June 21, 1975: The 1st Cricket World Cup Final

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,

and Clive Lloyd, Captain of the West Indies team

June 21, 1975: The 1st Cricket World Cup Final is held, at Lord's Cricket Ground, a.k.a. "The Home of Cricket," in North-West London. To the dismay of English cricket fans, England isn't in the Final.

The International Cricket Conference (ICC) put the tournament together, with 8 teams. England, of course, hosted. Their colonial legacy led to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand coming to love the sport, and they were also in the tournament. It also included an East Africa team representing Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and it would later include Zambia.

And the tournament was rounded out by a West Indies team, a.k.a. "Windies," representing the former British colonies, by then independent nations, of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; the still-British territories of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Montserrat; a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten; and an American territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Matches got underway on June 7. Venues were Lord's, The Oval in South London, Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester (a mile south of the more familiar soccer stadium of the same name), Trent Bridge in Nottingham, and Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds.

England won all 3 of their matches in Group A. New Zealand also advanced from the Group. The West Indies and Australia advanced from Group B. Having the home-field advantage, England were expected to win their Semifinal with Australia at Headingley, but England could only score 93 runs. Gary Gilmour led Australia to victory with 94. West Indies won the other Semifinal, beating New Zealand 159-158.

The Final was held on June 21, at Lord's, in front of a full house of 26,675. Australia won the toss, but, hoping to make use of ideal bowling (pitching) conditions, invited the West Indies to bat first. That may, in this most gentlemanly of sports, have been the sporting thing to do, but it may also have been a mistake. The West Indies rolled up 291 runs, and that's a lot to make up.

Australia gave it a good shot. They got to 80 runs before their 1st wicket, and to 162 after only 3 wickets. But some mishaps in running the bases proved costly, and they could only get to 274. The West Indies had won. Lloyd accepted the trophy from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, representing his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, as the head of state of both the host nation and the winning team.

The West Indies would repeat in 1979, and won a 3rd title in 2007. Australia have won the most, 4: 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2015. India have 2: 1983 and 2011. Pakistan won in 1992, Sri Lanka in 1996, and England in 2019. (UPDATE: Australia won a 5th title in 2023.)

For the record, the United States has never qualified for this tournament.

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June 21, 1975 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Pat Dobson outpitched Mickey Lolich, who both went the distance. Alex Johnson, Bobby Bonds and Graig Nettles each got 2 hits for the Yankees. By the next season's Opening Day, only Nettles was still there.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. The Mets led 3-0 after 6 innings, but the Pirates tied it in the 7th, and scored 4 runs in the 9th. Willie Stargell only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Jim Palmer pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching the unfortunately-named Dick Pole. Both went the distance. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-9 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-5 with an RBI for the Brewers. Indians manager Frank Robinson put himself in as a pinch-hitter, but did not reach base.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Rod Carew went 1-for-5.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. In his last season, Bob Gibson lost to Rick Reuschel.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ken Griffey Sr. singled home the winning run in the top of the 14th inning. Pete Rose went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI. Johnny Bench went 2-for-5 with 2 walks. Joe Morgan went 2-for-6 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at San Diego Stadium.

* A doubleheader was split at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The California Angels won the opener, 4-2. The Texas Rangers won the nightcap, 6-5.

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. George Brett hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4.

May 5, 1928: The West Indies Cricket Team Debuts

Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

May 5, 1928: The West Indies Cricket Team competes for the 1st time, in a "test match" against Derbyshire Cricket Club, at the County Ground in Derby. Playing on this day, and on the 7th and the 8th, West Indies win by 2 wickets.

The first combined West Indian team was formed in the 1880s, and toured Canada and the United States. In the 1890s, the first representative sides were selected to play visiting English sides.

Administered by the West Indies Cricket Board ("WICB"), and known colloquially as The Windies, the team represents a sporting confederation of English-speaking Caribbean countries. Despite the British influence, these countries prefer cricket to soccer; and, despite their proximity to America and its radio broadcasts, because of the British influence, these countries prefer cricket to baseball.

Although blessed with some great players in their early days as a Test nation, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s, by which time the side had changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the late 1970s, the West Indies had a side recognized as unofficial world champions, a title they retained throughout the 1980s. Their team from the 1970s and 1980s is now widely regarded as having been one of the best in test cricket's history.

During these glory years, the Windies were noted for their four-man fast bowling attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world, including Sir Garfield "Gary" Sobers, who starred for them from 1954 to 1974, and from 1965 onward as Captain. With all due respect to singer Rihanna, Sir Garfield remains the most famous person ever to come from Barbados.

The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984, which was part of a still-standing record of 27 tests without defeat (the other tests being draws), as well as inflicting two 5–0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, in part due to the rise in popularity of track & field and soccer in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory.

The current side represents the now independent states of, in alphabetical order: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; the British dependencies of Anguilla, Montserrat, and the British Virgin Islands; and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dutch "country" of St. Maarten. The most common home ground for the team is the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, named for the ground of the same name in South London.

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May 5, 1928 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Dixie Dean completed a season in which he scored 60 goals in Football League play, leading Liverpool-based team Everton F.C. to the League title. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-0 at Yankee Stadium. George Pipgras pitched a 6-hit shutout. Babe Ruth went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks. Lou Gehrig went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The New York Giants lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 11-3 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (The ballpark was later renamed Crosley Field.) Mel Ott went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers (or the Robins, as they were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931) beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Watson Clark outpitched future Hall-of-Famer Jesse Haines. Del Bissonette and Harry Riconda hit home runs.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ty Cobb, playing for the A's against his former team, went 2-for-5. Tris Speaker, also wrapping up his career with the A's, went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-5 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 6-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Paul Waner went 1-for-4, and Lloyd Waner went 3-for-4. For the Braves, Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Although it was the 1st Saturday in May, which is the traditional date of the running of the Kentucky Derby, that was not yet traditional. In 1928, the Derby was run on May 19, and Reigh Count won it. His son, Count Fleet, won the Triple Crown in 1943.