The 1970 English cricket season was marked by controversy when a tour by South Africa was forced to be abandoned in view of mounting opposition to the apartheid policy maintained by that country's then government. 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

Graeme Pollock

Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....

, Eddie Barlow

Eddie Barlow

Edgar John Barlow was a South African cricketer . Barlow played first-class cricket for Transvaal and Eastern Province from 1959-60 to 1967-68 before moving to Western Province for the seasons from 1968-69 to 1980-81...

, Mike Procter

Mike Procter

Michael John Procter is a former South African cricketer. A fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, his chances for a long and productive test career were wrecked by South Africa's banishment from world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s...

 and Barry Richards. These matches were promoted as Tests at the time, but were not recognised as such by the International Cricket Conference

International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...

. Alan Jones

Alan Jones (cricketer)

Alan Jones was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan for almost a quarter of a century. He also played, for a single season each, with Western Australia, Natal and Northern Transvaal.-Career:...

 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.

Honours

• County Championship - Kent
• Gillette Cup - Lancashire
• Sunday League - Lancashire
• Minor Counties Championship - Bedfordshire
  Bedfordshire County Cricket Club
  Bedfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Bedfordshire and competing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy. The Minor Counties play three-day...
  
  
• Second XI Championship - Kent II
• Wisden - Jack Bond
  Jack Bond
  John David "Jack" Bond, born in Kearsley, near Bolton, Lancashire, on 6 May 1932, is a former cricketer who played for Lancashire and, for one season, for Nottinghamshire....
  
  , Clive Lloyd
  Clive Lloyd
  Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
  
  , Brian Luckhurst
  Brian Luckhurst
  Brian William Luckhurst was an English cricketer, who played his entire county career for Kent County Cricket Club. He played for Kent from 1958 to 1976, usually opening the batting, then in 1985, in an emergency, played in one more match against the Australians. He was cricket manager from 1981...
  
  , Glenn Turner
  Glenn Turner
  Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....
  
  , Roy Virgin
  Roy Virgin
  Roy Thomas Virgin, born at Taunton, Somerset, on 26 August 1939, was a cricketer who played for Somerset and Northamptonshire.A right-handed opening batsman, Virgin had a mostly solid but unspectacular career in first-class cricket, except for two individual seasons, one for each of his two...
  
  

Test series

The England series against the Rest of the World is described here

Rest of the World cricket team in England in 1970

A Rest of the World cricket team was assembled to play five-day cricket matches against the full England team in 1970 after the cancellation of the scheduled tour by the South African cricket team. At the time the matches were deemed to be Test matches, but that was later revoked.-The background to...

.

Leading batsmen

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1970 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Garfield Sobers Garfield Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers AO, OCC is a former cricketer who captained West Indies. His first name of Garfield is variously abbreviated as Gary or Garry. He is widely regarded as one of cricket's greatest ever all-rounders, having excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and...	32	1742	183	75.73	7
Tom Graveney Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...	34	1316	114	62.66	2
Glenn Turner Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....	46	2379	154*	61.00	10
Rohan Kanhai Rohan Kanhai Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...	37	1894	187*	57.39	7
Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...	42	2051	260*	55.43	4

> > > > >

1970 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Glenn Turner Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....	46	2379	154*	61.00	10
Roy Virgin Roy Virgin Roy Thomas Virgin, born at Taunton, Somerset, on 26 August 1939, was a cricketer who played for Somerset and Northamptonshire.A right-handed opening batsman, Virgin had a mostly solid but unspectacular career in first-class cricket, except for two individual seasons, one for each of his two...	47	2223	178	47.29	7
Brian Bolus	53	2143	147*	48.70	2
Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...	42	2051	260*	55.43	4
Pasty Harris Pasty Harris Michael John Harris is an English cricketer who played for various first class cricket teams. He played from 1964 until 1982 in a 344-game career which took him to South Africa and New Zealand...	49	1914	120	42.53	3

Leading bowlers

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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 Don Shepherd Don Shepherd was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets, 2,218 at 21.32 each, than any other player who never played Test cricket.Shepherd began his county career in 1950 as a fast-medium bowler, and was a regular in the...	6741	420	2031	106	19.16
Barry Wood	1722	80	601	31	19.38
Norman Gifford Norman Gifford Norman Gifford was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner...	5795	331	2092	105	19.92

> > > > >

1970 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate
Name	Balls	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Don Shepherd Don Shepherd Don Shepherd was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets, 2,218 at 21.32 each, than any other player who never played Test cricket.Shepherd began his county career in 1950 as a fast-medium bowler, and was a regular in the...	6741	420	2031	106	19.16
Norman Gifford Norman Gifford Norman Gifford was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner...	5795	331	2092	105	19.92
Fred Titmus Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus MBE was an English cricketer, whose first-class career spanned five decades. Although he was best known for his off spin , he was an accomplished lower-order batsman who deserved to be called an all-rounder, even opening the batting for England on six occasions...	6640	320	2804	105	26.70
Robin Hobbs Robin Hobbs Robin Nicholas Stuart Hobbs is a former English cricketer, who played in seven Tests for England from 1967 to 1971. He played first-class cricket for both Essex and Glamorgan....	4416	178	2183	102	21.40
Garth McKenzie	4420	187	1860	91	20.43

External sources

• CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries

Annual reviews

• Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
  
   1971
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1971