Declared, and 344 for one

England were 287 for seven at the close of the fourth day at Lord’s in July 1984, 328 ahead, Allan Lamb 109 not out. Gower batted on for thirteen runs the next morning and declared at 300 for nine. West Indies needed 342 in the day. The card’s second-innings table for them has three batters on it, one of them run out, and a total of 344 for one.

The first four days

West Indies put England in. Graeme Fowler made 106 and England 286, Malcolm Marshall six for 85. West Indies replied with 245, Viv Richards 72, and Ian Botham took eight for 103 in 27.4 overs, which the card notes was the first eight-wicket innings by an Englishman against West Indies in England. England led by 41.

Lamb made 110 in the second innings and Botham 81, and the fourth day ended at 287 for seven. The declaration came at 300 for nine, with Neil Foster 9 not out from four balls, and Bob Willis the one man not to bat.

Full scorecard: England v West Indies, 2nd Test, Lord’s, 28 June–3 July 1984 →

The fifth day

Desmond Haynes was run out for 17 at 57. That is the whole of the fall-of-wickets line. Greenidge and Larry Gomes then batted until the match was over: 287 for the second wicket, unbroken, Greenidge 214 not out from 242 balls in 302 minutes with 29 fours and two sixes, Gomes 92 not out from 140.

The card’s bowling table for the innings is five men and no wickets. Willis 15 overs for 48. Botham 20.1 overs for 117. Derek Pringle eight for 44. Foster twelve for 69. Geoff Miller eleven for 45. The run rate is 5.19 an over, in a Test match, on the last day, against a target set to be safe.

Two awards

The card lists Greenidge as player of the match for 214 not out, and Botham as player of the match for 30, eight for 103 and 81.

Both are on the card, one above the other, for a match whose result line reads West Indies won by 9 wickets. Botham’s eight wickets and 111 runs were the best all-round figures of the match on a side that lost by a distance, and the card gives him the award anyway, and gives Greenidge the other one.

The declaration

A captain who declares 341 ahead with a day to play is closing off his own side’s defeat and offering a draw with a chance of a win. What Gower offered was accepted in 66.1 overs. The card does not say whether the declaration was a mistake. It gives the target, the total and the overs, and the arithmetic says that 342 in a day was not a safe number against that side on that pitch.

The close-of-play lines give the shape: England 167 for two, West Indies 119 for three, England 114 for four, a rest day, England 287 for seven, and then a fifth day on which one side batted from start to finish. The first four days had produced 1,045 runs for 33 wickets. The fifth produced 357 for two, thirteen of them England’s.

The card’s series line reads West Indies led 2-0. They would win all five. The umpires were Barrie Meyer and David Evans, Chris Broad was on debut and made 55, and it is Test number 990.

What the card holds

Two players of the match, one of them on the losing side. An eight-for followed by 20.1 overs for 117. A declaration at 300 for nine. A run-out at 57 as the only wicket of the last day. A stand of 287 that was still going when the runs ran out. And 344 for one, at 5.19 an over, on a card that lists the target as 342.

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No. 12 in Declared, a series of 15.

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