The West Indies cricket team was in transition as the 1970s began and it suffered a humiliating series defeat on the 1975–76 tour of Australia.
New captain Clive Lloyd was determined that such a defeat must never happen again and decided that the lessons of that tour must be learned.
Lloyd decided that West Indies must nurture its own pace battery to create similar havoc among its opponents.
The emergence of Andy Roberts and Michael Holding at this time ensured that the first implementation of the new policy on the 1976 tour of England was a success.
The combination of outstanding pace bowling and top-class batting enabled West Indies to dominate world cricket for more than 15 years until the 1990s.