two, and then collapsing to be all out for 76, their lowest ever innings against the West Indies.

Michael Holding Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering De ...

took six wickets in eight overs, his 13th haul of five or more wickets in an innings in Test cricket. The Australians were forced to follow on, and lost

Kepler Wessels Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born 14 September 1957) is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor. He ...

in the first over. John Dyson and Graeme Wood provided some resistance with a 90-run partnership. They were helped in some part by giant paceman

Joel Garner Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams. Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC bes ...

, who was no-balled six times in one over! But after they were removed, the middle order again provided feeble resistance, and only a final wicket stand of 59 between Alderman and Geoff Lawson delayed the inevitable innings victory until early on the fourth day.

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

World Series Cup

West Indies went through the qualifying round of 10 matches unbeaten against Australia and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The first final though was won by Australia, the West Indies fought back to win the second. This demoralised the Aussies as they easily lost the third.

References

External links

CricketArchive – tour summaries
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