Sir Garfield Sobers

He was born on 28 July 1936 in Barbados and was one of seven children of a merchant seaman. Sobers was born with two extra fingers, one on each hand and although these were removed, they were an early sign that Garfield was destined to go onto achieve greatness. He was hit by tragedy at a young age when his father died at sea during the 1942 war, but continued to play cricket.

 

After early success with Inter-school championships, he caught the eye of several club captains and honed his skills. At the age of sixteen Sobers was a prodigy in the Police first division team and earned a trial for the West Indies, who were selecting for India’s tour of the country. He made his Test debut the following year against England and impressed with his versatile bowling by taking four wickets. Sobers showed much promise over the next three years with the bat and ball, scoring his first half-century in the 1957 tour of England and 320 runs in the series.

 

Sobers set a Test record the next year with an impressive 365 in one innings against Pakistan which included 34 fours. He completed his first Test century in style with perfect technique in hitting a variety of strokes that were exceptionally timed. He did so in an elegant yet powerful style, and his record stood for 36 years. By this time he had successfully made the step from a promising player to a great one. Two more centuries followed in the series and he produced some fine all-round displays in victories over India and England.

 

By the early sixties he was a key part of his country’s team with the bat, ball and in the field. In 1964 he was named Wisden Cricketer of the year whilst playing in South Australia and enjoyed much success there too - setting unprecedented records including 1000 runs and 50 wickets in one season, a feat which has never been equalled.

 

Sobers took over as the West Indies captain in 1965 and inspired his side to a series win over Australia. This carried onto English soil the following year as he had an excellent record of 722 runs, twenty wickets and ten catches in another superb all-round display. As captain, Sobers was always enterprising and wanted to entertain with attacking tactics. This was shown in the 1968 series against England when his bold declaration allowed the opposition to win the decisive match. He did make amends in the next with 152 and 95 not out as well as six wickets but it ended in a draw.

Sobers moved to Nottinghamshire at the age of 32 and against Glamorgan he became the first batsman to hit six sixes off one over of six consecutive balls in first class cricket. The ball was mounted and put on display in the Trent Bridge museum. As captain of the county side he once again led by example and continued his success at international level. In the 1968-69 series against Australia he took his best bowling figures with six wickets for 73 runs in Brisbane, which formed a third of his total wickets in the series, as well as scoring two centuries.

 

During this time, Sobers also married Australian Prudence Kirby and was amongst the first personalities to try to integrate apartheid countries through sport when he coached black youths in Zimbabwe whilst playing out there. Two years later and Sobers was still going strong with the bat as he scored a superb 254 for a Rest of the World team against Australia to receive praise from Don Bradman.

 

In 1973, Sobers played his first One Day International match only to be omitted from his country’s Test team because the selectors were concerned over his fitness. Sobers just wanted to play and returned for the July series in England which he marked in fine style scoring two half-centuries, 150 not out and six wickets in the 2-0 series win. He played his last Test match against England in Trinidad the following year before retiring from cricket at the age of 38 when his knee cartilage gave out and brought an end to his remarkable career.

In 1975, Sobers was awarded a knighthood for his services to cricket. The Queen even overturned tradition by knighting him at Garrison Savannah in Barbados instead of Buckingham Palace. He and his wife divorced a decade later and Sobers returned to his homeland. In 1988 he was declared a National Hero by Barbados and over the years has inspired a number of people to play the game which he loved.

 

Sobers is the perfect role model to all at home and worldwide. He is still remembered fondly in England and opened the Trent Bridge cricket centre in 1998. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham and the ironically named ‘Sobers Bar’ at Notts cricket ground is named in his honour. Today, Sobers love of sport and his country remains. He now plays golf and has represented his native Barbados at that too, whilst working for the Tourism Authority.

 

Garfield Sobers was a true all-rounder and the complete cricketer. He played with great style and had the ability to change a game in an instant with the bat, ball or a catch. He was the player that crowds wanted to see and one who the opposition feared the most. He was liked by everyone from all corners of the cricket world and just loved playing the game, which shows in his career totals. He set a record of an amazing 8032 runs and 235 wickets in Test matches. In further tribute to him, Sobers was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century in 2000 after receiving an astounding 90 votes out of 100. It further cemented his place as one of the finest players ever to grace the sport and it is unlikely anyone will ever possess the variety of cricketing skills that he had.