The cricketing fraternity has lost a gem in Sir Garry Sobers as the legendary West Indies all-rounder breathed his last on July 17, Friday, dying at the age of 89. Having been born on July 28, 1936 at Chelsea Road, Bay Land, St Michael, Barbados, Sobers died at his home in Barbados, 11 days short of his 90th birthday, with Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club expressing their condolences.
Who is Sir Garry Sobers?
While most cricket fans remember the likes of Jacques Kallis, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Sir Richard Hadlee as amongst the best all-rounders to have played the game, Sobers is said to have began the trend of an all-rounder, filling in all three roles in equal capacity. His only ODI came against England in September 1973 but featured in 93 Tests from 1954 to 1974. The Barbadian had excelled as a Test batter, accumulating 8302 runs at an average of 57.78 with 26 hundreds alongside taking 235 wickets at 34.02 apiece. At the age of 23, he scored his maiden Test hundred and converted it to a world-record total of 365, surpassing Len Hutton’s tally of 364. The record stood until 1994 when fellow West Indian Brian Lara made 374, an achievement Sobers witnessed and celebrated.
Sobers could also bowl left-arm pace as well as orthodox and wrist spin and was an exceptional close-in fielder. The ICC Annual award – the Sir Garfield Sobers Award – is an honour named after the legendary cricketer and is presented to the men’s cricketer for his outstanding performance across formats in international cricket. Sobers had also captained the West Indies in 39 Tests, winning 9 of them and laid the foundation for one of the strongest red-ball sides.
Taking a look at Garry Sobers’ first-class career
It was at the age of 16 that Sobers made his maiden first-class appearance in the 1952-53 season and featured in 383 of them across West Indies, Barbados, Nottinghamshire and South Australia, scoring 28314 runs, averaging 54.87 and taking 1043 scalps. Sobers was also the first batter to hit six sixes in an over in any form of the game, doing so in a first-class fixture for Nottinghamshire.
The years 1975 and 2000 saw him getting knighted for his services to the sport. Additionally, Sobers was named as one of Five Cricketers of the Century by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack alongside Sir Don Bradman, Shane Warne, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Vivian Richards.
