Fiery Fred/Gary Sobers

By Gary Watton
August 22 2014

Fifty years ago, at the conclusion of the 1964 English cricket season, a Yorkshire tour party travelled to North America for a three-week stay. This historic tour was sponsored by a number of organisations and underwritten by the cricket authorities of Bermuda, Canada, and the USA. Managed by R.A. Roberts, the tourists flew out of London on the eighteenth of September, bound for New York. The Tykes had 'only' finished fifth in the County Championship but they were determined to end their season on a high, playing a host of one-day matches, back in the days when limited-overs fixtures were something of a novelty.

The first two fixtures in New York were actually played against West Indian elevens that played their cricket at a reasonable standard. There were outings to Toronto, up in Canada and to British Columbia, followed by a visit down the west coast to Hollywood, and finally the most important fixtures took place in Bermuda, the latter of which attracted a remarkable total of over ten thousand spectators. After Garfield Sobers' brief cameo as a Yorkshire player, the team returned to Blighty on the eighth of October.

The squad consisted of:

Brian Close (the captain)

Jimmy Binks (wicketkeeper)

Geoffrey Boycott

Jack Hampshire (pictured underneath)

Richard Hutton

Raymond Illingworth

Doug Padgett

Melville Ryan

Phil Sharpe

Fred Trueman

Don Wilson

Tony Nicholson had also been selected, but he had to withdraw, due to illness.

As a result, a certain Gary Sobers was drafted into the Yorkshire team in the latter matches of the tour, thereby becoming Yorkshire's first 'unofficial' overseas player!

The results of the tour were as follows:

New York Combined Leagues versus Yorkshire; at Mount Vernon; September 19th.

Yorkshire: 217 for eight declared (Close 76)

New York Combined Leagues: 176 for four (King 56)

Match drawn.

New York Combined Leagues versus Yorkshire; at Randall's Island; September 20th.

Yorkshire: 125 (Larrier 6-41)

New York Combined Leagues: 56 (Trueman 6-21)

Yorkshire won by 69 runs.

British Commonwealth Cricket Club versus Yorkshire; at Washington; September 21st.

Yorkshire: 350 (Illingworth 103, Binks 69, Wilson 62)

British Commonwealth Cricket Club: 46

Yorkshire won by 304 runs.

Toronto Cricket Club versus Yorkshire; at Toronto; September 23rd.

Yorkshire: 251 for six declared (Padgett 77, Boycott 75)

Toronto Cricket Club: 94 for five

Match drawn.

Ontario versus Yorkshire; at Toronto; September 24th.

Yorkshire: 189 for six declared (Hampshire 54, Illingworth 51)

Ontario: 114 for two (Khan 52*)

Match drawn.

Alberta versus Yorkshire; at Calgary; September 25th.

Match drawn. No play was possible due to rain.

British Columbia versus Yorkshire; at Vancouver; September 26th.

Yorkshire: 246 (Hampshire 76)

British Columbia: 88

Yorkshire won by 158 runs.

Southern California versus Yorkshire; at Hollywood; September 27th.

Yorkshire: 251 (Padgett 50)

Southern California: 77 (Illingworth 4-17)

Yorkshire won by 174 runs.

Southern California versus Yorkshire; at Hollywood; September 28th.

Yorkshire: 326 for nine declared (Illingworth 144)

Southern California: 65 (Wilson 6-11)

Yorkshire won by 261 runs.

St George's Cricket Club versus Yorkshire; at Hamilton; October 1st.

St George's Cricket Club: 48

Yorkshire: 322 for eight (Sobers 117, Boycott 108)

Yorkshire won by five wickets.

Somerset Cricket Club versus Yorkshire; at Hamilton; October 3rd.

Yorkshire: 172

Somerset Cricket Club: 141

Yorkshire won by 31 runs.

Bermuda versus Yorkshire; at Hamilton; October 4th

Yorkshire: 255 (Sharpe 114*)

Bermuda: 65

Yorkshire won by 190 runs.

Pick Of The Leagues versus Yorkshire; at Hamilton; October 6th

Pick Of The Leagues: 69

Yorkshire: 167 (Sobers 77)

Yorkshire won.