PLAY PODCASTS
Cricket's Blackwash test series

Cricket's Blackwash test series

The West Indies beat England 5-0 in a 1984 test series that became known as Blackwash

Sporting Witness · BBC World Service

August 19, 20239m 13s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (open.live.bbc.co.uk) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

In 1984, the West Indies celebrated a 5-0 test series defeat of England on British soil - a historic cricketing victory that became known as Blackwash.

But for Windies fans, it was more than just a record score-line. It was also recognition at a time when many British Caribbean communities were suffering racism, unemployment and poverty.

They flooded onto the pitch to celebrate, unfurling a banner in bold painted letters which read ‘Blackwash’.

It had a huge impact, as West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding tells Jane Wilkinson.

(Photo: Blackwash banner, The Oval, 1984. Credit: Allsport/Getty Images)