The 1980 English cricket season demonstrated that the West Indies cricket team had now consolidated itself as a formidable team, producing the most notable individual performances in winning the summer's Test series 1-0, though rain limited the opportunity of either side to win the remaining four test matches. A single Test was additionally played between England and Australia, to commemorate the centenary of the first Test played in England. The Ashes were not at stake, though the point proved moot since the match was drawn.

Honours

• County Championship - Middlesex
• Gillette Cup - Middlesex
• Sunday League - Warwickshire
• Benson & Hedges Cup -
• Minor Counties Championship - Durham
  Durham County Cricket Club
  Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
  
  
• Second XI Championship - Glamorgan II
• Wisden - Kim Hughes
  Kim Hughes
  Kimberley John Hughes is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Tests between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a "rebel" Australian team in a tour of South Africa, who at the time were subject to a sporting boycott.A right-handed...
  
  , Robin Jackman
  Robin Jackman
  Robin Jackman is a former English cricketer, who played in four Tests and fifteen ODIs for England from 1974 to 1983. He was a seam bowler and useful tail-end batsman. During a first-class career lasting from 1966 to 1982, he took 1,402 wickets...
  
  , Allan Lamb
  Allan Lamb
  Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
  
  , Clive Rice
  Clive Rice
  Clive Edward Butler Rice is a former South African international cricketer. An all-rounder, Rice ended his first class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49....
  
  , Vintcent van der Bijl
  Vintcent van der Bijl
  Vintcent Adriaan Pieter van der Bijl was a South African cricketer. He was born in Rondebosch, Cape Town on 19 March 1948, where his father, Pieter van der Bijl, was headmaster of the Diocesan College Preparatory School after retiring from playing first-class cricket for Western Province and...
  
  

Test series

England was outplayed by West Indies and the margin would have been greater than 1-0 but for the weather. West Indies excelled in batting and fast bowling with Viv Richards

Viv Richards

Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...

, Desmond Haynes

Desmond Haynes

Desmond Leo Haynes is a West Indian cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of...

, Joel Garner

Joel Garner

Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....

, Andy Roberts and Michael Holding

Michael Holding

Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...

 their standout performers. England's best player was Peter Willey

Peter Willey

Peter Willey is a former English cricketer, who played as a right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler. In and out of the England team, he interrupted his international career for three years by taking part in the first of the England players' South African rebel tours in 1982...

 who scored a fine century at The Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

.

Leading batsmen

Allan Lamb

Allan Lamb

Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...

 of Northamptonshire CCC topped the averages with 1797 runs @ 66.55.

Other leading batsmen were Kepler Wessels

Kepler Wessels

Kepler Christoffel Wessels is a former South African cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. He was the first man to have played One Day International cricket for two countries....

 and Peter Kirsten

Peter Kirsten

Peter Noel Kirsten is a former cricketer who represented South Africa in 12 Tests and 40 One Day Internationals from 1991 to 1994.-Cricket career:...

 who both averaged over 60.

Leading bowlers

Joel Garner of West Indies led the averages 13.93 and 49 wickets but the outstanding bowler of the season was Robin Jackman

Robin Jackman

Robin Jackman is a former English cricketer, who played in four Tests and fifteen ODIs for England from 1974 to 1983. He was a seam bowler and useful tail-end batsman. During a first-class career lasting from 1966 to 1982, he took 1,402 wickets...

 who took 121 wickets @ 15.40.

External sources

• CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries

Annual reviews

• Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
  
   1981
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1981