At Least Class Of '19 Aren't Facing Eighties Fear Factor

Richard Edwards looks back to the Caribbean tour of 1986 when a rampant West Indies attack cut England to shreds and ended a few careers

- Richard Edwards

Before England’s tour of the West Indies, thewise money was on awhitewash – althoughthe team now eyeing a 3-0 series win isn’t the one that started the series as favourites.

Back in 1986, things were a whole lot more clear cut.

If Joe Root’s side lose the third and final match of this series in St Lucia, then it will be the West Indies first clean sweep against England in 33 years.

That eventuality that could bring back some painful memories for a generation of England supporters. And also players like Richard Ellison who played four Tests against a side that was less a cricket team and more a relentless winning machine. He lost them all. Most by an eye-watering and painful margin.

Picked for England on the back of a stunning series against Australia in the summer of 1985, Ellison headed to the Caribbean in early 1986 with hope. In reality, though, England were faced with a task akin to fighting a raging bushfire with a Poundland water pistol.

“We played the first Test in Jamaica and it was either rolling along the floor or flying up by your nose,” says Ellison.

“It was scary. They obviously had Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding but (Patrick) Patterson was completely different. He was rapid but he didn’t know where the ball was going to go half the time, which was a worry.

“I decided I couldn’t play the ball on length anymore, I just had to watch it and, frankly, hope for the best.”