When the West Indies asked England to bat first at Lord’s in 1984, it looked a poor decision as opener Graeme Fowler wrote his name on to the Honours Board with a fine hundred.
Putting on a rare century stand against the Windies with Chris Broad, Fowler was the linchpin of the England innings, particularly after Broad fell for 51 and no other batsman mustered more than 30.
Fowler hit thirteen fours in his innings which lasted just over six hours, and helped England to a total of 286 all out. They managed a slender first innings lead by bowling out their visitors for 245 and when declaring on 300 for 9, the Windies’ fourth innings target of 342 looked a stiff one.
But England’s bowlers couldn’t emulate the movement from the first innings and Gordon Greenidge played the innings of his career, an unbeaten 214 leading the West Indies to victory.