Steve Ogrizovic is a true all-rounder.

He may have made his living as Coventry City’s keeper, but he is just as at home on the cricket field or potting the black on a snooker table.

Big Oggy has been at Highfield Road 14 seasons, but when the whistle sounds for the end of the season he pulls on his whites and heads down to Coventry and North Warwickshire on the Binley Road.

Steve has continued to play cricket throughout his professional soccer career, and could, if the football had not worked out, have made a living from the summer game.

Like most sportsmen, his learning ground was the family back garden.

"I started to watch the sport on television and got into it that way. My brother Alan and I used to go out and play in the garden and were really self-taught. We used to play against ourselves and because the garden wasn’t very big we couldn’t whack the ball all over the place so we worked on technique. As there were only two of us we used to have to bat and bowl.

"There was a thriving cricket scene in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire because of all the colliery sides. I played for New Hucknall Colliery Cricket Club from 14 to 19 and then moved to Teversall just because it was a better standard."

Steve, a pace bowler, opted for football to earn his living but when Liverpool snapped him up from Chesterfield, he continued to turn his arm for Southport. When he moved south to Shrewsbury, he joined the town’s cricket club and went on to play for the county and the Minor Counties – once bowling the legendary Viv Richards.

"Shrewsbury is a lovely place and I enjoyed the cricket immensely. I was lucky enough to be a part of the side that knocked Yorkshire out of the NatWest Trophy and also played against Somerset for the Minor Counties.

"I did bowl Viv Richards but was no-balled. He was courteous enough to admit that he hadn’t heard the call and not changed his shot. That was nice of him.

"Mind you, I think it upset him a bit and from then on he blazed away all over the ground!"

When Bobby Gould brought Steve to Highfield Road, he went to watch a game at Coventry and North Warwickshire and was quickly snapped up.

"I sat down opposite the pavilion but some of the lads must have recognised me, knew that I played cricket and came straight over to ask if I wanted to play for them.

"I really enjoy the cricket. I love all team sports and really cricket has given me the opportunity to make a lot of friends outside football. I have been lucky that I have stayed at the same club for so long but the involvement in cricket has certainly given me a wider perspective on life.

"Footballers live a nomadic existence and it is always hard to put down roots. Cricket has helped me do that.

"I will carry on for as long as I can but it has to be competitive. I don’t like joke cricket and it has to be for a purpose. There have been a few useful cricketers down the years at City. Keith Waugh was a good batsman as was Stewart Robson. Jonathan Gould used to play local cricket and was a useful bowler."

Thursday night is snooker night for Ogrizovic, again representing Coventry and North Warwickshire.

He won the Shrewsbury Individual Handicap while playing for the town’s football team and has recorded a highest break of 69 – no mean achievement.