5 Weirdest declarations in the history of Test cricket
There have been certain occasions where a decision to declare the innings left the cricket universe scratching its heads.
5. West Indies vs England, 4th Test, 1968
It is good to have a desire of winning every series that you play but it led to West Indies’ defeat in the 4th Test of their series against England played way back in 1968. The first three games of the 5-match series did not produce a result and the frustrated West Indian captain Sir Garfield Sobers wanted to win the Port of Spain Test at any cost.
Riding on the centuries of Seymour Nurse and Rohan Kanhai, West Indies scored 526 runs for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring their innings. England could not take the first-innings lead as Basil Butcher’s five-wicket haul helped West Indies bowl the visitors out for 404 runs.
Sobers then pulled off a bold but strange move by ending West Indies’ second innings at 92/2 on day 5. England needed 215 runs to win and almost three hours were left in the day’s play. Captain Colin Cowdrey led England from the front as his century stand with Geoff Boycott helped England win the Test by 7 wickets. This was the first occasion where a team lost a Test despite declaring both of its innings.
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