Sir Garfield Sobers has sadly passed away. He is probably one, if not THE greatest all-rounder of all time. He was the core of the great West Indies side who were feared and unbeatable.
Cricket nuts like an argument. Who is the best fast bowler ever? The best spinner? The best wicketkeeper? The best slip catcher? They – oh all right, we – can spend hours discussing the candidates. But the best all-rounder?
That does not take any longer than the debate over the best batter; here we have to concede even in the presence of the supremacy of Don Bradman. The best all-rounder is universally agreed to be Garry Sobers. The other contender, W.G. Grace, lived so long ago that we are reduced to guesswork.
His batting was sublime. Bradman, after watching Sobers hit 254 for the Rest of the World against Australia in Melbourne in January 1972, concluded: "I believe his innings was probably the best ever seen in Australia."
Meanwhile, Sobers’ bowling was exceptional in three different modes – initially an orthodox finger-spinner, he would soon add wrist-spin and pace bowling to his arsenal – and he was a brilliant fielder anywhere but especially at short leg to the off-spinner Lance Gibbs.
The numbers hint at his brilliance. 8 032 runs at an average in excess of 57 and 235 wickets at an average of 34 in 93 Test matches are phenomenal figures; if not absolutely decisive.
He was a cavalier in an era when there were so many roundheads on the international circuit. The great West Indies’ sides of his time not only won their fair share of games but they played with a joyous freedom rarely matched by their opponents and this was so often due to the presence of Sobers.
His century in the first innings of the famous tied Test in Brisbane in 1960 set the tone for that epic series. By the time he toured England for a second time in 1963, he was the lynchpin of Frank Worrell’s side. When he returned in 1966 as captain, his own staggering performances ensured not just victory but victory with style and grace.
He made his Test debut aged 17 against England in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1954. He was selected as a spinner to replace the ill Alf Valentine and batted at no. 9 – he never batted there again – and Trevor Bailey was his first victim.
This pair of very contrasting all-rounders became friends and in 1976; Bailey wrote a little biography of Sobers. Older Test Match Special listeners may recall that Bailey wasn't given to hyperbolic assessments of cricketers so it meant something when he said: "He [Sobers] has, quite simply, been the greatest of all time, the most complete all-rounder ever.”
Bailey, as ever, was succinct about the downsides as well. "He is not, and makes no claim to be, a paragon of virtue, which is as well because saints outside the Church are liable to be boring. He has many human frailties. These include a passion for gambling … a certain unreliability … and for a period he drank too heavily. However, these weaknesses fade into insignificance when considered against his extraordinary zest for living, his infectious laugh … and his absolute honesty in everything he says or does."
It was not until his 17th Test match in 1958, again in Jamaica, that he reached three figures. Those figures were 365, which meant he had surpassed Len Hutton’s record score in Test cricket. He hit 38 fours in that innings against Pakistan in Kingston and no sixes; an oddity for a man who would become the first player to hit six sixes in a first-class over at Swansea in 1968.
Sobers followed up his triple century with two more hundreds in the next Test in Guyana. He soon became the most mesmerising cricketer of his era. Like Viv Richards in the generation after him, his arrival at the crease alone was worth the entry money alone and a source of huge anticipation.
With Richards there was the majesty of his swaggering strut to the middle; while Sobers arrived with his collar up in a slow, rolling, stiff-backed amble which belied his natural athleticism. In each case, a treat was probably in store.
He captained West Indies for seven years from 1965, initially with great success, which was so often due to his own superlative performances. As he faded; so did West Indies, until the advent of Clive Lloyd’s side.
He famously declared in 1968 in Trinidad leaving England, led by Colin Cowdrey, 215 to win in 165 minutes. The match was lost by seven wickets and there was something of a furore in the Caribbean but Sobers was unrepentant. "That series was so boring," he said. "The first three Tests had been drawn. England were bowling something like 12 or 13 overs per hour. I was so fed up and this wasn’t what I thought of as cricket.”
The late Garfield Sobers "stood out" even among cricket's greats but remained humble despite his standing in the game, former West Indies bowler, Michael Holding, told AFP on Friday.
The Barbados-born Sobers, who has died at the age of eighty-nine, featured in ninety-three Tests between 1954 and 1974.
Holding never played with Sobers but said he was struck by the way he was revered in the game.
"Among the great cricketers he stood out," the former paceman told AFP by phone from his Cayman Islands home. "Look at his numbers, and they are impressive, but he too was impressive. I know other cricketers whose numbers are good but who I would not be impressed by."
Holding, who was part of a fearsome West Indies pace attack in the 1970s and 1980s, said: "People who played against him said he was number one. Ian Chappell, whom I saw on a regular basis when we worked for Channel 9 in Australia, said 'Mikey, do not worry about the question, Is Garry Sobers the best all-rounder? He was more than that — he was the best cricketer who ever lived'. Those are big words coming from someone who was a former Australian captain and lived in Australia, the country that Don Bradman came from."
Holding, who took 249 wickets in sixty Tests, said he had enjoyed Sobers' company.
"It was always good to be around Sir Garry," he said. "One thing I noticed is he never spoke about himself. There are so many cricketers who do and start with 'In my time'. He did not like to talk about the game a lot unless he was asked a question. He was a very humble man."
Sobers averaged an impressive 57.78 with the bat and 34.03 with the ball in Test cricket. He also captained the West Indies in thirty-nine Tests between 1965 and 1972; winning nine and losing ten.
His career was littered with extraordinary feats. In 1958, he broke Len Hutton's record for the highest individual Test score by making 365* against Pakistan, a mark that stood for thirty-six years. He was also the first player to hit six sixes in an over in a first-class match whilst playing for English county side, Nottinghamshire.
Holding said that while Sobers may have inspired young West Indians to take up the game, they would have been crazy to imagine it was possible to emulate him.
"Nobody could do what he did. If you did try, you would fall flat on your face," he said. "You could look up at him on the pedestal and be proud he is from the Caribbean."
His record would last until another West Indian master, Brian Lara, made 375 against England in 1994; with Sobers on hand to celebrate.
He was honoured as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the 20th century alongside Australia great; Donald Bradman, Englishman, Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne.
The late Bradman paid the ultimate tribute to Sobers: "He is, in my opinion, the greatest cricketer of all time."
West Indies CEO, Chris Dehring, described Sobers as a "towering figure whose influence on our game and our region can never be overstated."
"Sir Garfield was more than the greatest all-round cricketer the world has ever seen," he said in a statement. "He was the embodiment of West Indies cricket at its finest – bold, brilliant, innovative and unapologetically excellent. His extraordinary achievements transformed the way the game was played and inspired generations of cricketers."
Nottinghamshire described their former player as "cricket’s greatest-ever all-rounder" and an iconic figure in the club’s history.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Jay Shah, said the sport had lost “one of its icons”.
"Sir Garfield Sobers was not only the finest all-rounder the game has ever known, but one of the greatest cricketers in history," he said in a statement. "His remarkable ability to influence a match in every facet of the game set him apart from his peers."
England Cricket posted on X: "One of the greatest to ever play the game. Forever in our hearts, Sir Garfield Sobers."
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott described Sobers as “like a panther with a purposeful, loping and confident walk”.
"I just loved the way Garry walked out to bat," he wrote in the Telegraph. “He didn’t say anything. He did not need to. There was no ego. His walk let the opposition know he was there for business.”
A true legend has passed on. Someone like this can never be replicated. I was unfortunate in not being able to see him play. A maestro in batting and bowling is like a diamond in a rough. Not all lumps of coal turns into diamonds.