The sublime Sobers

Garry Sobers returns to the pavilion at the end of his epic 254 © The Cricketer

One of the highlights of the series between Australia and the World XI in 1971-72 was the duel between Dennis Lillee and Garry Sobers. Lillee was the young, tearaway fast bowler with a point to prove ahead of the 1972 Ashes campaign, and Sobers, although 35, was still the world's leading allrounder and was also captaining the tourists.

"I first saw Lillee in the first Test at Brisbane," Sobers recalled. "He walked back to his mark and I was standing outside the dressing room. Ray Lindwall was there, and I said to him: `Why is he going that far back.' Lindwall just looked at me and said nothing. Once I had seen that ball I turned to him and said: `Now I see'."

The early exchanges went Lillee's way. In the second Test at Perth he had Sobers caught behind for a two-ball duck in a remarkable spell of 8 for 29 in 7.1 overs, which included six in 15 balls as the World XI were bowled out for 59. "I remember walking out to bat, and I looked back and Rod Marsh and Ian Chappell were standing about 25 yards back," Sobers explained. "I turned and asked Ian what he doing so far away. `You'll find out,' he answered. And I did!"

Lillee followed that by getting him first ball in the first innings of the next Test at Melbourne, never one of Sobers most productive venues, as Australia, one-up in the series thanks to the innings win at the WACA, took a lead of 101.

Sunil Gavaskar falls to Dennis Lillee, the first of his eight wickets at Perth © The Cricketer

Sobers was unhappy, not only with his failures but also with the fact that Lillee was peppering him with bouncers. At the close that night Sobers went into the Australian changing room, as was usual then, to chat and share some beers. He sat down next to Ian Chappell, and loudly and deliberately said: "Ian, you've got a man in here called Lillee and every time I go into bat I seem to get these short-pitched deliveries. I want you to let him know that I can bowl them short and he better watch out."

Sobers was as good as his word. When Lillee batted the next day, Sobers was bowling, and the first ball was a bouncer. In those days, it was almost unknown for a tailender to receive anything not pitched in his half, and the crowd booed. But it worked, as a rattled Lillee spooned the next ball to Bishan Bedi at mid off.

Again that night, Sobers went in to the Australian changing room and once more sat with Chappell who recounted what had happened when Lillee returned after being dismissed. "Before Dennis could reach the dressing room, the door opened and the bat hit the wall and he said: `That little bastard, I will show him ... I haven't really bowled at him yet'."

"Well, Ian," Sobers replied. "He's got the ball, I've got the bat ... we'll see."

"In the second innings Sobers showed me just how well he could bat," recalled Lillee. Sobers found gaps in the field almost at will, and when fielders were moved, he hit the ball where the had just been. "I remember taking the second new ball and trying to bowl a big inswinging yorker," said Lillee. "He leant into it with great power. I went down in my follow-through to try to stop it; by the time I was down, I was looking back and the ball had hit the boundary fence and bounced back. I have never witnessed a shot of such power and grace. I thought to myself, `We are in for some,' and how right I was."

Sobers drives Terry Jenner at the MCG © The Cricketer

In three overs from Lillee and Bob Massie, Sobers raced to 30, and by the close of the third day Sobers had moved to an effortless 139. "The pitch was a beauty and everything went right," Sobers reflected. "Every attacking shot went to the boundary and Dennis, as inexperienced as he was then, was bowling too short."

The rest day enabled Sobers to recharge his batteries, and although he started circumspectly, he did open up. His double hundred came up in 329 minutes. With Peter Pollock holding up the other end, he was able to unleash some sublime drives and pulls, the pair adding a crucial 186 for the eighth wicket.

A weary Sobers finally drove Greg Chappell to Doug Walters at mid-on for a remarkable 254. "There was a big crowd at the MCG that day, as there had been on the Saturday" he recalled. "At last I had proven to Victorians I could bat a bit." In all, he hit two sixes - off successive balls from Terry Jenner - and 35 fours.

Sobers smiled as he recalled Lillee's comment as he headed off. "You know, I've read about you but now I've really seen you. We got our backsides cut good and proper today, but I still appreciate it."

The reality of his achievement really hit Sobers when he heard what Don Bradman said. "Having seen all the players of the last 50 years, I believe that Sobers' was the greatest exhibition of batting seen in Australia. I have seen nothing equal to it in this country."

But the innings was even more remarkable, as Tony Greig remembered. "Garry had problems on the home front. His wife and little boy, who lived in Melbourne, had left him. My lasting memory was when he walked off the ground, his wife had agreed to come back and speak to him. The whole stadium were on their feet except one person. And that was his wife. Sobers went straight downstairs and the two of them reconciled.

"In the breaks between innings he was not the normal Sobers. He was very quiet, upset and disturbed, in so much as he was heartsore. And yet he still played that knock."

Thanks to Sobers' innings, the World XI were able to set Australia a target of 414, and Bedi (4 for 81) and Intikhab Alam (3 for 83) spun them to a 96-run defeat. The series turned on Sobers' innings, and World XI went on to secure a 2-1 victory.

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Bibliography
Menace - Dennis Lillee (Headline, 2003)
Gary Sobers' Most Memorable Matches - Tony Cozier (Stanley Paul, 1984)
The Chappell Era - DVD (ABC, 2002)
Playfair Cricket Monthly -Various
The Cricketer - Various
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

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