‘…AND THAT’S A HALF CENTURY FOR RICE!’
Notts Legend Remembered
Wednesday 30 April 1975 was not a particularly bright day – but it does mark the beginning of a very bright era for Nottinghamshire cricket. For on that day, an all-rounder from South Africa with a bit of Lancashire League experience made his Notts debut…
Fifty years on, the memory of Clive Rice, his prodigious talents and his ability to muster not one but two Championship winning sides resonates with players and members at Trent Bridge.
Initially recruited as the all-rounder to take the place of Garry Sobers, who had retired at the end of the previous season, Rice was to lead Nottinghamshire to a period of success not seen since the team of a hundred years earlier had dominated 1880s cricket.
Due to the isolation of his home nation, Clive Rice had few international credentials but his time at Ramsbottom in league cricket had done enough to persuade several counties that he could be a useful signing.
Author Tim Crow, working on the first full biography of Clive Rice, believes that the scale of the challenge at Notts was what drew Rice to sign on at Trent Bridge: “He was approached by more than few other counties”, Tim revealed, “but I think the challenge of taking over the all-rounder spot at Notts from the great Gary Sobers was what clinched his arrival in Nottingham”.
Rice gave early indications that he could live up to that challenge. In his debut match, against Glamorgan at Trent Bridge, he took a wicket with just his third ball or Notts – cleaning bowling opener Alan Jones for a duck on his way to figures of 4-29 in his first bowl for his new county.
He followed that up in the Sunday League fixture against the same opponents (that was the way of scheduling fifty years ago), taking an even better 4-23 (bowling Jones again, this time for 7) and making – fittingly on this fiftieth anniversary – his first half-century for the home side.
With Notts on 6-2, Rice joined Basharat Hassan to make an unbroken century stand and take Notts to an eight-wicket win.
From those early signs of his prowess, Clive Rice proved his worth and in 1978 was appointed Nottinghamshire’s captain.
He led Notts to their first County Championship for more than fifty years when they clinched the title in 1981. Rice was to excel even that a few years later when in 1987 Notts did ‘The Double’ of winning the Championship and the NatWest one-day trophy.
Clive Rice died aged just 66 of a brain tumour in July 2015 so this year is not just the 50th Anniversary of his Nottinghamshire debut but also the tenth anniversary of his passing.
Many fans have remarked that it seems too soon for that fiftieth celebration so just to put it in context – as Notts said ‘hello’ to Clive Rice, the Bay City Rollers were at the top of the UK pop charts with ‘Bye Bye Baby’; or, if you believe another chart, Mud with ‘Oh Boy!’
The big news story of the day was the Fall of Saigon that heralded the end of the Vietnam War
During this anniversary season, we will return to the feats and facts about a player that many Notts fans believe to be the most important player of the modern era at Trent Bridge.
April 2025
Clive Rice's career stats can be seen here