5 famous cricketers who also played professional football

It takes some special talent to represent one’s country in cricket, but to play football and cricket at the highest level requires an extraordinary effort. Only a select few have managed to play both sports at the professional level simultaneously.Here, we have a look at 5 famous cricketers who also played professional football:

#5 Sir Vivian Richards

While not much is known about Sir Viv’s footballing career as he gave up the sport early on after establishing himself as an international cricketer, it is a fact that he the only sportsman in history to represent his country in both World Cup cricket and World Cup football (albeit, just the qualifying stage).

While the now 62-year-old was part of a World Cup winning side in cricket on two occasions (1975 and 1979), he also represented Antigua and Barbuda in the qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup in football. Antigua finished bottom of their group with a goal difference of -19 after losing 1-11 to Trinidad and Tobago, and 0-6 to Suriname.

Richards’ football career might have fallen flat, but there are a few in history who can even come close to him when it comes to cricket. With Test and ODI averages of 50.23 and 47 respectively, he revolutionized the art of batting with the aggression he brought out to the middle.

#4 Sir Ian Botham

Sir Ian Botham is often considered as the greatest English cricketer of all time. He was an icon for a generation of English cricket fans in the 1980s when he, with his fearless brand of cricket, led the England team to many famous triumphs, not least at Headingley in 1981.

While his cricketing career is a tale for the ages, he also briefly played professional football. In March 1980, he signed for lower league side Scunthorpe United and made a total of 11 appearances for the Irons.

He played as a centre-back and many say he could have gone on to play for bigger clubs, but in the end had to choose between cricket and football, and Beefy decided to stick with the former. He tried to revive his football career after a few year at Yeovil Town, but was unsuccessful.

#3 CB Fry

It’s safe to say that Charles Burgess Fry was the most versatile sportsman the world has ever seen. He did not just excel at cricket and football, as he participated with distinction in athletics and rugby union as well. Fry’s biggest claim to fame, after being a cricketer, is the fact that he once held the world record for long jump.

Fry did stop there. After retirement, he became active in the political scene after his friend Ranjitsinhji took him on to be his assistant at the newly-formed League of Nations, post World War I. He later joined the Liberal Party back in the United Kingdom, but lost all the three major elections he stood in. There is also the legend that he was offered the throne of Albania, which he turned down on a number of occasions.

A dual international, Fry played in 26 Tests in cricket and just the 1 international in football. His finest moment in the beautiful game came when he took part in the 1902 FA Cup final with Southampton, having played in every game en route to the final. The Saints eventually lost the final to Sheffield United in a replay at Crystal Palace in London.

#2 Ellyse Perry

In the olden days, it was not such a rare sight to see international cricketers turn out for their country in football. However, in recent times, it is next impossible to manage a dual international sporting career with the hectic schedule involved.

Therefore, seeing a modern-say sportsperson like Ellyse Perry do it is extraordinary to say the least. Since debuting in both international cricket and football at the age of 16, she has managed to balance both her careers almost perfectly.

Perry has played 4 Tests for her country and currently turns out for Syndey FC in the W-League, the top professional football league for women in Australia. She has expressed no desire to stop playing either sport in the near future.

The 23-year-old has already won the ICC Women’s World Cup and the World T20 (twice). She also participated in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011, where she scored this spectacular goal against Sweden.

#1 Denis Compton

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Denis Compton is one of the greatest English cricketers ever. He is one of the few English batsmen to have an average of over 50 in Test cricket. An ICC hall of fame inductee, the former Middlesex captain is only one of 25 batsmen to have scored over a hundred centuries in first-class cricket.

While starring for his country in international cricket, Compton also had a reasonably successful footballing career at Arsenal, who are considered to be one of the biggest clubs in England. Playing as a winger, he won the FA Cup in 1950, to go with a league title in 1948 with the North London side. He never played an official international football match, which is put down to World War II, a period during which no official matches were played.

In a cricket match in 1946, Compton showed his footballing skills when he ran Vijay Merchant out by kicking the ball on to the stumps from mid-on.