Sidebottom also had a cricketing career, and first played for Yorkshire in 1973, but did not win his
county cap until 1980. The county's fortunes on the field were adversely affected during his career by in-fighting and by its own regulations, which prevented the fielding of players born from outside of the county; the county only signed its first overseas-born player (
Sachin Tendulkar) as Sidebottom's career was coming to an end. A rare highlight came in 1987 when the county won the
limited-over Benson and Hedges Cup, Sidebottom being at the wicket in the final as the win was secured. Test match cricket seemed to have passed him by when he went to
South Africa as part of the
rebel tour led by
Graham Gooch in 1982, which also earned him a three-year Test ban. ==Coaching career==