Sir Garfield Sobers (July 28, 1936)
World famous Cricketer, Humanitarian
Sir Garfield Sobers was born on Tuesday July 28, 1936, He is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974, and is widely considered one of cricket’s greatest players.
Garfield was born in St Aubrun born on Tuesday July 28, 1936. His parents were Shamont and Thelma Sobers. Garfield was the fifth of six children. He was only five when his father died at sea in January 1942. In his early childhood and teen years he demonstrated the gift to play with great skill almost any sport involving a ball especially cricket. 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. When he was 13, he was recruited to play for two cricket teams. These were the Kent St Philip club in the Barbados Cricket League and the Wanderers club located at Bay Land, in the Barbados Cricket Association. Garnet Ashby, captain of Kent St Philip, told him that this was his opportunity to play cricket with “the big boys”, with that particular statement it made him to have more passion for the game and his craft which he was gifted with.
He finally made his debut in the game 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, Garfield scored his maiden Test century, progressing to 365 not out and establishing a new record for the highest individual score in an innings, which was not broken until Brian Lara scored 375 in 1994. He was made captain of the West Indies in 1965, a role which he would hold until 1972. He enjoyed spectacular success in England in 1966 and was widely acclaimed as “King Cricket”. In the five Tests he scored 722 runs at an average of 103.14 with three centuries, and had 20 wickets at 27.25, as well as taking 10 catches. Great victory was when the West Indies won the series 3–1, with one match drawn. His status was celebrated at that time by the Caribbean artist Mighty Sparrow from the country of Trinidad, with his song “Sir Garfield Sobers”.
In 1966–67, Garfield captained the West Indies team to India in 1966–67 and they won the series 2–0 with one match drawn.
He lost a series for the first time in 1967–68 when West Indies were surprisingly beaten at home by England. Four matches were drawn and England won the Fourth Test at Queen’s Park Oval following a controversial declaration by Garfield which enabled England to score the necessary 215–3 to win at just four runs an over.
Garfield on 31 August 1968, in history became the first batsman ever to hit six sixes in a single over of six consecutive balls in first-class cricket. The feat consisted of five clean hits for six and one six where the ball was caught but carried over the boundary by Roger Davis. Sir Garfield was playing as captain of Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in Swansea; the unfortunate bowler was Malcolm Nash. This tally of 36 runs in an over broke a 57-year-old record of 34 runs, held by Ted Alletson. In 1969, West Indies lost 2–0 in England with one match drawn.
Garfield captained West Indies for the five-Test home series versus India in 1970–71. India won the series 1–0 with four matches drawn. A year later, Sobers led West Indies in five home Tests against New Zealand and all five were drawn.
He was succeeded as West Indies captain by Rohan Kanhai for the 1972–73 home series against Australia. Sobers did not play in that series but returned to play under Kanhai in England in 1973. He played his last Test in March 1974 at Queen’s Park Oval against England.
When South Africa was banned from international cricket because of the country’s apartheid policy, the team’s two lucrative tours to England in 1970 and to Australia in 1971–72 were cancelled. The cricket authorities responded by forming Rest of the World teams to play unofficial Test series in lieu and these teams included some leading South African players. He was invited to captain the Rest of the World in both series. 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. 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. Sir Garfield Sobers retired in 1974 after his knee cartilage finally gave out.
He was another precedent event when, in 1975, Queen Elizabeth II overturned tradition when she knighted him in an open-air ceremony at the Garrison Savannah instead of at Buckingham Palace.
Sobers married Prudence Kirby an Australian in 1969 (divorced in 1985) and moved to Australia with her for seven years until deciding to return to Barbados in 1985. He and his wife have two sons Matthew and Daniel and a daughter, Genevieve.
By an act of Parliament in 1998, Garfield was named as one of the ten National Heroes of Barbados. He was made a National Hero of Barbados by the Cabinet of Barbados in 1998 and is thus accorded the honorary prefix “The Right Excellent”. He is one of only ten people to have received this honour and the only recipient still living.
Sir Garfield coached internationally, having a one-time stint with Sri Lanka. In 2003 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
He now travels the world as a legendary sportsman giving speeches. His favorite choice of sports for relaxation during trips are golf which he plays also at least once a year with his close friend Malcolm Nash whom he played with during his cricketer years.
He is the author of a children’s novel about cricket, Bonaventure and the Flashing Blade
Awards:
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
West Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year: 1958–59
Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1964
The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for the Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket: 1970
Walter Lawrence Trophy winner: 1974
Wisden Cricketer of the Century: 2000
2004, the International Cricket Council inaugurated the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy which is awarded annually to the player selected by ICC as its Player of the Year.