Yorkshire seam bowler Arnie Sidebottom is probably the only Manchester
United soccer player to also get an England Test cap, although Phillip
Neville was easily the most talented batsman of his generation until he
abandoned cricket in his early teens. Arnie's early years were dominated
by his soccer career - he also played for Huddersfield Town and Halifax
- and he played cricket for Yorkshire for just a small part of the
season in the 1970s. In the 1980s he had more time for the game and
established himself as an accurate fast-medium opening bowler with a
rather unwieldy run-up.
His figures were good enough to get him a cap
against Australia in England's Ashes-winning summer of 1985 when the
selectors turned to experience to fill a gap created by injury to more
obvious England candidates like Graham Dilley and Neil Foster, or his
Yorkshire teammates Graham Stevenson and Paul Jarvis. Sidebottom found
himself sharing the new ball with Ian Botham and Paul Allott at Trent
Bridge, and he dismissed night-watchman Bob Holland lbw early on the
third day.
However, an injury to his toe put him out of the attack in
the middle of his 19th over, and with Allott down with a stomach upset
Australia powered on to 539 and a first innings lead. In 1982 he was a
member of the unofficial England team that went to South Africa under
Graham Gooch. Sidebottom did not appear in the 'Tests' but played in the
three-match series of unofficial One Day Internationals, taking three
of the five South African wickets that fell in the third in
Johannesburg. The opponents included Barry Richards, Jimmy Cook, Clive
Rice, Graeme Pollock and Peter Kirsten. (Bob Harragan)
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Football career.
1972–1975 Manchester United 16 (0)
1975–1978 Huddersfield Town 61 (5)
1978–1979 Halifax Town 21 (2)
Total 98 games (7 goals)