India will be hoping the Test at Headingley this week goes better than their last visit to the ground in 2021. Dismissed for 78 in the first innings, a defeat inevitably followed for the visitors. It was a far cry from their two previous visits – the victory in 2002 inspired by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and their first Test win at the ground in 1986.
England’s defeat at Headingley 39 years ago was a tough one for their fans. As the World Cup in Mexico grabbed the attention of the sporting public, and Boris Becker defended his Wimbledon crown, England’s Test team were plumbing new depths. The glory of the 1985 Ashes series seemed a lifetime ago. That victory had led some to believe that the winter series against the West Indies could be an evenly matched contest between two of the best teams in the world. File that under misplaced confidence. England were crushed 5-0, and the pressure on captain David Gower started to crank up.
Gower had led England to a series win in India in 1984-85, but failure to beat the same team at home would inevitably lead to questions about his captaincy. When England lost the first Test at Lord’s, the axe fell. Mike Gatting was the next man charged with reviving the English patient, given the job for the forthcoming Tests at Headingley and Edgbaston.
Gatting had enjoyed a fruitful period in the team since being appointed as vice-captain by Gower prior to the India tour in 1984, averaging 79.85 in 12 Tests. But he faced a tough task: six consecutive Test defeats, key players missing and selection chaos were hardly the ideal ingredients for success.
England made five changes after the defeat at Lord’s, deckchairs shuffled sufficiently for the new captain of the Titanic. With Gower ruled out due to a shoulder injury, Chris Smith came into the team for his first Test match in two years. Four other Ashes winners from the previous year were also dropped.
The exclusion of spinner Phil Edmonds was understandable, although the selection of John Lever reeked of desperation. The 37-year-old had not played Test cricket for almost five years, although he would take six wickets in his comeback. Another player returning after a five-year absence was Bill Athey, as England’s selectors scanned the country frantically for ways to bolster the batting.
Tim Robinson and Richard Ellison were also dropped, a fall from grace for two of England’s heroes during the 1985 Ashes triumph, with wicketkeeper Bruce French handed a debut in place of Paul Downton. It was little wonder that the banned Ian Botham referred to England’s selectors as “gin-slinging dodderers,” as the revolving door policy continued.
Botham may have been beyond his peak, yet his drug-related absence hurt the balance of the team. At Lord’s, Derek Pringle batted at No 6, surely one position too high, hence the recall for Athey. This resulted in Gatting having four frontline bowlers in his XI, plus part-time bowling from Gooch. Replacing Beefy was not just an issue for England post-1992.
India skipper Kapil Dev had little hesitation on batting first after winning the toss, the pitch expected to deteriorate throughout and make batting last a less than enticing prospect. Putting on 64 for the first wicket, openers Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth were untroubled. But Pringle removed both, before Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsarkar steadied the ship.
At 203 for four, India looked in a strong position after tea. But when Lever dismissed Vengsarkar (61) and Dev in consecutive deliveries, and Chandrakant Pandit and Roger Binny followed soon afterwards, India had slumped to 213 for eight in a rare high moment for England supporters in a summer to forget.
After closing on 235 for eight, India took their score up to 272 the following morning, with Kiran More’s unbeaten 36 a crucial contribution. The highlight of England’s day was a fine piece of footballing skill from Gooch at second slip, his neat footwork resulting in a catch after he had originally dropped Maninder Singh.
Gooch’s training at West Ham had obviously paid off but not everyone was enamoured of football culture creeping into cricket. When a Mexican Wave broke out around the ground just before Mohammad Azharuddin was dismissed in India’s second innings, the Guardian writer Matthew Engel made his feelings clear. “So far as I know this was the wave’s first manifestation in English cricket. I fear it will not be the last. Mass hysteria and Yorkshire bitter took over, and large chunks of the crowd kept at it ad nauseam. For once, it was reassuring to remember how resistant everyone at Lord’s is to any new idea.”
You could hardly blame the spectators for trying to entertain themselves. England’s innings was a crushing experience, possibly a new low in a year when that bar was seemingly being adjusted every match. Dismissed for just 102 in 45.1 overs, Binny and Madan Lal – a 35-year-old who was playing at Lancashire League club Ashton-under-Lyne – tore England’s new regime apart.
Lal removed new opener Wilf Slack for a duck, and Smith shortly afterwards, with Dev removing Gooch in between as England slumped to 14 for three. Either side of lunch, both Gatting and Allan Lamb were out to loose strokes, and England scraped past the follow-on mark with eight wickets down. Only Athey (32) and Graham Dilley (10 in an hour at the crease) provided any resistance in a spineless display.
“We expected more opposition from England in this series,” said India tour manager Raj Singh. “I don’t know if they are still suffering from their defeats in the West Indies, but it is a fact that we have batted, bowled and fielded better than England.” There were only three things wrong with this England team …
In fairness, England did fight back, reducing India to 70 for five at the end of day two. But, with the tourists already 240 in front, expectations were low for the Saturday crowd. English fans were cheered briefly as Slack took a flying catch to remove More, but it was another day of woe. Vengsarkar anchored the innings, his unbeaten 102 a superb knock that matched England’s total. Strong support from the mid/lower order helped India to 237. England needed 408 to win. Hope had left the ground and gone to the pub early.
At one point on the Saturday, India accidentally had 12 men on the field during England’s innings, as 12th man Raman Lamba forgot to leave when Srikkanth returned. The visitors could have gone down to 10 men and it would not have mattered. England closed day three on 90 for six, spinner Maninder Singh claiming two late wickets to add salt to England wounds.
“Hopes that England would be revived by a more vigorous captain in Mike Gatting have so far proved fond and foolish,” Scyld Berry wrote in the Observer after the Saturday. “The problem is there is no confidence or self belief in this side,” Paul Weaver added in the Mirror. England losing to Argentina at the hand and feet of Diego Maradona did little to lift the gloom surrounding English sport.
It took a little over an hour to confirm India’s series win on the Monday morning. Gatting stood firm for his unbeaten 31, but England could only limp to 128, defeated by a whopping 279 runs. During a Test favouring the bowlers, Vengsarkar was the only batter to pass 50 (twice), his total of 163 runs deservedly seeing him land the player of the match award. After defeats in 1952, 1959 and 1967, as well as a drawn Test in 1979, India had now won at Headingley.
The inquest commenced as soon as the match ended. Chairman of selectors Peter May bemoaned the lack of Gower and Botham, complained about the growth of one-day cricket, and requested that England’s players “get back to the basics of bowling a length and batting properly.” Yet many laid the blame at the door of the man who was overseeing the crazy selection policy.
Journalists threw names into the hat for May’s next selection meeting. Robert Bailey, Robin Smith, Chris Tavare and even 43-year-old Dennis Amiss were mentioned. In the end, England made only five changes for the next Test at Edgbaston, meaning that 19 players had been selected in the three-match series.
When New Zealand won their first Test series in England later in the summer, those of us still watching could have been forgiven for deserting the sinking ship. The main highlights of that summer were during rain breaks, which provided a chance to watch repeats of the 1981 Ashes.
This article is by Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog
