This is a list of Wisden Trophy Test cricket series played between England and West Indies which dates back to 1963. It was usually played alternately in England and West Indies, although early series were predominantly played in England. "The Wisden Trophy" series varied between three and six Tests.
In the series' 57-year history, the trophy changed hands on seven occasions (1968, 1973, 2000, 2009 (twice), 2019 and 2020). The West Indies won the first Wisden Trophy in 1963 and held the cup until 1968. England then held the trophy for a brief period between 1968 and 1973. After the 1973 series the West Indies retained the trophy for 27 years. [1] This included a 16-year period (1974–1990) where the West Indies did not lose a Test. The new millennium proved to be the turning point in the series as England won the 2000 Wisden Trophy 3–1 to regain the trophy after West Indies went 1–0 up. They have been largely successful against the West Indies at test-level since then, with the latter only being successful in two series since; in 2009 and 2019. To put the recent dominance by England into perspective, since the Millennium, West Indies have won only 7 Tests, to England's 23, and that was after the West Indies won the very first Test of the new Millennium at Edgbaston in 2000.
The last Wisden Trophy series took place in England in 2020 and consisted of three Test matches. [2] The Wisden Trophy will be replaced by the Richards–Botham Trophy, named in honour of Viv Richards and Ian Botham, for future series. [3] Overall, a total of 28 Wisden Trophy series were played, of which the West Indies won fourteen times, England won ten and there were four drawn series.
Series | Years | Host | First match | Tests | England | West Indies | Drawn | Result | Holder | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1963 | England | 6 June 1963 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | West Indies | West Indies | [4] |
2 | 1966 | England | 2 June 1966 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | West Indies | [5] | |
3 | 1967–68 | West Indies | 19 January 1968 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | England | England | [6] |
4 | 1969 | England | 12 June 1969 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | England | [7] | |
5 | 1973 | England | 26 July 1973 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | West Indies | West Indies | [8] |
6 | 1973–74 | West Indies | 2 February 1974 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Drawn | [9] | |
7 | 1976 | England | 3 June 1976 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | West Indies | [10] | |
8 | 1980 | England | 5 June 1980 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | West Indies | [11] | |
9 | 1980–81 | West Indies | 13 February 1981 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | West Indies | [12] | |
10 | 1984 | England | 14 June 1984 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | West Indies | [13] | |
11 | 1985–86 | West Indies | 21 February 1986 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | West Indies | [14] | |
12 | 1988 | England | 2 June 1988 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | West Indies | [15] | |
13 | 1989–90 | West Indies | 24 February 1990 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | West Indies | [16] | |
14 | 1991 | England | 6 June 1991 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Drawn | [17] | |
15 | 1993–94 | West Indies | 19 February 1995 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | West Indies | [18] | |
16 | 1995 | England | 8 June 1995 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Drawn | [19] | |
17 | 1997–98 | West Indies | 29 January 1998 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | West Indies | [20] | |
18 | 2000 | England | 15 June 2000 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | England | England | [21] |
19 | 2003–04 | West Indies | 11 March 2004 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | England | [22] | |
20 | 2004 | England | 22 July 2004 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | England | [23] | |
21 | 2007 | England | 17 May 2007 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | England | [24] | |
22 | 2008–09 | West Indies | 4 February 2009 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | West Indies | West Indies | [25] |
23 | 2009 | England | 6 May 2009 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | England | England | [26] |
24 | 2012 | England | 17 May 2012 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | England | [27] | |
25 | 2014–15 | West Indies | 13 April 2015 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Drawn | [28] | |
26 | 2017 | England | 17 August 2017 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | England | [29] | |
27 | 2018–19 | West Indies | 23 January 2019 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | West Indies | West Indies | [30] |
28 | 2020 | England | 8 July 2020 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | England | England | [31] |
Played | Won by England |
Won by West Indies |
Drawn | |
---|---|---|---|---|
All Tests | 120 | 36 (30.0%) | 48 (40.0%) | 36 (30.0%) |
Tests in England | 71 | 26 (36.6%) | 28 (39.4%) | 17 (24.0%) |
Tests in West Indies | 49 | 10 (20.4%) | 20 (40.8%) | 19 (38.8%) |
All series | 28 | 10 (35.7%) | 14 (50.0%) | 4 (14.3%) |
Series in England | 17 | 8 (47.0%) | 7 (41.2%) | 2 (11.8%) |
Series in West Indies | 11 | 2 (18.2%) | 7 (63.6%) | 2 (18.2%) |
The table below is a list of cricket captains for each team in the Wisden Trophy. The list is in chronological order of appearance.
Higher innings totals were scored outside The Wisden Trophy era. In the 1930 timeless Test England scored 849 on their first innings at Sabina Park. [34] Other high scores include West Indies 681/8 declaration in 1954 at the Queen's Park Oval. [35]
Rank | Runs | Team | Year [36] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 751/5 (dec) (202 overs) | West Indies | 2004 |
2 | 749/9 (dec) (194.4 overs) | West Indies | 2009 |
3 | 692/8 (dec) (163 overs) | West Indies | 1995 |
4 | 687/8 (dec) (182.5 overs) | West Indies | 1976 |
5 | 652/8 (dec) (168.4 overs) | West Indies | 1973 |
6 | 606 (143 overs) | West Indies | 1984 |
Rank | Runs | Team | Year [37] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 46 (19.1 overs) | England | 1994 |
2 | 47 (25.3 overs) | West Indies | 2004 |
3 | 51 (33.2 overs) | England | 2009 |
4 | 54 (26.4 overs) | West Indies | 2000 |
5 | 61 (26.2 overs) | West Indies | 2000 |
6 | 71 (32.5 overs) | England | 1976 |
Brian Lara is the record holder in the Wisden Trophy for most runs with 2983 runs. Garry Sobers did make 3214 runs against England however his first 1069 runs occurred before the Wisden Trophy was established meaning he has only scored 2145 runs in the Wisden Trophy. [38] Andy Sandham scored 325 runs against the West Indies in 1930 (which at the time was a world record) but this was before the inception of the Wisden Trophy and is therefore not a Wisden Record. [39]
Rank | Runs | Player | Period [40] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2983 (51 inns.) | Brian Lara | 1994–04 |
2 | 2969 (50 inns.) | Viv Richards | 1976–91 |
3 | 2392 (59 inns.) | Desmond Haynes | 1980–94 |
4 | 2318 (48 inns.) | Gordon Greenidge | 1976–90 |
5 | 2205 (53 inns.) | Geoffrey Boycott | 1966–81 |
Rank | High score | Player | Year [41] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 400 * (582) | Brian Lara | 2004 |
2 | 375 (538) | Brian Lara | 1994 |
3 | 302 (430) | Lawrence Rowe | 1974 |
4 | 291 (386) | Viv Richards | 1976 |
5 | 291 (452) | Ramnaresh Sarwan | 2009 |
Other batting feats include:
Sobers took 102 wickets against England, however 18 of these wickets occurred before the Wisden Trophy was instituted and therefore meant that he only took 84 wickets in Wisden Trophy matches. [44] Alf Valentine claimed 33 wickets (from 422.3 overs) for the West Indies in the 1950 tour against England before the Wisden Trophy was established.
Rank | Wickets | Player | Period [45] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 164 (8284 balls) | Curtly Ambrose | 1988–00 |
2 | 145 (8818 balls) | Courtney Walsh | 1986–00 |
3 | 127 (5790 balls) | Malcolm Marshall | 1980–91 |
4 | 100 (8841 balls) | Lance Gibbs | 1963–74 |
5 | 96 (4486 balls) | Michael Holding | 1976–86 |
Rank | Wickets | Player | Year [46] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 35 (203.1 overs) | Malcolm Marshall | 1988 |
2 | 34 (220.2 overs) | Courtney Walsh | 2000 |
3 | 34 (236.4 overs) | Fred Trueman | 1963 |
4 | 32 (223.5 overs) | Charlie Griffith | 1963 |
5 | 30 (205.5 overs) | Curtly Ambrose | 1997–98 |
Other bowling feats include:
John Goddard won five Test matches as captain for West Indies but this occurred between 1948 and 1957 before the Wisden Trophy was established.
Rank | Most Test matches | Player | Period [50] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 | Clive Lloyd | 1976–84 |
2 | 18 | Viv Richards | 1985–91 |
3 | 17 | Michael Atherton | 1993–98 |
4 | 14 | Brian Lara | 1997–04 |
5 | 13 | Garry Sobers | 1966–69 |
Rank | Most wins | Player | Period [50] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 (from 18 matches) | Viv Richards | 1985–91 |
2 | 11 (from 19 matches) | Clive Lloyd | 1976–84 |
3 | 10 (from 11 matches) | Michael Vaughan | 2003–07 |
4 | 5 (from 10 matches) | Richie Richardson | 1993–95 |
5 | 4 (from 17 matches) | Michael Atherton | 1993–98 |