Golden Jubllee Test Match

 By Brian Sanderson

Graham Barry Stevenson, only played in two Test Matches , the first one being at Wankhede Stadium in Bombay. This was the Golden Jubilee Test Match .He had been brought into the English squad on the Australian tour as a replacement for Hendrick.Bob Willis was unable to play because of a stomach upset so Stevenson was brought in to play. He was born at Ackworth on 16 December 1955.He had a fine easy action as much talent as Botham but never quite lived up to early expectations.

The match started on the 15 February 1980 in extremely hot weather. The pitch was left well grassed and give a big advantage to a bowler like Botham. He made the most of it by taking 13 wickets in the match. also scoring 114 runs.

The turning point of the match was when Bob Taylor had been given out caught at the wicket  by Kirmani off Kapil Dev ,but the Indian captain Viswanath has asked the umpire to accept that the appeal is withdrawn.Taylor than only 7 was allowed to continue, and the score was taken from 85 to 229 before Botham was out. Bob Taylor also claimed 10 victims in the match. Stevenson took two wickets and was 27 not out.

England won the match by 10 wickets. However Stevenson only played one more Test Match, in the West Indies in 1981. In 1986 he moved to Northants after playing 177 matches for Yorkshire. Another talent lost..