Famous Cricketers No 42 - Gary Sobers

Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Tests 223.2 92 421 14 3/54 30.07 - - Shell Shield 20 6 48 1 1/14 48.00 - - Season (6-ball) 243.2 98 469 15 3/54 31.26 - - Career (6-ball) 8886.1 2565 } 28020 1014 9/49 27.63 36 1 (8-ball) 1921 243 1974 Plagued in recent years by injury, fatigue and relatively poor form, Sobers decided to make this season his last. He had been playing cricket almost non-stop for close to twenty years both in winter and summer. He had been a source of inspiration to the Nottinghamshire players during his early years with the county, but thereafter he seldom rose to truly great heights during the daily grind of the county championship. Nottinghamshire as a consequence never fulfilled the promise it had shown in 1968. It returned to the bottom rungs of the county standings, actually bringing up the rear in 1973. It would finish no higher than fifteenth in 1974. In his final season, Sobers showed only a few flashes of genius, such as his splendid century in 83 minutes against Derbyshire at Ilkeston which was the fastest hundred of the summer. His bowling looked strangely innocuous and yielded only 29 wickets at almost 32 runs apiece. As usual, however, Gary headed Nottinghamshire’s batting average with 48 runs per innings, scoring at least fifty in 10 of his 27 appearances at the crease. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 369. Nottinghamshire v Essex, Trent Bridge, May 1, 2, 3 (Essex won by 89 runs) b J.K.Lever 10 204 18 3 45 1 B.R.Hardie lbw 261 b J.K.Lever 52 182 17.1 3 48 4 B.E.A.Edmeades b 214 1 S.Turner lbw N.Smith c R.A.White R.N.S.Hobbs b 370. Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Guildford, May 8, 9 (Surrey won by ten wickets) lbw P.I.Pocock 2 85 15 6 27 0 227 c G.G.Arnold b R.D.Jackman 10 146 - - - - 5/0 371. Nottinghamshire v Middlesex, Lord’s, May 15, 16, 17 (Match drawn) b K.V.Jones 74 210 17 4 55 2 J.M.Brearley lbw 218 1 C.T.Radley lbw not out 11 284/5d 19 4 47 3 N.G.Featherstone lbw 243/7 1 H.A.Gomes c and b N.P.D.Ross lbw 372. Nottinghamshire v Hampshire, Trent Bridge, May 25, 27 (Hampshire won by an innings and 101 runs) b M.N.S.Taylor 11 98 22 5 55 1 D.R.Turner lbw 344 1 c P.J.Sainsbury b R.S.Herman2 145 373. Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire, Coventry, June 5, 6, 7 (Warwickshire won by six wickets) b W.A.Bourne 36 307/8d 17 3 30 2 D.L.Murray c R.A.White 231 R.B.Kanhai c M.J.Harris run out 54 178 12 0 61 2 A.I.Kallicharran c S.B.Hassan 255/4 M.J.K.Smith b 374. Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire, Trent Bridge, June 19, 20, 21 (Match drawn) c R.N.Abberley b E.E.Hemmings 9 225 13 3 37 0 202/3d 1 not out 101 225/4d - - - - 187/6 375. Nottinghamshire v Kent, Trent Bridge, June 22, 24, 25 (Nottinghamshire won by six wickets) c D.Nicholls b J.N.Graham 39 227 7 2 24 0 236 did not bat - 262/4 - - - - 251/7d 376. Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire, Worksop, July 13, 15, 16 (Yorkshire won by an innings and 69 runs) lbw D.Schofield 6 94 23 4 74 1 G.Boycott c M.J.Harris 250/7d b G.A.Cope 0 87 377. Nottinghamshire v Lancashire, Trent Bridge, July 27, 29, 30 (Match drawn) not out 60 313/3d 17 4 50 0 312/5d 66