Famous Cricketers No 42 - Gary Sobers

SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Shell Shield 1 1 1 116 116* - 1 - 2 Other matches 1 2 0 43 35 21.50 - - 2 Season 2 3 1 159 116* 79.50 1 - 4 Career 271 426 60 20574 365* 56.21 62 89 296 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Shell Shield 42 6 143 2 1/32 71.50 - - Other matches 49 16 126 2 2/77 63.00 - - Season (6-ball) 91 22 269 4 2/77 67.25 - - Career (6-ball) 6272.5 1767 } 21643 784 9/49 27.60 31 1 (8-ball) 1792.2 236 1970 – Rest of the World in England, and Nottinghamshire Sobers enjoyed his finest summer this year, easily heading the national batting averages with 75.74 in 32 innings. Nine of these were played for the Rest of the World in what were initially designated as ‘official’ Test matches. Sobers was invited to lead the international stars against England to compensate for the loss of the South African tour which the British government, for political reasons, had encouraged the T.C.C.B. to cancel. Sobers registered 588 runs (ave 73.50), 21 wickets (ave 21.52), and 7 catches in these games. He was at the peak of his form and led his team to a comfortable 4-1 win in the series. He demonstrated, at Lord’s in the first ‘Test’, precisely why he is still regarded by so many as the greatest all-rounder who has ever lived. He destroyed England on the opening day with a wonderful spell of swing bowling (6/21) before putting their bowlers to the sword on the second day with a magnificent century. He then produced some effective spin bowling in England’s second innings to ensure their defeat with a day to spare. At Leeds, he top-scored for his team in both innings to prevent an English victory in a close game. His all-round skills (87 runs and 7/127) also had a lot to do with his side’s triumph over England at Edgbaston in July. Nottinghamshire suffered from Sobers’s frequent absences but he almost always made a contribution to that county’s cause upon his return from Test duty. Although he could play only in 14 county championship matches, he exceeded 1,000 runs and captured 43 wickets for Nottinghamshire. Against Surrey, at The Oval in May, he registered centuries in each innings (for the second time in his career) and accounted for more than 52% of his county’s runs. At Sheffield in late June, Sobers gave a superb demonstration of his genius by going in at 40/3 in the second innings and thwarting the Yorkshire bid for victory by scoring 144 of 219 for three additional wickets. He hit 7 centuries altogether this summer, including 2 in the ‘Tests’ and thus extended his West Indian record to 69, leaving Marshall (with 63) further behind. Sobers also became the first West Indian to achieve the unique distinction of recording 20,000 runs, 800 wickets and 300 catches in first-class cricket. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 272. Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire, Trent Bridge, May 2, 4, 5 (Match drawn) not out 115 324/5d 16 2 62 1 A.C.Smith b 325/6d c R.B.Kanhai b J.A.Jameson 8 201/5d 8 0 31 0 195 3 273. Nottinghamshire v Sussex, Hove, May 16, 18, 19 (Sussex won by 16 runs) c K.G.Suttle b A.W.Greig 9 237 16 3 38 1 M.A.Buss b 306/4d c P.J.Graves b J.A.Snow 1 140 13.2 3 19 2 M.G.Griffith c D.A.Pullan 87 2 J.A.Snow c M.J.Smedley 274. Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Kennington Oval, May 20, 21, 22 (Surrey won by seven wickets) c A.Long b R.D.Jackman 160 281 5 1 18 0 278/4d not out 103 218/8d - - - - 225/3 275. Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire, Northampton, June 3, 4, 5 (Match drawn) b Mushtaq Mohammad 80 306/6d 21 6 46 4 P.J.Watts c M.J.Harris 303/9d P.Willey b B.S.Crump c M.J.Smedley Sarfraz Nawaz lbw 53