The West Indies are back – for a stark reminder of a lost sporting world

This year, the Windies ‘tour’ of this country lasts barely a month - from this coming Wednesday’s three-day game against a First Class Counties Select XI (basically promising youngsters) to the end of the third and final Test on July 30, if it goes the whole five days.

It wasn’t always like this, of course. Back when the West Indies dominated the cricketing landscape - in both Test and one-day formats - there was no whistle-stop visit to these shores, far from it.

In 1976, Hampshire legends Gordon Greenidge and Andy Roberts were part of a squad which played its first game on May 8 and its last exactly four months later.

The curtain raiser was at Arundel, against the quaintly-named Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk XI at Arundel; come early autumn, the Windies bade farewell with a one-dayer against a Northern League XI in Harrogate.

The tourists won both those games, and pretty much most of the ones in between - a hectic programme containing three-day games against all 17 of the first class counties plus similar fixtures against the MCC at Lord’s, Oxford & Cambridge Universities at Fenner’s and the Minor Counties in Torquay.

There was also a trip to Dublin for a two-day game with Dublin, where Greenidge struck 117 in next to no time in the Windies’ first innings before Vanburn Holder’s 8-22 helped skittle their hosts for 68 en route to a 204-run romp.

The Windies, riled by England skipper Tony Greig’s infamous ‘grovel’ remark, triumphed 3-0 in the five-Test series and ditto in the ODIs, winning every 50-over game.

Among the highlights were moments that have gone down in cricket folklore, including:

*Greenidge’s two hundreds in the Old Trafford Test, a feat not achieved in England since 1947 and only repeated seven times since.

*Viv Richards’ imperious 291 in the final Test at The Oval in front of thousands of jubilant West Indian supporters.

*Michael Holding taking 14 wickets in the Oval Test, including twice rearranging Greig’s stumps, in his side’s 291-run victory.

In 38 first class innings spanning what was to prove a legendary hot summer, Greenidge compiled 1,952 runs with eight hundreds. Richards struck 1,724 with six centuries.

Eight years later, the Windies were greeted with a less busy programme - just three-day games against 10 counties plus two-dayers against the Minor Counties (in Sandwell Park, West Bromwich, of all places), Oxford and Cambridge Universities and Ireland.

Their tour still lasted almost three months, though, from May 19 to August 17.

Yet again, Greenidge and Richards produced innings that remain embedded in the memory of those fortunate enough to witness them (as I did, all England games back then being showed on BBC – satellite TV thankfully being a few years in the future).

First, Richards belted a glorious 189 not out in a one-day win at Old Trafford, at the time the highest innings in ODI history (it’s now 15th in the list).

Then, in the second Test at Lord’s, Greenidge hammered a remarkable 214 not out on the final day after England skipper David Gower had declared.

Greenidge smacked 29 fours and two sixes off 242 balls as the Windies won by nine wickets, scoring 344 in 66.1 overs. Now, in these Bazball type days we live in, that doesn’t seem a fantastic achievement. But back then, it most certainly was, even by the Windies standards. To recap, a different world.

Two Tests later, Greenidge slapped the England attack to all corners of Old Trafford once more on his way to 223. The Windies won that by an innings and 84 runs. They won all five Tests that summer - a ‘blackwash’, as the saying went.

Also playing a starring role was another Hampshire legend, the late, great Malcom Marshall, who took 24 wickets in four Tests at 18.2, including 7-53 in England’s second innings at Headingley.

The Windies don’t play five Tests in England any more, they haven’t since 2000. Now they don’t play any counties at all, but then again a first-class fixture against today’s tourists wouldn’t have the gravitas it once did anyway. Where are the modern day Greenidges, Richards, Marshalls, Garners and Holdings?

The West Indies circa 1976-1988 deserve their place in the pantheon of legendary sporting teams. From an era we will never see the likes of again, as franchise cricket ensures the caribbean's finest prioritise the 20-over format.

We will certainly never see a Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk XI again. That 1976 fixture against the Windies was the first of its kind, with – fittingly – the 1995 West Indies team the last touring side to play at Arundel prior to the Duchess’ death later that year.

Both the 1976 and 1995 tourists were part of the different world I mentioned in the introduction. I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to decide if we’ve gained more than we’ve lost since then...