CASSIUS CLAY. AT THE TIME, SOBERS
from a certainty. Plenty of their players had worn the White Rose during their playing careers and knew what it took to knock off challenging scores.
“Bob Platt could swing it like a boomerang and had a bit of pace,” explained Coates, who was out for a duck, but pocketed a couple of catches.
“And then Brian Stott came in for them and he looked like he was batting on a different wicket to the rest of us.”
Stott made 18 before being dismissed and Yorkshire were soon in a whole heap of trouble on 49-7 when Hall and Sobers were given a well-earned rest.
Harvey and Nasim-ul-ghani replaced them - providing a surreal moment for the Stone seamer.
“One of the most bizarre things about the final was the Tannoy system,” said Harvey.
“The announcement came on ‘replacing Gary Sobers at the scorebox end is Peter Harvey’. I had to pinch myself when I heard that.
“It wasn’t a very good cricket match, but for anyone coming up against us it must have been quite daunting with Wes and Gary in the side. Nasim was also brilliant and Dennis, the captain, was just a magician.
“He was a very good skipper. At Crewe he could bowl either seam or leg breaks and he was very astute.
“Dennis was a character and a member of the Magic Circle, if I remember correctly. When he later became president of Surrey, he invited all of the Crewe lads down to the Oval for the day.”
Harvey went wicketless in the final, and Yorkshire wicketkeeper D Lloyd made a fighting 28 to lead his side up to 81-8.
Cox, though, turned back to Sobers to help to wrap up proceedings.
Sobers dismissed Lloyd with his first delivery back, with claims that the roar which greeted the wicket could be heard in Bignall End.
Platt was then bowled in the same over to secure a 20-run victory for the NSSCL in front of a crowd rumoured to be 4,500-strong.
“The atmosphere was incredible,” said Coates. “It was a showpiece for spectators and the chance to see world-class players perform.
“It made cricket special at the time. We had these top players in the side, but all clubs had a quality pro in those days.
“And although we were ‘make ups’ the amateurs were very talented as well.”
Wood admits that the venue made it for a fantastic occasion.
“Great Chell was a famous old ground,” he reminisced. “It was quite a day out playing there. There would always be a dance on at night after the game.
“I was a guest at the league dinner last year and a chap came up to me and said: ‘I remember you, I used to sit in the stand at Chell and had to keep going to fetch the ball you kept hitting out of the ground’. “At least I kept him active!” That success against Yorkshire was the final chapter in a memorable first outing for the Rothmans Cup - and the local league players.
The NSSCL had beaten Northumberland at Great Chell in an earlier round, before travelling up to Farnworth to defeat Bolton in the semi-finals.
Northumberland had Rohan Kanhai opening the batting - he was pro at Ashington at the time - while Bolton’s side was chocked full of Lancashire and Cheshire stars.
“I remember Dennis Cox asking Sobers what Kanhai’s weakness was. Sobers replied: ‘When he gets in, he doesn’t have one’,” said Coates.
“I was fielding close on the leg side and the first ball of the match he’s got down on one knee and hit a Wes Hall delivery past me. It’s crashed in to the wall at Chell and travelled back to within five yards of me.
“And Bolton were a good side as well. Dennis told Wes not to drop one short to their opening batsman because he’d hook him. Wes insisted no-one hooked him.
“Sure enough he’s dropped one short to Arthur Sutton first up and it disappeared out of the ground. Wes didn’t bowl short after that.”
Sobers smashed a six to win the game for the NSSCL up at Farnworth to set up their clash against Yorkshire.
And for Wood, Harvey and Coates, it was a huge accolade to be named in the side for the league’s run through the competition.
For Wood, especially, it was a memorable time with the Rothmans Cup success coming a few weeks after he made his minor counties debut for Cheshire.
“I was playing for Crewe LMR at the time and just getting started,” he explained.
“I wasn’t a slogger, but liked to play my shots and got a few runs along the way.
“Before Crewe I’d been at Porthill Park and then went on to get the professional’s job at Stone. They were great times, but 1969 was probably my best year when I scored 800 runs for Cheshire.
“But Potteries people are great fun and it was an honour to be in the Rothmans Cup side. It was a great time to play cricket and I’ve still got my solid silver medal... somewhere.”
Harvey, meanwhile, was also making a name for himself on the local cricket scene.
“I was having a good season that year,” he said. “I’d come in to the Staffordshire side the year before, but 1965 was probably my best season.
“It was great to be selected and play in front of those big crowds, especially the final.
“But a lot of the lads were upset when Gary Sobers quickly put the free Rothmans cigarettes in his kit bag...”
Coates was also a familiar face on the minor counties scene with Staffs.
He says that lining up in the same side as Sobers, Hall, Nasim-ulghani and the like will stay with him forever.
“It was a privilege to play with them,” he said. “I was 22 at the time and there I am in the same changing room as Sobers and Hall.
“I was in awe of them a little bit, but I was quite confident in my own ability. I knew I was there for a reason.
“These were international cricketers, although the rest were good players as well.
“With Sobers, it was like being in the same ring as Cassius Clay. Sobers was the biggest name in world sport at the time.
“I would have loved to have watched that final, let alone play in it. It was a great occasion.”
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