Data | Will going 1-0 against England help the Windies reverse their poor run in tests?

For the first time since 2000, West Indies went up 1-0 in a Test series in England, beating the hosts by four wickets on Sunday. The win was significant, given the Windies’ poor run in Tests since the turn of the millennium, after a particularly dominant 1980s. Their fall was drastic: after holding the best away record in the period between 1960 and 1980, the team had the worst away record in the last two decades.

West Indies records

The table lists the win/loss% in Tests for West Indies across decades in home and away conditions.

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Overall test records

The table lists the best and worst teams according to Test win % in each decade. Windies dominated the 1980s, with the best home and away Test win % among all nations. However, since 2000s, the Windies had the worst win % in both home and away tests among all nations.

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Windies’ captaincy records

The table lists ten West Indian captains who led the team in the most matches.The most impactful among the lot are Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, who spearheaded the team’s dominance in the 1980s.

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Series history

The chart depicts every Test series played by the West Indies (S) across decades. Each circle depicts either a West Indies win (W, green dot), or the opposition’s win (L, red dot ) or a draw (D, grey dot). While the share of series wins recorded by the Windies was relatively high between the 1960s and 1980s, in the subsequent decades the victories were few and far between.

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Also read: The fascinating Test had many messages for sports and the world in general

Source: ESPNCricinfo

Note: The print version of the graphic had the following errors in the second part of the table. They have been corrected in the online version.

In the second part of the table, worst away teams in the 1960s and 1970s were interchanged. Pakistan won 0% away games in 60s and New Zealand won 0% away games in 70s, not the other way around. Additionally, in the 40s, along with South Africa, India too recorded 0% away wins and in the 50s, along with India, New Zealand too recorded 0% away wins.

In worst home teams, in the 1980s, Sri Lanka was the worst team but its win % was not 0 but 17%. In 1990s, Sri Lanka was not the worst team, but New Zealand was with a win% of 28%. In 2010s, Sri Lanka was not the worst team, but West Indies was with a win% of 36%. Additionally, in the 40s, along with South Africa, India too recorded 0% home wins.