Full name Garfield St Aubrun Sobers
Born July 28, 1936, Chelsea Road, Bay Land, St Michael, Barbados
Current age 83 years 135 days
Major teams West Indies, Barbados, Nottinghamshire, South Australia
Also known as Garry Sobers
Playing role Allrounder
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm fast-medium, Slow left-arm orthodox, Slow left-arm chinaman
Height 5 ft 11 in
Relation Cousin - DAJ Holford
In a nutshell While Bradman's status as the greatest batsman is increasingly under threat, no one raises an eyebrow at Garry Sobers being called the greatest allrounder. He broke the record for the highest Test score - 365 - at 21, could bowl left-arm orthodox, wrist spin and fast-medium, and was a brilliant fielder anywhere on the ground. He was also the first player to hit six sixes in an over in a first-class game More
Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 93 | 160 | 21 | 8032 | 365* | 57.78 | 26 | 30 | 109 | 0 | ||||
ODIs | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
First-class | 383 | 609 | 93 | 28314 | 365* | 54.87 | 86 | 121 | 407 | 0 | ||||
List A | 95 | 92 | 21 | 2721 | 116* | 38.32 | 1 | 18 | 41 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 93 | 159 | 21599 | 7999 | 235 | 6/73 | 8/80 | 34.03 | 2.22 | 91.9 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
ODIs | 1 | 1 | 63 | 31 | 1 | 1/31 | 1/31 | 31.00 | 2.95 | 63.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First-class | 383 | 70789 | 28941 | 1043 | 9/49 | 27.74 | 2.45 | 67.8 | 36 | 1 | |||
List A | 95 | 4387 | 2393 | 109 | 5/43 | 5/43 | 21.95 | 3.27 | 40.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Test debut | West Indies v England at Kingston, Mar 30-Apr 3, 1954 scorecard |
Last Test | West Indies v England at Port of Spain, Mar 30-Apr 5, 1974 scorecard |
Test statistics | |
Only ODI | England v West Indies at Leeds, Sep 5, 1973 scorecard |
ODI statistics | |
First-class span | 1952/53 - 1974 |
List A span | 1963 - 1974 |
A cricketing genius, Garry Sobers excelled at all aspects of the game, and few would argue his claim as the finest allround player in modern cricket. His exceptional Test batting average tells little about the manner in which he made the runs, his elegant yet powerful style marked by all the shots, but memorably his off-side play. As a batsman he was great, as a bowler, merely superb, but would have made the West Indies side as a bowler alone. He was remarkably versatile with the ball, bowling two styles of spin - left-arm orthodox and wrist spin, but was also a fine fast-medium opening bowler. His catching close to the wicket may have been equalled but never surpassed, and he was a brilliant fielder anywhere. He was an enterprising captain - at times maybe too enterprising, as when a generous declaration allowed England to win a decisive match at Port-of-Spain. Born with an extra finger on each hand (removed at birth), Sobers excelled at most athletic activities, playing golf, soccer and bastketball for Barbados, and made his first class debut at the age of 16, appearing in Tests a year later. He was played initially mostly as a bowler, but four years later set the Test record for an individual batsman with a mammoth 365 against Pakistan. His achievments are numerous - including the six consecutive sixes hit off an over from the unfortunate Malcolm Nash, a superb innings of 254 for the Rest of the World against Australia in 1971 that earned the praise of Don Bradman, and much more. Like many West Indians, he plied his trade abroad, playing for Nottinghamshire, and South Australia. He was knighted for his services to cricket in 1975.
Dave Liverman
Gideon Haigh on Garry Sobers
Off the field he may have been an awkward hero, on it Garry Sobers was "evolution's ultimate specimen"
Stats analysis
As a batsman alone Garry Sobers was among the very best; to add to that, he had talent to spare to take 235 Test wickets
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1964
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1974
Knighted for services to cricket 1975
Selected as one of five Wisden cricketers of the century, 2000