Sir Garry Sobers, who toured England with West Indies in 1963 and 1966, also spent three English summers turning out for a local club side because overseas players faced restrictions on joining county teams at the time. In 1964, 1965 and 1967 he represented Norton Cricket Club in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire league, a period one former club player remembers vividly.
The writer, who was then playing in the club's junior and second teams, described Sobers as a transformative presence both at Norton and across the wider league.
What a player! His whole personality and cricket skills lit up not only the club but also the whole league.
Sobers was not the only family member or star name to grace the local circuit during those years. His brother Gerry kept wicket for Norton, while the West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall appeared for a rival side, Great Chell.
What was it like to watch him play?
According to the correspondent, Sobers' hitting left a lasting mark on the ground itself.
As a result some people would not park there.
The writer recalled one six from Sobers landing in the car park, an event striking enough that some spectators stopped parking there afterwards. Despite his stature, the correspondent noted that Sobers remained easygoing.
He was as approachable as he was gifted.
How did his 1966 Test form compare?
Sobers' club performances came either side of an outstanding 1966 tour of England, during which he scored 722 runs at an average of 103.14 and took 20 wickets at 27.45 across the five-Test series, according to a national newspaper's obituary. West Indies won that series 3-1, with Sobers' innings at Headingley helping the side to victory by an innings and 55 runs with a day to spare, as reported by an ESPN Cricinfo feature.
Sobers captained that touring party, with Conrad Hunte serving as vice-captain and Jeffrey Stollmeyer as manager, according to background compiled on Wikipedia's record of the 1966 tour. Twelve of the seventeen players in the squad had already toured England in 1963, when West Indies also won 3-1, a result that had helped build the team's popularity ahead of their 1966 return, per a cricket history archive.
How does this fit into wider cricket obituary coverage?
The reminiscence adds to a run of recent obituaries and letters marking the deaths of notable cricket figures, including former England captain MJK Smith, who died at 92, and coach and Merlyn bowling machine inventor Henry Pryor, also 92 at his death.
