However, opportunities in South Africa were limited owing to that country's isolation from world cricket, and so Radford moved to England and signed for Lancashire in 1980 as an overseas player.
[citation needed] Radford was not a particular success at Lancashire, failing to take 50 first-class wickets in any of his five seasons with the club, and he was dismissed at the end of 1984.
[1] He also played in the following Test of the summer against New Zealand, but his aggregate bowling figures over the two matches of 3–219 were far from impressive, and he was dropped from the England team in favour of debutant Gladstone Small.
Concentrating entirely on domestic cricket in 1987, Radford had another fine year, again taking more than 100 first-class wickets and forcing his way back into contention for an England place, gaining selection for the winter tour of New Zealand.
He had an excellent year in one-day cricket in 1991: he took 48 wickets, including 7–19 against Bedfordshire in the NatWest Trophy; as of the end of 2006, both statistics remain records for Worcestershire.