Ronaldo, caught De Bruyne, bowled Haaland. As peculiar as that may sound, the prospect of Sunday’s 188th Manchester derby being settled on a cricket pitch was not so outlandish for two of the greatest teams United and City have ever produced.
It was July 21, 1968 when the reigning champions of Europe and England swapped their famous red and blue jerseys for cricket whites just three weeks before the start of the new season.
United had lifted the European Cup at Wembley under Matt Busby two months earlier. City, managed by Joe Mercer, had pipped their neighbours to the First Division title by two points on the final day.
George Best (L) opened the batting for Man United alongside trainer Jack Crompton
Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton only managed to score four runs before he was out
Yet here they were, lining up at the other Old Trafford in front of 15,000 fans who were considerably more boisterous than the famous old cricket ground was used to.
The spectre of hooliganism was looming large at the end of the 1960s, and what was meant to be a friendly encounter ended with police arresting fans who invaded the pitch hurling bottles.
They had paid four shillings each to get in, raising more than £2,000 for the testimonial fund of Ken Higgs, the former Lancashire and England cricketer. This was in the days when Manchester’s vibrant social scene brought together players of different sports as well as clubs.
The United team would join City at their favourite hangout, the Sandpiper in Fallowfield, and welcome them to the Sands nightclub in Stretford. No one was closer to Mike Summerbee than George Best, who was his best friend and best man. It didn’t stop the United icon from bowling out Summerbee for six that day. ‘Mike may have been generous there,’ Paddy Crerand, who was playing for United that day, tells Sportsmail this week. ‘Those two were as thick as thieves. You wouldn’t believe it coming from different sides of Manchester.’
Best was the star name in the match, but the former United forward wasn’t a huge cricket fan
Best was the star attraction, of course, as he opened the batting alongside Jack Crompton, United’s trainer and former goalkeeper who was one of only two players to reach double figures in reply to City’s total of 168 from 16 overs.
‘George was there just to get the crowd in, he was never a real cricket man,’ recalls Summerbee.
‘It was very much a social situation. When the players were off the football field there were some great relationships. We socialised before the game, never mind after — or in the middle of the pitch.’
Indeed, there is a lovely picture of the two men joking about the fact Summerbee turned out in a pair of black socks.
Best wasn’t quite the novice some may think. Former City and United winger Peter Barnes has fond memories of playing cricket with him in the street in Aycliffe Avenue, Chorlton, where the Northern Irishman lived in digs with his landlady Mrs Fullaway. As amazing as that seems in comparison to today’s football stars, Barnes and his friends would knock on the door of the terrace house on their way home from school at the age of 10 or 11.
‘Yes, if his yellow Lotus was parked outside,’ he says. ‘Usually it was football but sometimes we’d get the cricket bat out. George had a natural eye for the ball. He’d smash it over the neighbours’ fence and go inside laughing.’
Best made nine before he was caught by Francis Lee off the bowling of Neil Young as United were all out for 79 after 28 overs, falling some way short of their target. Lee was an accomplished cricketer who had played in the Lancashire League. He top-scored with 36 before he was caught by Wilf McGuinness off the bowling of Bobby Charlton.
The scorecard shows how many icons from both clubs were involved in the one-off game
City physio Peter Blakey wasn’t far behind, not out on 32, and Nobby Stiles bowled Colin Bell for 15. Summerbee, Derek Jeffries and Alan Oakes were all handy players. United were lacking in comparison. They had David Sadler and David Herd, who played club cricket for Timperley in the summer, but a greater number of Irish and Scotsmen was definitely not an advantage.
Glasgow, Crerand’s home town, was the kind of place where you might have needed a cricket bat but not a ball. Still, the Scotland midfielder managed to score five.
‘Did I? Bloody hell!’ says Crerand. ‘I was useless. It was probably the first time I’d ever held a bat. We never played cricket in Glasgow, even at school. Cricket was an English game. It’s a miracle in itself that we scored 79.
‘There was great camaraderie between the two clubs, and I’m not sure it’s like that today. You’d get a hell of a crowd if they played cricket now, though. The size of Haaland, you’d be getting out of the road if he came in to bowl!’
Neither club had time to prepare for the game. ‘Straight in, no training, that was how it was,’ laughs United goalkeeper Alex Stepney, who describes himself as ‘a Surrey lad and a bit of a spin bowler’.
‘It was a day out and a change from jogging around a training ground,’ adds City defender Tony Book, who turned out as a batsman for Sale in the summer.
Sunday’s Manchester derby will be on the football pitch and will see two in-form sides in action
Sometimes, the Lancashire cricketers joined City at training. Tommy Booth remembers them suffering through fitness sessions in Wythenshawe Park on a Monday morning that were so punishing even the footballers stopped going out on a Sunday night.
Booth was one of the late additions to the official line-up along with Jeffries, Blakey and Joe Corrigan. ‘It was only the first or second time I’d held a bat, and I had a bowl as well,’ he says. ‘I thought I was quick, but the batsmen had to come down the wicket to hit it. When Mike Summerbee first came on to bowl, he actually threw it. He said, “That’s the way I bowl”. The cheating sod! It was all very amicable.’
Less so in the stands where the atmosphere turned nastier as the afternoon wore on. City fans still blame United supporters for invading the pitch, claiming they had to shelter under the benches in the Warwick Road End as a barrage of bottles rained down. Police arrested a number of fans and five were charged for carrying offensive weapons, assaulting policemen and breaches of the peace.
And so ended any thoughts of United playing City at cricket again — although Lancashire did make a handful of appearances under the floodlights at Old Trafford football ground in the early 80s in the ill-fated Lambert & Butler Cup, until everyone realised two short boundaries wouldn’t work.
‘That was how it was,’ says Stepney. ‘So many things went on in the 60s and 70s, and crowd trouble started escalating around then. I’m glad it’s got much better.’
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