In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Roger Seymour looks at a Test Match that evolved into somewhat of a precursor of T20 cricket.
In November 1972, two Antiguans arrived in bleak, cold, damp, London, England. Andy Roberts and Vivian Richards, the young sportsmen, had been selected by the Volunteers’ Cricket Committee, for further development of their cricketing prowess. The committee’s fund-raising efforts to cover the cost of the airfares, tuition and living expenses for the trip had included barbecues and dances, as Antiguans banded together to lend support. The destination of the promising talent was the Gover Cricket School at East Hill in Wandsworth, near Clapham Junction in south London, which at the time, was the best known cricket school in England. Run by Alf Gover, the former England and Surrey fast bowler, it was an indoor facility, accessed by a regular street door, with a gas-lit, low-ceiling coaching hall.
