1970 English cricket season

none August 2025 Sports August 2025 March 2015 March 2015 1969 1969 English cricket season 1971 1971 English cricket season The 1970 English cricket season was the 71st in which the County Championship had been an official competition. There was controversy when a tour by South Africa was forced to be abandoned because of mounting opposition to the apartheid policy perpetuated by the South African government. Five Tests were scheduled but the tour was officially cancelled at the request of Home Secretary James Callaghan. Instead, England played a highly successful series of unofficial Tests against a Rest of the World XI which was captained by Gary Sobers and included some of the best South African players such as Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Mike Procter and Barry Richards. These matches were promoted as Tests at the time, but were not recognised as such by the International Cricket Conference. Alan Jones played for England only in this series, and had the unfortunate experience of thinking that he had played in Tests only subsequently to discover that he had not. Kent won the County Championship title. Honours County Championship - Kent Gillette Cup - Lancashire Sunday League - Lancashire Minor Counties Championship - Bedfordshire Second XI Championship - Kent II Wisden - Jack Bond, Clive Lloyd, Brian Luckhurst, Glenn Turner, Roy Virgin Test series Rest of the World cricket team in England in 1970 County Championship 1970 County Championship Gillette Cup 1970 Gillette Cup Sunday League 1970 John Player League Leading batsmen 1970 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s Garfield Sobers 32 1742 183 75.73 7 Tom Graveney 34 1316 114 62.66 2 Glenn Turner 46 2379 154* 61.00 10 Rohan Kanhai 37 1894 187* 57.39 7 Geoffrey Boycott 42 2051 260* 55.43 4 1970 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s Glenn Turner 46 2379 154* 61.00 10 Roy Virgin 47 2223 178 47.29 7 Brian Bolus 53 2143 147* 48.70 2 Geoffrey Boycott 42 2051 260* 55.43 4 Pasty Harris 49 1914 120 42.53 3 Leading bowlers 1970 English cricket season – leading bowlers by average Name Balls Maidens Runs Wickets Average Keith Wheatley 641 31 253 15 16.86 Majid Khan 558 28 207 11 18.81 Don Shepherd 6741 420 2031 106 19.16 Barry Wood 1722 80 601 31 19.38 Norman Gifford 5795 331 2092 105 19.92 1970 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate Name Balls Maidens Runs Wickets Average Don Shepherd 6741 420 2031 106 19.16 Norman Gifford 5795 331 2092 105 19.92 Fred Titmus 6640 320 2804 105 26.70 Robin Hobbs 4416 178 2183 102 21.40 Garth McKenzie 4420 187 1860 91 20.43 References Annual reviews Playfair Cricket Annual 1971 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1971 External links CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries Category:1970 in English cricket Category:1970 controversies Category:English cricket seasons in the 20th century Category:James Callaghan Category:Cricket and apartheid