WSC West Indies cricket team in Australia in 1977–78

WSC West Indies in Australia

	WSC West Indies	WSC Australians
Dates	2 December 1977 – 3 January 1978
Captains	Clive Lloyd	Ian Chappell
Test series
Result	WSC West Indies won the 3-match series 2–1
Most runs	Viv Richards (360)	Ian Chappell (251)
Most wickets	Andy Roberts (15)	Max Walker (10) Dennis Lillie (10)

In late 1977, the new World Series Cricket competition began in Australia between three teams playing both multi-day and one day games. The first set of these fixtures to be played was a three match series between the Australian team and the West Indies team, starting at the beginning of December.

Background

Since 1976, Kerry Packer, the owner of the Nine Network, had sought the rights to broadcast live coverage of Australia's home test matches, and had found himself rebuffed by the Australian Cricket Board in favour of continued live coverage on the Australian Broadcasting Company, which was the country's state broadcaster. Following Nine's winning of the rights to broadcast the 1977 Ashes tour to England, in which Packer was presented with the idea of staging some televised exhibition matches, he fleshed it out into the idea of a full blown series of games between the best Australian players, and the best players from the rest of the world. In 1977, Packer began signing contracts with Australian players recommended by former Australia captain Ian Chappell, while he was also able to negotiate a deal with then England captain Tony Greig for him to act as Packer's agent in signing non-Australian players. Among these non-Australians were a significant number of players from the West Indies, who found the contracts they were being offered would pay them potentially more than they could earn in their entire careers. As a consequence, although only intended to feature Australia against the Rest of the World, the organisers were able to form a third team, made up wholly of West Indian players.

The first match was scheduled as a five-day game between the Australian XI and the West Indies XI from 2 December 1977; Packer was unable to use the term "Test Match", so the fixture was the first of what came to be known as "Supertests". This game, held at VFL Park in Melbourne, began on the same day as the first day of the official Australian team's Test Match against India in Brisbane.

Supertests

Because the MCC holds the copyright to the Laws of Cricket, Packer was therefore prevented from using them, he recruited former Australia captain Richie Benaud to formulate the rules and conditions for the new competition, which led to each over consisting of 8 balls.

First Supertest

2–4 December 1977
scorecard

WSC Australia XI	v	WSC West Indies XI
256 (56.2 overs) Ray Bright 69 Michael Holding 4/60 (12 overs)		214 (49 overs) Viv Richards 79 Len Pascoe 3/70 (14 overs)
192 (36.6 overs) David Hookes 63 Andy Roberts 4/52 (13 overs)		7/237 (50.7 overs) Viv Richards 56 Max Walker 3/43 (13 overs)

WSC West Indies XI won by 3 wickets
VFL Park, Melbourne, Victoria
Umpires: Jack Collins and Douglas Sang Hue

WSC West Indies won the toss and elected to field

Second Supertest

16–18 December 1977
scorecard

WSC Australia XI	v	WSC West Indies XI
251 (56 overs) David Hookes 81 Andy Roberts 3/48 (15 overs)		336 (65.2 overs) Viv Richards 88 Max Walker 3/71 (13 overs)
182 (44.2 overs) Rick McCosker 56 Joel Garner 4/58 (13 overs)		1/101 (16.5 overs) Roy Fredericks 49 Len Pascoe 1/31 (5.7 overs)

WSC West Indies XI won by 9 wickets
RAS Showground, Sydney, New South Wales
Umpires: Gary Duperouzel and Peter Enright

WSC West Indies won the toss and elected to field

Third Supertest

31 December 1977 – 3 January 1978
scorecard

WSC Australia XI	v	WSC West Indies XI
388 (105.2 overs) Ian Chappell 141 Andy Roberts 3/67 (20.2 overs)		145 (39.7 overs) Gordon Greenidge 40 Greg Chappell 5/20 (12 overs)
8/267 dec (75 overs) Bruce Laird 106 Collis King 4/78 (19 overs)		290 (62.3 overs) Viv Richards 123 Ray Bright 4/74 (20 overs)

WSC Australia XI won by 220 runs
Football Park, Adelaide, South Australia
Umpires: Gary Duperouzel and Douglas Sang Hue

WSC Australia won the toss and elected to bat

References

Haigh (1993), p 34.
Lillee (2003), p 129.
Wisden Cricketer magazine. Accessed 28 July 2007.

Haigh, Gideon (1993): The Cricket War – the Inside Story of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, Text Publishing. ISBN 1-86372-027-8.
Lillee, Dennis (2003): Menace: The Autobiography, Headline. ISBN 0-75531-126-4.

v t e World Series Cricket
Series (1977–78)	WSC West Indies in Australia WSC World XI in Australia International Cup
Series (1978–79)	Tour of New Zealand International Cup Supertest Series WSC Australia in the West Indies
Teams	WSC Australia WSC Cavaliers XI WSC West Indies WSC World XI
Statistics	Results Squads Records Centuries Five-wicket hauls
Miscellany	Venues Kerry Packer C'mon Aussie C'mon Daddles
Category

International cricket tours of Australia

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2021–22 (cancelled)
Bangladesh	2003 2008
England	1876–77 1878–79 1881–82 1882–83 1884–85 1886–87 1887–88 1891–92 1894–95 1897–98 1901–02 1903–04 1907–08 1911–12 1920–21 1924–25 1928–29 1932–33§ 1936–37 1946–47§ 1950–51§ 1954–55§ 1958–59§ 1962–63§ 1965–66§ 1970–71§ 1974–75§ 1977 1978–79 1979–80 1982–83 1986–87 1987–88§ 1990–91 1994–95 1998–99 2002–03 2006–07 2010–11 2013–14 2017–18 2021–22 2022–23
India	1947–48 1967–68§ 1977–78 1980–81§ 1985–86 1991–92 1999–2000 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2015–16 2018–19 2020–21 2024–25
New Zealand	1973–74 1980–81 1982–83 1985–86 1987–88 1989–90 1993–94 1997–98 2001–02 2004–05 2008–09 2011–12 2015–16 2016–17 2019–20 2022–23
Pakistan	1964–65§ 1972–73§ 1976–77 1978–79§ 1981–82 1983–84 1989–90 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 1999–2000 2002 2004–05 2009–10 2016–17 2019–20 2023–24 2024–25
South Africa	1910–11 1931–32§ 1952–53§ 1963–64§ 1971–72 (cancelled) 1993–94 1997–98 2000 2001–02 2005–06 2008–09 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17 2018–19 2022–23
Sri Lanka	1987–88 1989–90 1995–96 2004 2007–08 2010–11 2012–13 2016–17 2018–19 2019–20 2021–22
West Indies	1930–31 1951–52§ 1960–61 1968–69§ 1975–76 1979–80§ 1981–82 1984–85 1988–89 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 2000–01 2005–06 2009–10 2012–13 2015–16 2020–21 2022–23 2023–24
Zimbabwe	1994–95 2003–04 2022

Tournaments hosted
World Cup	1992 2015
T20 World Cup	2022
Tri-series	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2017–18
Other multi-team tournaments	1985 1987

Other tours
Afghanistan	2014–15
Australian Forces	1919–20 1945–46
English	1861–62 1863–64 1873–74 1902–03 1922–23 1929–30 1935–36 1979–80
England Lions	2012–13 2021
Fijian	1907–08
Ireland	2014–15
Multi-national	1971–72 2005–06
Nepal	2023–24
New Zealand	1898–99 1913–14 1925–26 1927–28 1937–38 1953–54 1961–62 1967–68 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1974–75
PNG	2014–15
Scotland	2014–15
Sri Lanka	1982–83
UAE	2014–15
World Series Cricket (West Indies & World XI)	1977-78 1978-79
Pakistan A	2024

§: Toured New Zealand as well as Australia

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