Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
FTR, there is absolutely no way Bernard Julien was anything other than utterly terrible in 1976. Julien was a pretty decent Test cricketer from his 1973 debut to the 1975/76 series in Australia, but his 6 Tests in 1976 saw him average 109 with the ball, and about 18 with the bat.
This has very little to do with Gavaskar, but West Indies in 1976 were mostly a one-man attack of the newly-come-of-age Holding. Roberts bowled well in the First Test of the four, dreadfully in the Second, then dropped-out of the last two because he was exhausted - Daniel made a pretty decent debut in the Fourth. Holford bowled well in the opener, and the rest (Julien, Jumadeen, Padmore, Imtiaz Ali, Holder in the 1 Test he got) were of no note. I can't remember exactly when Gavaskar made however many runs he made in that series, but if it was the Second or Third Test, it certainly wasn't a case of making runs against an attack of any great note. If he made some in the First and\or Fourth, then that's more of an achievement.
This has very little to do with Gavaskar, but West Indies in 1976 were mostly a one-man attack of the newly-come-of-age Holding. Roberts bowled well in the First Test of the four, dreadfully in the Second, then dropped-out of the last two because he was exhausted - Daniel made a pretty decent debut in the Fourth. Holford bowled well in the opener, and the rest (Julien, Jumadeen, Padmore, Imtiaz Ali, Holder in the 1 Test he got) were of no note. I can't remember exactly when Gavaskar made however many runs he made in that series, but if it was the Second or Third Test, it certainly wasn't a case of making runs against an attack of any great note. If he made some in the First and\or Fourth, then that's more of an achievement.