The West Indies cricket team toured Australia in the 1960–61 season under the captaincy of Frank Worrell.

Both Worrell and his opposing captain, Richie Benaud, encouraged their teams to play attacking cricket.

Prior to their departure from Australia, the team were paraded through Melbourne in open-top cars on 17 February 1961, and were cheered by enormous crowds.

[1] The series marked the first time that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had covered all five Test matches of a touring team.

In 2000, the Corporation produced a two-part documentary of the tour entitled Calypso Summer[2] which included a mixture of five hours of archived match highlights, anecdotes and current day reflections from the key players.

[3] The touring party consisted of: FMM Worrell (captain), FCM Alexander (vice-captain), DT Dewdney, LR Gibbs, WW Hall, JL Hendriks, CC Hunte, RB Kanhai, PD Lashley, SM Nurse, S Ramadhin, CW Smith, GS Sobers, JS Solomon, AL Valentine, CD Watson.

Commerce in [Melbourne] stood almost still as the smiling cricketers from the West Indies, the vanquished not the victors, were given a send-off the like of which is normally reserved for Royalty and national heroes.Kanhai, Sobers, Hunte, Alexander, Hall and Gibbs all had fine series.

Kanhai showed his quality early on, when he played a fine innings of 252 in the fourth first-class match of the tour, against Victoria.

Sobers had been out of form early in the tour, but his century on the first day of the first Test was rated by some watchers as the best hundred they had ever seen.

Davidson took 33 wickets with his accurate left-arm quick bowling, more than any other bowler on either side, even though he missed the fourth Test because of injury.

Benaud captured 23 wickets and played a vital innings in the first Test, but his captaincy made an even bigger impact.

Next morning, Alexander took his overnight score of 21 to 60 and Hall, batting at number 10, unexpectedly contributed exactly 50, the two adding 86 for the ninth wicket.

When their innings ended, the West Indies' scoring rate was 56 runs per 100 balls, very high by the standards of the time.

At one point Australia had been 469–5, and a large lead had looked likely, but Davidson's dismissal for 44 triggered a collapse, with Hall taking four of the last five wickets.

Next morning, the last wicket pair added 25 more runs which were to prove vital, as well as reducing the time that Australia had at their disposal.

First Benaud called for a sharp single, but Solomon hit the stumps from mid-wicket to dismiss Davidson, who had had a magnificent match (124 runs and 11 wickets).

Some rain had seeped through the covers overnight, but the pitch was not difficult enough to justify the West Indian collapse.

Not long before the end of the day's play they had reached 97–2, but then Martin dismissed Kanhai, Sobers and Worrell - the latter two for ducks - to leave West Indies reeling at 99–5.

On the third morning, Australia emulated West Indies in collapsing, Gibbs at one point taking three wickets in four balls.

More wickets then fell quickly, and West Indies ended the day on 179–7, Worrell being the last man to fall, for 82.

On the fourth day Alexander, who had been 11 not out overnight, increased his score to 108, with good support from the tail, taking the game away from Australia.

On the first day West Indies made 348–7, built around a fourth wicket stand of 107 between Kanhai and Worrell.

On the fourth day, Hunte was run out for 79, after what at the time was a record second wicket stand for West Indies against Australia of 163, but Kanhai went on to his second hundred of the match, 115.

Grout was dismissed by Worrell for 42 after the pair had added 59, and he followed up by quickly taking the wickets of Misson and Hoare.

When Kline joined Mackay, Australia were 207-9 and appeared doomed, for there was still one hour and fifty minutes playing time remaining.

Only two minutes later, Sobers, fielding only four yards from the bat, appealed confidently for a catch from Mackay off Worrell, but Egar ruled that it was not out.

When Benaud put West Indies in, he may have hoped that the heavy atmosphere would help Davidson, but for once he was not that effective and the spinners did much of the damage.

Forty more runs were added by West Indies, with Solomon and Hall completing a useful ninth wicket partnership of 55.

Australia reached 236-3 by the end of the day's play, with Burge 37 not out and Mackay 16 not out, and it looked as though they might establish a substantial lead.

Still without addition, an easy chance given by Martin was missed, the batsmen taking a single to bring the scores level.