West Indian cricket team in Australia in 1968–69

International cricket tour

The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1968-69 season and played a five-match Test series against Australia. Australia won the series 3-1 with one match drawn.

Test series summary

First Test

6–10 December 1968
(5–day match)
Scorecard

West Indies	v	Australia
296 (95 overs) RB Kanhai 94 AN Connolly 4/60 (19 overs)		284 (98.4 overs) IM Chappell 117 (263) LR Gibbs 5/88 (39.4 overs)
353 (87 overs) CH Lloyd 129 (222) JW Gleeson 5/122 (33 overs)		240 (88.6 overs) IM Chappell 50 GS Sobers 6/73 (33.6 overs)

West Indies won by 125 runs
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Umpires: CJ Egar and LP Rowan

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
9 December was taken as a rest day.
The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.

Second Test

26–30 December 1968
(5–day match)
Scorecard

West Indies	v	Australia
200 (73 overs) RC Fredericks 76 (226) GD McKenzie 8/71 (28 overs)		510 (136.3 overs) WM Lawry 205 (416) GS Sobers 4/97 (33.3 overs)
280 (98.4 overs) SM Nurse 74 (192) JW Gleeson 5/61 (26.4 overs)

Australia won by an innings and 30 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires: CJ Egar and LP Rowan

Australia won the toss and elected to field.
29 December was taken as a rest day.
The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
CA Davis, RM Edwards and RC Fredericks (all WIN) made their Test debuts.

Third Test

3–8 January 1969
(5–day match)
Scorecard

West Indies	v	Australia
264 (75.1 overs) CH Lloyd 50 (61) GD McKenzie 4/85 (22.1 overs)		547 (121.6 overs) KD Walters 118 (185) WW Hall 3/113 (26 overs)
324 (93 overs) BF Butcher 101 (233) JW Gleeson 4/91 (26 overs)		42/0 (8 overs) KR Stackpole 21* (31) AP Sheahan 21* (33)

Australia won by 10 wickets
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Umpires: CJ Egar and LP Rowan

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
6 January was taken as a rest day.

Fourth Test

24–29 January 1969
(5–day match)
Scorecard

West Indies	v	Australia
276 (65.3 overs) GS Sobers 110 EW Freeman 4/52 (10.3 overs)		533 (126.5 overs) KD Walters 110 LR Gibbs 4/145 (43 overs)
616 (137.2 overs) BF Butcher 118 AN Connolly 5/122 (34 overs)		339/9 (84 overs) IM Chappell 96 CC Griffith 2/73 (19 overs)

Match drawn
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: CJ Egar and LP Rowan

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
26 January was taken as a rest day.
This Test match holds the record for the highest match aggregate (1,764) without a partnership of 150 runs or more as well as no wides being bowled.^[1]
This Test also set the record for the highest match aggregate in a 5-day Test match and held it until the Rawalpindi Test of England's tour of Pakistan from 1–5 December 2022 with a total of 1,768 runs.^[2]

Fifth Test

14–20 February 1969
(6–day match)
Scorecard

Australia	v	West Indies
619 (152.7 overs) KD Walters 242 (412) WW Hall 3/157 (35.7 overs)		279 (76.6 overs) MC Carew 64 (94) AN Connolly 4/61 (17 overs)
394/8d (92 overs) IR Redpath 132 (277) GS Sobers 3/117 (26 overs)		352 (64.2 overs) SM Nurse 137 (204) JW Gleeson 3/84 (15.2 overs)

Australia won by 382 runs
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Umpires: CJ Egar and LP Rowan

West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
17 February was taken as a rest day.

External sources

CricketArchive – tour summaries

Annual reviews

Playfair Cricket Annual 1969
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1970

References

^ Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley. p. 375. ISBN 0947540067.
^ "Highest match aggregates". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 5 December 2022.

Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
Phil Tresidder, Captains on a See-saw: The West Indies Tour of Australia, 1968-69, Souvenir, 1969
R.S. Whitington, Fours Galore: The West Indians and Their Tour of Australia, 1968-69, Cassell, 1969

International cricket tours of Australia

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2021–22
Bangladesh	2003 2008
England	1876–77 1878–79 1881–82 1882–83 1884–85 1886–87 1887–88 1891–92 1894–95 1897–98 1901–02 1903–04 1907–08 1911–12 1920–21 1924–25 1928–29 1932–33 1936–37 1946–47 1950–51 1954–55 1958–59 1962–63 1965–66 1970–71 1974–75 1977 1978–79 1979–80 1982–83 1986–87 1987–88 1990–91 1994–95 1998–99 2002–03 2006–07 2010–11 2013–14 2017–18 2021–22 2022–23
India	1947–48 1967–68 1977–78 1980–81 1985–86 1991–92 1999–2000 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2015–16 2018–19 2020–21 2024–25
New Zealand	1973–74 1980–81 1982–83 1985–86 1987–88 1989–90 1993–94 1997–98 2001–02 2004–05 2008–09 2011–12 2015–16 2016–17 2019–20 2022–23
Pakistan	1964–65 1972–73 1976–77 1978–79 1981–82 1983–84 1989–90 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 1999–2000 2002 2004–05 2009–10 2016–17 2019–20 2023–24
South Africa	1910–11 1931–32 1952–53 1963–64 1971–72 (cancelled) 1993–94 1997–98 2000 2001–02 2005–06 2008–09 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17 2018–19 2022–23
Sri Lanka	1987–88 1989–90 1995–96 2004 2007–08 2010–11 2012–13 2016–17 2018–19 2019–20 2021–22
West Indies	1930–31 1951–52 1960–61 1968–69 1975–76 1979–80 1981–82 1984–85 1988–89 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 2000–01 2005–06 2009–10 2012–13 2015–16 2020–21 2022–23 2023–24
Zimbabwe	1994–95 2003–04 2022

Tournaments hosted
World Cup	1992 2015
T20 World Cup	2022
Tri-series	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2017–18
Other multi-team tournaments	1985 1987

Other tours
Afghanistan	2014–15
Australian Forces	1919–20 1945–46
English	1861–62 1863–64 1873–74 1902–03 1922–23 1929–30 1935–36 1979–80
England Lions	2012–13 2021
Fijian	1907–08
Ireland	2014–15
Multi-national	1971–72 2005–06
Nepal	2023–24
New Zealand	1898–99 1913–14 1925–26 1927–28 1937–38 1953–54 1961–62 1967–68 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1974–75
PNG	2014–15
Scotland	2014–15
Sri Lanka	1982–83
UAE	2014–15
World Series Cricket (West Indies & World XI)	1977-78 1978-79