The Second Blackwash — West Indies 5-0 vs England in the Caribbean, 1985-86

England arrived under David Gower having been thrashed at home, hoping that two new selections — Wilf Slack and Tim Robinson — might shore up the top order.

The pre-Test one-day series saw Gatting struck on the nose by Marshall, an injury that became the symbolic image of the tour.

Viv Richards's first home series as captain — taking over from Clive Lloyd — produced an even more brutal sweep than the 1984 tour. The first Test at Sabina Park introduced Patterson, a 6'2" Jamaican who hurled the ball at extreme pace on a corrugated pitch. Mike Gatting was struck flush on the nose by a Marshall short ball in the one-day series and flew home with the seam of the ball reportedly embedded in his face. Graham Gooch top-scored with 51 in the first Test, but England were dismissed for 159 and 152. Richards himself crashed the fastest Test century in history at the Antigua Recreation Ground in the final Test, reaching three figures off 56 balls — a record that stood until Brendon McCullum in 2016. The 5-0 made it ten consecutive Test losses for England against West Indies stretching back to 1984, and confirmed that the Caribbean side were operating in a different competitive universe.

“It was as quick as anything I have faced in my life.”

“Cricket is supposed to be played on bouncy pitches. We bowl fast. That is our game.”

Gower's captaincy did not survive the West Indies sequence and England spent the late 1980s in turmoil.