Famous Cricketers No 42 - Gary Sobers

234. Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan, Swansea, August 31, September 1, 2 (Nottinghamshire won by 166 runs) not out 76 394/5d 20 6 63 2 E.W.Jones lbw 254 1 M.A.Nash b b D.J.Shepherd 72 139/6d - - - - 113 1 235. Rest of the World XI v An England XI, Scarborough, September 4, 5, 6 (An England XI won by 133 runs) c R.M.Prideaux b R.Illingworth 20 174 17 1 57 1 C.Milburn lbw 274/8d c J.B.Bolus b R.N.S.Hobbs 0 171 8 2 25 0 204/5d SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct County Championship 26 42 7 1570 105* 44.85 2 - 25 Other matches 1 2 0 20 20 10.00 - - - Season 27 44 7 1590 105* 42.97 2 13 25 Career 235 373 55 18226 365* 57.31 54 79 255 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m County Championship 773.4 226 1882 83 7/69 22.67 5 1 Other matches 25 3 82 1 1/57 82.00 - - Season (6-ball) 798.4 229 1964 84 7/69 23.38 5 1 Career (6-ball) 5649.3 1590 } 18545 681 9/49 27.23 27 1 (8-ball) 1362.1 163 1968/69 - West Indians in Australia and New Zealand Sobers led the West Indies this winter on their fourth tour of Australia. It was not a successful expedition. He himself was handicapped by a shoulder injury and seemed jaded after having played so much cricket over the past two years. The team lost 5 of its 15 first-class matches and won only 4. Australia regained the Frank Worrell Trophy by taking the Test series convincingly 3-1. Despite injury and fatigue, Sobers scored over 1,000 runs and took 36 wickets in 10 matches. He headed his side’s batting averages with 67.40 runs per innings and placed second in its bowling. He also held 13 catches. In the 5 Tests, he scored two centuries, averaged almost 50 runs per innings and captured 18 wickets. At Brisbane, he achieved the best bowling analysis of his Test career when he returned 6/73 in Australia’s second innings. The trip to New Zealand which followed brought the West Indians little relief. They won the first Test easily enough but had to settle for a squared rubber when New Zealand defeated them handily in the second. Sobers was particularly ineffective in this short series. He mustered only 70 runs from five unimpressive innings and his 7 wickets came at prohibitive cost (43.00). This was the second time that he had failed miserably in a tour of New Zealand. The only redeeming features of this short series were the magnificent batting of Seymour Nurse, who amassed 558 runs from five visits to the crease, and the inspired bowling of ‘Prof’ Edwards, who took 15 good wickets at less than 24 runs apiece. For such veterans as Gibbs, Griffith and Hall, the whole tour of Australasia was a very sorry tale indeed. The two fast bowlers who had, earlier in the decade, been one of the most feared combinations in cricket history, now looked old and ineffective. This was destined to be end of their Test careers. Gibbs, on the other hand, rebounded splendidly and continued to play at a very high level for the next seven or eight years. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 236. West Indians v Western Australia, Perth, October 26, 27, 28, 29 (West Indians won by six wickets) c G.D.McKenzie b L.C.Mayne 132 361 7 0 28 0 199 2 not out 16 127/4 17 3 55 4 D.Chadwick c D.A.J.Holford 288 R.W.Marsh b J.T.Irvine c R.C.Fredericks G.C.Becker b 48