In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Cricket, Roger Seymour remembers the visit of the 1977 Pakistani side to the Caribbean.
‘Back in the day’ there was no television coverage of cricket throughout the West Indies and serious cricket fans walked around clutching their transistor radios as if they were family heirlooms. These precious items came in all shapes, sizes and colours, and it was accepted practice for complete strangers to enquire as they hurried past, “What’s the score?” In the first few months of 1977, everyone was listening to cricket.
The Caribbean was abuzz with anticipation for the start of the season which began in the first week of January, with Jamaica hosting Barbados in Montego Bay in the annual Shell Shield tournament. The West Indies were beginning to ride the crest of the waves. In the previous 12 months, they had departed from Down Under, heads bowed, following a 5-1 thrashing, edged India 2-1 at home, and then defeated England 3-0 in the summer.