Match: 6- 8 July 1995 (3rd Test)
Toss: England won the toss and elected to bat
Result: West Indies won by an innings and 64 runs
Highlights: Courtney Walsh 8 wickets in a match and Ian Bishop takes his 100th test wicket
The West Indies came into the 3rd Test Match having lost the previous game at Lord’s and sent one of their touring party home in disgrace. The media headlines were of a team in turmoil and The Windies needed a strong performance at Edgbaston to silence their critics and get their series back on track.
England were coming into the game in a far more optimistic position, replacing Ramprakash for Jason Gallian (who made his Test debut) and overall having a healthy and happy squad.
England won the toss and elected to bat and all seemed to be going the hosts way, until Curtly Ambrose’s first deliver caused ripples of concern in the England camp – it was a huge pacy leg-side bouncer. Three balls later, Atherton fell to a similar fast ball and the West Indies had an important early wicket which went on set the tone of the innings that followed.
A combination of ferocious pace and aggressive bowling saw the England side unable to deal with the quality of the tourists attack. The exception was Graham Thorpe, who batted with intent to hit five fours in 46 minutes before he was caught off his glove and caught at gully. England closed their innings 147-all out and needed to return the favour to the tourists in the field.
England struggled in the early part of the innings with Sherwin Campbell and Carl Hooper forming a decent opening stand of 73. There was some relief for England and the wickets of Lara, Adams and Arthurton all came quite cheap, but it captain Richie Richardson who produced a resilient 69 and saw the tourists reach 300 all out. England largely had Dominic Cork to thank for wickets, Cork took 4-69 and took the key wickets of Hooper, Lara and Adams.
England went in to bat again, 153 behind and in were soon in trouble as Atherton, Hick and first inning hero Thorpe were all back in the pavilion early. England’s bad luck was further compounded by the news that Alec Stewart would not be able to bat following injury to his index finger and Richard Illingworth was also nursing a suspected broken knuckle.
Despite the best efforts of Robin Smith, the West Indies continued to bowl with ruthless pace and saw England all out for just 89. All the wickets were taken by Ian Bishop and Curtly Ambrose.
Ticket update for their 10th encounter at Edgbaston
Joe Root’s England take on Jason Holder’s West Indies in the UK’s first ever day/night Test Match from Thursday 17th August. Demand on tickets for this historic match has been huge with day 2 (Friday 18 August) and day 3 (Saturday 19 August) on the verge of selling-out.
Tickets are on-sale priced from just £26 for adults and £6 for juniors (U16s) but please hurry as there is limited availability in most areas of the ground. Please click here or call the ticket hotline on 0844 847 1902.
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