Frank Worrell Trophy

History

Frank Worrell became the first black captain of the West Indies cricket team prior to their 1960–61 tour of Australia. The first Test of the five-match series ended in a tie, the first in the history of Test cricket. Don Bradman remarked to Australia captain Richie Benaud, "That is the greatest thing that's ever happened to the game". Evelyn Wellings described the Test as "the Greatest Test Match, the Greatest Cricket Match and surely the Greatest Game ever played with a ball". Despite that setback, with Benaud claiming the Australians had "thrown away a match", they went on to win the series 2–1 with one drawn Test. Former cricketer and journalist Johnny Moyes declared the series to be "the most wonderful cricket tour Australia has known". and the Australians, suitably impressed by Worrell, named the trophy after him.

Winning the first and third Tests of the 1964–65 series, the West Indians took the trophy to the Caribbean for the first time. The 1977–78 series saw the beginning of fifteen years of West Indian dominance in the trophy, but it was not without controversy. With the West Indies team departing to join Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket as the World Series Cricket West Indies XI, Australia managed a victory against the second-string team in the third Test but were beaten by 198 runs in the fourth. The final Test saw the West Indies eight wickets down with more than 100 runs needed when Vanburn Holder was dismissed. Although the decision was legitimate, Holder's reaction on the way back to the pavilion was interpreted otherwise, and the Jamaican crowds began to riot. The match was abandoned, and with two of the three umpires refusing to consider a sixth day's play, the result was declared a draw. The 1981–82 series was drawn overall, with one victory each and one draw, thus the West Indies retained the trophy.

After drawing the first two Tests of the 1983–84 series, the West Indies swept the Australians aside, winning the remaining Tests, two by ten wickets and one by an innings and 36 runs. For the 1994–95 series, the West Indies brought in a new coach and a new manager. Despite a fourth wicket stand of 124 between Brian Lara and Carl Hooper after the West Indies had been reduced to 6 runs for 3 wickets, Australia secured a ten-wicket victory inside three days. A draw in the second Test was followed by a nine-wicket victory for the West Indies in the third. The fourth and final Test was later referred to as "make or break for both teams" by the Australian bowler Paul Reiffel. Although Richie Richardson scored a century in the first innings, this was overshadowed by the Waugh brothers – Mark made 126 while Steve scored 200; together they shared a 231-run fourth wicket stand to push Australia to a formidable total.

Australia made it back-to-back series wins with a 3–2 victory in 1996–97, yet could only draw the series in the West Indies in 1998–99. The defeat was unsurprising; the West Indies had been whitewashed in their previous three Test series, in Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand.

List of Test series

:Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023–24 series.

• – one Test match was tied.

Results

• – one Test match was tied.

References

References

1. (2022). "Men's Future Tours Program 2022 to 2027". [[International Cricket Council]].
2. "Captain extraordinaire". ESPNcricinfo.
3. Chowdhury, Saj. (2 April 2003). "Legend behind the Worrell Trophy". [[BBC Sport]].
4. (1992). "Obituary – Ernie McCormick".
5. "The tied Test film: A fitting tribute". [[National Museum of Australia]].
6. Haigh, Gideon. (10 December 2015). "Frank Worrell Trophy is a true rarity". [[The Australian]].
7. Lavalette, Tristan. (28 January 2024). "Shamar Joseph takes seven to bowl WI to magical win". ESPNcricinfo.
8. "The Frank Worrell Trophy series results". [[ESPNcricinfo]].
9. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Most runs". ESPNcricinfo.
10. Gopalakrishnan, Akshay. (29 December 2015). "Infographic: Frank Worrell Trophy before and after Waugh twins". Wisden India.
11. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Highest individual score". ESPNcricinfo.
12. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo.
13. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo.
14. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Most catches". ESPNcricinfo.
15. "The Frank Worrell Trophy – Most wicket-keeper dismissals". ESPNcricinfo.
16. Cozier, Tony. (12 July 2015). "A series greater than the 2005 Ashes?". ESPNcricinfo.
17. (20 November 2000). "Legends recall classic Test". BBC Sport.
18. Ryder, Rowland. (1974). "The glorious uncertainty".
19. Davidson, Alan. (4 August 2011). "'The most incredible game'". ESPNcricinfo.
20. Mallett, Ashley. (30 January 2013). "Shine on me, Roy".
21. "2nd Test, Bridgetown, March 17 - 19, 1978, Australia tour of West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
22. Unni, Deepti. (11 July 2022). "To serve and protect".
23. "4th Test, Port of Spain, April 15 - 18, 1978, Australia tour of West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
24. (1979). "West Indies v Australia – Fourth Test Match".
25. Toohey, Peter. (12 May 2008). "Rumble in Jamaica".
26. "A Canberra classic". ESPNcricinfo.
27. Oliver, Scott. (3 June 2015). "'Going to Perth in '93, we just knew we were going to win'". ESPNcricinfo.
28. "1st Test, Bridgetown, March 31 - April 02, 1995, Australia tour of West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
29. Reiffel, Paul. (30 May 2008). "We'll take it from here".
30. Selvey, Mike. (11 July 2010). "A fiery beginning to the end of an empire". ESPNcricinfo.
31. "The Frank Worrell Trophy results summary". ESPNcricinfo.
32. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1960–61". ESPNcricinfo.
33. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1964–65". ESPNcricinfo.
34. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1968–69". ESPNcricinfo.
35. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1972–73". ESPNcricinfo.
36. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1975–76". ESPNcricinfo.
37. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1977–78". ESPNcricinfo.
38. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1979–80". ESPNcricinfo.
39. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1981–82". ESPNcricinfo.
40. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1983–84". ESPNcricinfo.
41. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1984–85". ESPNcricinfo.
42. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1988–89". ESPNcricinfo.
43. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1990–91". ESPNcricinfo.
44. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1992–93". ESPNcricinfo.
45. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1994–95". ESPNcricinfo.
46. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1996–97". ESPNcricinfo.
47. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 1998–99". ESPNcricinfo.
48. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2000–01". ESPNcricinfo.
49. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2003". ESPNcricinfo.
50. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2005–06". ESPNcricinfo.
51. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2008". ESPNcricinfo.
52. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2009–10". ESPNcricinfo.
53. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2011–12". ESPNcricinfo.
54. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2015". ESPNcricinfo.
55. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2015–16". ESPNcricinfo.
56. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2022–23". ESPNcricinfo.
57. "The Frank Worrell Trophy 2023–24". ESPNcricinfo.