I just heard the very sad news of the death at the age of 89 of cricketing legend Sir Garfield (“Garry”) Sobers. He was a superb player, a genuine all-rounder. With the bat he was an extraordinary attacking strokeplayer, being the first to hit six sixes in an over (for his adopted county, Nottinghamshire, against Glamorgan in 1968.
I know there’s more than a suspicion that the dropped catch off the 5th ball might have been deliberate, but still…
When I lived in Nottingham my next door neighbour had many memories of Garry Sobers. He was fond of the nightlife, and also liked to bet on the horses. As a captain Sobers was also a bit of a gambler, often making very generous declarations. It didn’t always come off, but it sure made for exciting cricket.
Sobers’s maiden test century against Pakistan turned into a mammoth 365 not out. His batting average in 93 test matches was 57.78, a number that a specialist bat would be proud of. But he was also a superb bowler with the knack of getting good batsmen out, usually with his fast left-arm inswingers bowled over the wicket. Here is an example of him getting Geoffrey Boycott out. He always seemed to enjoy doing that. It’s a low resolution clip, but just look at the swing!
Of that delivery, which got him out lbw, Boycott later said “It was missing off, missing leg, and hitting middle halfway up”. You can tell he knew he was out. (When I played cricket at school I never figured out to bat aginst left-arm over the wicket bowlers even if they didn’t swing…). Sobers was also an adept left-arm spin bowler, who could bowl orthodox but was also adept at the Chinaman (a term for left-arm wrist spin that has fallen into disuse in recent years, but was common in my youth). I should also mention that he was an exceptional fielder too at a time before one-day cricket increased the general level of fielding.
I genuine all-rounder who reaches the level of international excellence at both batting and bowling is very rare in cricket. Most all-rounders are either bowlers who can bat a bit or batters who can bowl a bit. Sobers was the only one in his generation who was great at both. Cricket was fortunate later, from the late 70s to the 80s, to have three at the same time: Ian Botham (England), Kapil Dev (India) and Imran Kahn (Pakistan). But Sobers was probably the greatest of them all.
R.I.P. Garry Sobers (1936-2026). Pure legend.
In the Dark 