League Cricket in England
Sobers spent several seasons in English league cricket. Having completed his first tour of England with West Indies in 1957, he followed the advice of his mentor Frank Worrell and became the professional at Radcliffe Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League, staying for five seasons from 1958 to 1962. This experience enabled him to hone his skills in varying conditions and Sobers says that playing in the league furthered his cricket education. He enjoyed considerable success at Radcliffe. In 1961, he achieved a rare "double" by scoring 1008 runs and taking 144 wickets, his performances being instrumental in Radcliffe winning both the league's championship title and its supplementary Wood Cup competition.
While he was engaged at Radcliffe, Sobers underwent emotional trauma after a road accident in September 1959 on the A34 near Stoke-on-Trent which resulted in Collie Smith's death. Sobers was driving a car in which Smith and another West Indian Test player Tom Dewdney were passengers. Smith's back was broken by the collision and he died three days later. Sobers could not recall much about the crash and was fined 10 pounds for driving without due care and attention. He "began drinking more" and there were concerns, expressed by himself and others, that the experience might affect his cricket career. He got over the trauma by deciding that he would be letting his country down if he "disappeared into the mists of an alcoholic haze" and he resolved to play not just for Garfield Sobers but for Collie Smith as well, thus setting himself the task of playing for two men. He recovered well and, after an outstanding home Test series against England in 1959–60, he returned to Radcliffe where he continued as club professional for the next three seasons.
Sobers gives an insight into the life of the club professional in his autobiography. He was paid £500 a season by Radcliffe. That was a reasonable wage but he relied on matchday collections to augment it and a good performance would boost the collection. He sometimes received as much as £50 in a collection and "that represented a massive bonus". Radcliffe placed no restrictions on him and, when they had no game, he could play as a guest professional in other leagues throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. He particularly liked playing in Yorkshire when he could because they would pay him £25 per appearance with a collection on top if he did well.
After touring England with West Indies in 1963, he moved to the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League in 1964 to play for Norton Cricket Club, who duly won the league title. Sobers made 549 runs in 18 innings at 49.90, finishing second in the league averages behind only his amateur brother Gerald, also playing for Norton, who averaged 50.12. Gary Sobers did even better with the ball, his 97 wickets at 8.38 heading the league averages. 1965 saw a repeat performance with Norton again winning the league and, though Sobers only averaged 25.38 with the bat, he again topped the league bowling averages with 76 wickets at 8.03. Norton lost the league title in 1966 while Sobers was touring England with West Indies but regained it in 1967 when he returned. He was fourth in the 1967 league batting averages with 41.83 and third in the bowling with 95 wickets at 9.37 (the two bowlers with better averages took only 22 and 24 wickets).
Read more about this topic: Garfield Sobers
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