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There can be something almost enjoyable about a cricketing tour that slowly comes off the rails. As the injuries mount, the defeats follow, and off-field allegations begin, you can develop a gallows humour towards your team, as you ponder whether new levels of rock bottom can be reached. England’s tour of Australia in 1994/95 is one of my personal favourites of this genre. But the 1983/84 ‘Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll’ tour to New Zealand takes some beating. Read more »

With the 2017 Rugby League World Cup about to start, this week I am taking a look back at the 1985-88 tournament, as Australia continued their domination of the sport. Although the Rugby League World Cup had been running since 1954, the irregular staging of the tournament had not helped the event establish itself in the sporting calendar. Indeed, after the 1977 tournament, it would be another eight years before the International Board decided to resuscitate the concept. A Paris meeting in May 1985 saw the five member nations of Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, and Papua New Guinea agree to take part in a ninth World Cup, although a change in format meant that it was now a three-year event. Read more »

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches, first, second, and third Tests of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983: http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-second-test.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-third-test.html Read more »

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches, first Test, and second Test of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983: http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-second-test.html   Read more »

This piece follows on from my previous blogs on the warm-up matches and first Test of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983: http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-new-zealand-v-lions-first-test.html Read more »

This piece follows on from my previous blog on the warm-up matches of the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 1983: http://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/1983-british-and-irish-lions-warm-up-matches.html Read more »

The first of a series looking back at the 1983 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. Read more »

The Rugby Union World Cup is now one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar, but it took years of negotiations and rejection before the tournament finally kicked off in 1987. Read more »

Following on from my recent piece on the top performances at the 1983 World Cup , this week I am looking back at the 1987 tournament. Featuring a typical one day innings from Allan Lamb, a superb knock in a losing cause by Dave Houghton, some explosive hitting from Viv Richards, top semi-final displays from Craig McDermott and Graham Gooch, and a contribution in the final that perhaps should get a bit more credit than it deserves. Read more »

There were a number of memorable displays at the 1983 World Cup, during a tournament in England and Wales that saw the West Indian champions finally toppled. This week I am looking back at some of the key performances during the tournament, covering the story of an inspired Zimbabwean, an unlikely West Indian hero, struggles for Sri Lanka, an inspired Indian skipper breathing life into his team, and the subsequent successes of India's seamers who took their team all the way to the ultimate prize. Read more »