Garfield Sobers
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, AO, OCC (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, he is widely considered to be cricket's greatest ever all-rounder[1] and one of the greatest cricketers of all time.[2]
Personal information
28 July 1936
Bridgetown, Barbados
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Left-handed
- West Indies (1954–1974)
30 March 1954 v England
5 April 1974 v England
5 September 1973 v England
Born in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sobers made his first-class debut for the Barbados cricket team at the age of 16 in 1953, and his Test debut for the West Indies the following year. Originally playing mainly as a bowler, he was soon promoted up the batting order. Against Pakistan in 1958, Sobers scored his maiden Test century, progressing to 365 not out and establishing a new record for the highest individual score in an innings. His record was not broken until Brian Lara scored 375 in 1994. Sobers was made captain of the West Indies in 1965, a role which he would hold until 1972. He would also captain a Rest of the World XI during their 1970 tour of England.
Overall, Sobers played 93 Tests for the West Indies, scoring 8032 runs at an average of 57.78, and taking 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He has the fifth-highest batting average in Test cricket in the list of cricketers with more than 5,000 runs.[3] In his 383 first-class matches, he scored over 28,000 runs and took over 1000 wickets, having spent time with South Australia and Nottinghamshire towards the end of his career. Sobers was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 for his services to cricket.[4] He became a dual Barbadian-Australian citizen through marriage in 1980.[5][6] By an act of Parliament in 1998, Sobers was named as one of the eleven National Heroes of Barbados.[7][8] In 2009, Sobers was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[9]
1936–1954: early years[edit]
Garfield St Aubrun Sobers was born on 28 July 1936 to Shamont and Thelma Sobers of Walcott Avenue, Bay Land, St Michael, Bridgetown, Barbados,[10][11][12] and was the fifth of six children.[10][13] At birth he had two extra fingers, one on each hand."[14][15] Sobers was only five when his father died at sea in January 1942, after his ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat.[10]
From an early age, Sobers demonstrated the ability and enthusiasm to play with great skill almost any sport involving a ball, particularly cricket, football and basketball.[13] He and his similarly talented brother Gerald helped their Bay Street Boys' School team to win the primary school Inter-School Cricket championship for three consecutive years.[13] When he was 13, he was recruited to play for two local cricket teams; the Kent St Philip club in the Barbados Cricket League (BCL), and the Wanderers club, located at Bay Land, in the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA). Garnet Ashby, captain of Kent St Philip, told him that this was his opportunity to play cricket with "the big boys".[13]
Sobers gained useful experience by bowling to Wanderers batsmen, including West Indies Test player Denis Atkinson, at practice in the nets and soon developed his great skill as a left arm spin bowler.[13] More importantly for his career, he was observed by Inspector Wilfred Farmer, captain of the Police team in the BCL First Division. Farmer offered Sobers a chance to play for the Police team in the 1951–52 season, while he was still only 15.[13] In the 1952–53 season, Sobers was invited to the Barbados trials for the colony's tour match against the Indian touring team at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. He was initially selected as 12th man but then made the team itself when Frank King was forced to withdraw with an injury.[13] He therefore made his first-class debut on 31 January 1953, aged only 16. Batting at number nine, he scored 7 not out in his only innings but made an immediate impression as a bowler, taking 4/50 and 3/92.[16]
A full year passed before Sobers, now 17, made his second first-class appearance,[17] again playing against a touring team. He batted at number five against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), scoring 46 and 27; and took two wickets in the match. He had shown enough talent in these two matches to be selected for West Indies and his third first-class appearance was his Test debut.
International cricket career[edit]
1954–1957: early Test career[edit]
Sobers had progressed quickly and made his Test debut in March 1954, aged 17, against England at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, for the fifth and final Test, after Alf Valentine had fallen ill.[18][19] Sobers was selected as a bowler, despite only mediocre performances against England for Barbados. He made a good impression by taking 4/75 in England's first innings, including a wicket in his opening over. Sobers also scored 14 not out and 26 batting at number nine; however, England won the match by nine wickets.[20]
Australia toured the West Indies in 1954–55, and their all-rounder Keith Miller thought that Sobers would become a better batsman than bowler despite batting in the lower-order. Sobers was not selected for the First Test, which the West Indies lost by nine wickets. However, he regained his place for the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The match was a high-scoring draw, with Sobers scoring 47 and eight not out. He was barely used with the ball, bowling three overs for ten runs, as Australia amassed a first-innings total of over 600.[21][22] Sobers was given a further opportunity in the next Test in Georgetown, Guyana (British Guiana at the time) in South America. Despite scoring only 12 and 11 with the bat, he took three wickets in the Australians' first innings. Nevertheless, Australia won by eight wickets.[21][23] West Indian captain and opening batsman Jeff Stollmeyer twisted his ankle after treading on a ball ahead of the Fourth Test in Barbados, "triggering huge debate about who should open."[24] Eventually, Sobers was chosen to open the innings after Australia had amassed another total of over 600. Sobers had a suspicion he might be asked to do the job. "I couldn't see them sending in anyone else — I was a bowler with a little ability as a batsman and they wanted someone to help see off the shine and protect the three W's."[25] Sobers struck his first three deliveries for boundaries, all from the bowling of Miller. In the fast bowler's second over, Sobers hit him for another three fours. He was eventually dismissed for 43 out of a first-wicket partnership of 52 with JK Holt.[26] The match was drawn, and Sobers took one wicket in the Australians' only innings, before scoring 11 in the West Indies second innings.[21][27] The home team were again defeated in the fifth and final Test in Jamaica. Sobers performed with the bat, however, scoring 35 not out and 64.[21]
League cricket in England[edit]
Sobers spent several seasons in English league cricket. Having completed his first tour of England with West Indies in 1957, he followed the advice of his mentor Frank Worrell and became the professional at Radcliffe Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League, staying for five seasons from 1958 to 1962.[55] This experience enabled him to hone his skills in varying conditions and Sobers says that playing in the league furthered his cricket education.[56] He enjoyed considerable success at Radcliffe. In 1961, he achieved a rare "double" by scoring 1008 runs and taking 144 wickets, his performances being instrumental in Radcliffe winning both the league's championship title and its supplementary Wood Cup competition.[57]
While he was engaged at Radcliffe, Sobers underwent emotional trauma after a road accident in September 1959 on the A34 near Stoke-on-Trent which resulted in Collie Smith's death. Sobers was driving a car in which Smith and another West Indian Test player Tom Dewdney were passengers. Smith's back was broken by the collision and he died three days later. Sobers could not recall much about the crash and was fined £10 for driving without due care and attention.[58] He "began drinking more" and there were concerns, expressed by himself and others, that the experience might affect his cricket career.[59] He got over the trauma by deciding that he would be letting his country down if he "disappeared into the mists of an alcoholic haze" and he resolved to play not just for Garfield Sobers but for Collie Smith as well, thus setting himself the task of playing for two men.[60] He recovered well and, after an outstanding home Test series against England in 1959–60, he returned to Radcliffe where he continued as club professional for the next three seasons.
Sobers gives an insight into the life of the club professional in his autobiography.[61] He was paid £500 a season by Radcliffe. That was a reasonable wage but he relied on matchday collections to augment it and a good performance would boost the collection. He sometimes received as much as £50 in a collection and "that represented a massive bonus". Radcliffe placed no restrictions on him and, when they had no game, he could play as a guest professional in other leagues throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. He particularly liked playing in Yorkshire when he could because they would pay him £25 per appearance with a collection on top if he did well.
After touring England with West Indies in 1963, he moved to the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League in 1964 to play for Norton Cricket Club, who duly won the league title.[62] Sobers made 549 runs in 18 innings at 49.90, finishing second in the league averages behind only his amateur brother Gerald, also playing for Norton, who averaged 50.12. Gary Sobers did even better with the ball, his 97 wickets at 8.38 heading the league averages.[63] 1965 saw a repeat performance with Norton again winning the league and, though Sobers only averaged 25.38 with the bat, he again topped the league bowling averages with 76 wickets at 8.03.[64] Norton lost the league title in 1966 while Sobers was touring England with West Indies but regained it in 1967 when he returned. He was fourth in the 1967 league batting averages with 41.83 and third in the bowling with 95 wickets at 9.37 (the two bowlers with better averages took only 22 and 24 wickets).[65]
Sheffield Shield with South Australia[edit]
In the 1961–62 Australian season which followed the 1960–61 West Indies tour, Sobers and his West Indian colleagues Wes Hall and Rohan Kanhai returned to Australia to take part in the Sheffield Shield. Sobers played for South Australia and had an enormous impact on attendances, causing an 89% increase with gate receipts rising "by two and a half times".[66] He topped both the batting and bowling averages at South Australia, his best performance being against champions New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval when he scored 251 and took 3/51 and 6/72.[67]
He was even more outstanding in 1963–64 when, largely due to his efforts, South Australia won the Sheffield Shield. Sobers was the season's leading runscorer with 973 at 74.84 and the leading wicket taker with 47 at 28.27.[68]
Sobers spent three seasons with South Australia and in two he achieved the rare double of 1000 runs and 50 wickets.[65]
Shell Shield with Barbados[edit]
Sobers played intermittently for Barbados throughout his first-class career. He made his first appearance in the inaugural season of the new Shell Shield competition in February 1966. His last appearance for Barbados came in the 1973–74 Shell Shield match against Jamaica, at Kensington Oval.[69]
Personal life[edit]
Sobers was briefly engaged to Indian actress Anju Mahendru after he met her on the 1966–67 tour of India.[83] He married Prue Kirby, an Australian, in September 1969.[84] They had two sons, Matthew and Daniel, and an adopted daughter, Genevieve.[85] The marriage ended in divorce in 1990 after the couple broke up in 1984;[86] however, Sobers acquired dual Australian citizenship through marriage in 1980.[5][6]
He says that his was a multi-sporting family who were all good at football, basketball, table tennis and tennis.[87] His own favourite sport is golf and he has been an enthusiastic gambler.[88] He is the author of a children's novel about cricket, Bonaventure and the Flashing Blade, in which computer analysis helps a university cricket team become unbeatable.[89]
In 2021, Sobers expressed his opposition to the constitutional change made by the government of Barbados to become a republic and abolish the monarchy of Barbados.[90]
Among the awards that Sobers won during his playing career were:
In 2000, Sobers was named by a 100-member panel of experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. He received 90 votes out of a possible 100. The other four cricketers selected for the honour were Don Bradman (100 votes), Jack Hobbs (30), Shane Warne (27) and Viv Richards (25).[98]
In 2004, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inaugurated the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy which is awarded annually to the player selected by ICC as its Player of the Year. The recommendation to name the award after Sobers was made by a panel consisting of Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding, who were asked by the ICC "to select an individual with whom to honour cricket's ultimate individual award".[99]
In 2007 Wisden retrospectively selected the Leading Cricketer in the World for every year dating back to 1900 (except 1915–18 and 1940–45), Sobers being selected for eight years (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964–66, 1968 and 1970). Only Sobers and Bradman (10) received the accolade more than three times.[44]
To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him in an all-time Test World XI.[100]