West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1979–80
| Frank Worrell Trophy 1979-80 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | November 1979 –January 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | West Indies won the 3-test series 2-0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The West Indies cricket team toured Australia from November 1979 to January 1980 and played a three-match Test series against the Australia national cricket team. The West Indies won the Test series 2–0, retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy.
The series was notable for several major events in cricket history. It was the first Australian season after the rapprochement between the Australian Cricket Board and Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. This was the first time that West Indies played their original "fearsome foursome" of fast bowlers, consisting of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft, in an official Test match. It was also notable for Viv Richards' dominant batting display of 396 runs in 4 innings at an average of 96.50, with a lowest score of 74. His overall aggregate in that tour in international matches was of 881 runs at an astonishing batting average of 97.88. Richards' performance was rated by Australian media as one of the finest ever in Australia. Richards' performance was even more remarkable considering that he was suffering from groin, leg and back injuries throughout the tour. Wisden described Richards' batting as follows:
Very few individuals have so dominated a season as Viv Richards did this one against quality bowling line up. He gathered his runs with the command and range of strokes of the truly great batsmen, scoring freely against bowling of every type. That he has suffering at the time from groin and back trouble so acute that he was often forced to limp painfully emphasised the extraordinary nature of his performance.
— Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1981)
West Indies won their first Test series on Australian soil. It also marked the beginning of West Indies' dominance in world cricket, as they remained unbeaten for the next 15 years (1980-1995) until eventually losing to Mark Taylor's Australia in 1995.
The scheduling of the Test matches was unusual, in that Australia alternated between playing Tests against West Indies and against England. This format was not repeated in subsequent years when two teams toured Australia in the same season.
In addition to the Test series, the teams played in a triangular Limited Overs International tournament, the "World Series Cup", which also involved the England team. West Indies won this tournament, defeating England in the final.