THE DAY WE WON THE CUP WITH GARY SOBERS
It is 55 years ago since the North Staffs and South Cheshire League won the first-ever Rothmans Cup. CHRIS TRAVERS talks to Stuart Wood, Peter Harvey and Barry Coates about the victory... and having Gary Sobers and Wes Hall as team-mates in the competitio
NESTLED in a drawer in the depths of Stuart Wood’s South Cheshire home is a rare piece of cricket memorabilia. It’s not one which would fetch thousands of pounds at auction, but Wood is one of just 11 men in possession of this solid silver momento.
The piece in question is a winners’ medal from the inaugural Rothmans Cup - a new cricket competition launched in 1965 where the top leagues around the country faced each other in a knockout format.
And it was the North Staffs and South Cheshire League who were the first champions as they defeated the Yorkshire Cricket Council in the final on a sunny afternoon at Great Chell.
Specific memories of that August day 55 years ago are understandably hazy, but what remains crystal clear are the firm friendships which developed during the golden age of local cricket.
It would be hugely remiss to call Wood, Peter Harvey and Barry Coates ‘makeweights’ in the side which defeated Yorkshire. But when two of your team-mates are West Indies legends Garfield Sobers and Wes Hall, the majority of the focus was inevitably on the Caribbean kings. And that’s before we mention the talents of Nasimul-ghani.
The team selection rules were relatively simple. Each league was allowed to pick four professionals and seven ‘up-and-coming’ stars in their line-up.
The NSSCL opted for Sobers, Hall, Pakistan all-rounder Nasim-ulghani and former Surrey player Dennis Cox, who skippered the side.
At the time Sobers was in the middle of his title run with Norton, Hall was frightening batsman for Great Chell, Nasim was weaving his magic at Longton, while Cox was the doyen of cricket at Crewe LMR.
Rather unsurprisingly, it was Hall and Sobers who took centre stage in the final as they shared nine wickets to dismiss Yorkshire for 82 as they attempted to chase down the NSSCL’S 102 all out.
And as each Yorkshire batsman emerged with no shortage of trepidation at facing the new-ball duo, Wood could sympathise.
As an elegant opener for Crewe LMR, he’d experienced first hand what it was like standing 22 yards away from the West Indies pair, armed with a new cherry.
“I became very friendly with Garfield, he was a great fella,” said Wood, now 80 and living on the outskirts of Nantwich.
“He was so clever at how he bowled to you. When he let himself go he was as quick as anything I faced in my career.
“He bowled a lot of his slow stuff in the league, though. He came to play for Norton at Crewe one day and a thunderstorm affected the wicket, which slowed him down a bit.
“I must have got 80 or 90 that day. In the bar afterwards he said: ‘Stuart, we will get you at Norton’. Sure enough he did.
“I only played against Wes a couple of times and he was a bit scary to face.
“He bowled a short one at me at Great Chell and the wicketkeeper, Jonny Bailey, who was stood miles back, pushed it one-handed straight on to the sightscreen.
“There was some debate as to whether it should be six byes!
“But what a line-up we had in the Rothmans Cup final. Nasim was a tremendous player, and then there was Dennis Cox.
“He was a nearly man. He played for the wrong first-class county and was the constant 12th man.
“Dennis was such a talented player and he would have been better off playing for another county, but what a delightful man.
“The opposition never knew what was going to happen. When he was bowling he’d throw the ball in to the sky and I’d say: ‘Dennis, what are you trying to do. Land it on top of the stumps?’.”
Cox’s bowling prowess wasn’t required in the final, but while it was Hall (4-51) and Sobers (5-10) who applied the finishing touches to the victory, it was Stone’s Paul Shardlow who had made the win possible.
He made a crucial 32 early in the afternoon to dig the league out of trouble and give them a score to defend after Yorkshire bowlers Bob Platt and Bill Foord had made inroads.
Sadly, Shardlow passed away just three years after the final. He collapsed and died while training with Stoke City - where he was a goalkeeper - at the age of 25.
“There was some rain overnight and it was a low-scoring game,” recalls Harvey, a team-mate of Shardlow’s at Stone. “It was still wet because I remember when Wes Hall was bowling, Paul was at short leg and scrambled to take a catch, but slipped. It was the days before sawdust.
“Yorkshire had some experienced players in their team. They threatened us at one stage, but it was down to Paul to get us out of the cart.
“The early batsman got a start (openers Wood and Brian Griffiths made 16 and 15 respectively) but the innings then disintegrated. Platt was a seasoned pro at Yorkshire.”
Rain on the Saturday had made batting conditions uncomfortable, but the sunshine had gradually dried the wicket out as the final progressed.
And despite having just 102 on the board, there was still great confidence in the NSSCL dressing room that they could emerge victorious.
“Paul Shardlow was a tremendous player and he held the innings together,” recalls Sneyd all-rounder Coates.
“We must have had about four or five opening batsmen in the team and then a middle order of Dennis Cox, Sobers and Nasim.
“I used to open the batting for Sneyd and John Broad opened for Longton. We found ourselves down at numbers eight and 10.
“Dennis gave us a bit of a beefing in the dressing room, but on that wicket - with Hall and Sobers bowling - we were favourites.”
The testing nature of batting was soon evident when Hall immediately found his rhythm.
Yorkshire had 40 eight-ball overs to knock off the runs, but trouble soon hit the visitors’ task.
Hall’s first over took 15 minutes to bowl - it contained two no-balls - as a couple of Yorkshire batsmen were sent packing to leave them 2-2.
Former NSSCL secretary Lester Meredith recounted in a letter to The Sentinel several years ago: “I’m sure that the non-striking batsman, who had only been a spectator up to this point, breathed a sigh of relief that the over was complete.
“His problems started when Dennis Cox threw the ball to Garfield to open the bowling at the other end.”
However, despite early inroads, Yorkshire’s line-up was packed full of quality, so victory was far