Sir Garfield Sobers, West Indies cricketing great, dies aged 89

(UK Guardian) Sir Garfield Sobers, an undisputed cricketing great and widely regarded as the sport’s greatest all-rounder, has died aged 89.

Sobers will forever be associated with the feat he completed in 1968 at Glamorgan’s St Helen’s ground in Swansea when he became the first batsman to hit six sixes in a single over of six consecutive balls in first-class cricket but his achievements in a long and illustrious career were numerous.

The late, revered broadcaster and ex-cricketer Richie Benaud described Sobers as “the greatest all-round cricketer the world has seen”. He wrote: “Sobers was a brilliant batsman, splendid fielder, particularly close to the wicket, and a bowler of extraordinary skill, whether bowling with the new ball, providing orthodox left-arm spin or over-the-wrist spin”.

Sobers made his first-class debut for Barbados at the age of 16 in 1953, and such was his extraordinary talent that he was quickly called up by his country and made his Test debut for West Indies the following year.

It did not take him long to make his mark on the world stage. Against Pakistan in 1958, Sobers scored his maiden Test century, eventually recording 365 not out, a new record for the highest individual score in an innings. It was a record that was not broken until Brian Lara did so in 1994.

Sobers retired relatively early for a player of his stature and ability at the age of 38 in 1974, Wisden commenting a year later: “Some great players of the past continued appreciably longer. Simply enough, mentally and physically tired, he had lost his zest for the sport which had been his life – and was still his only observable means of earning a living.

“Ostensibly he had a damaged knee; in truth he was the victim of his unique range of talents – and the jet age. Because he was capable of doing so much, he was asked to do it too frequently. He did more than any other cricketer, and did it more concentratedly because high speed aircraft enabled him to travel half across the world in a day or two. Perhaps the long sea voyages between seasons of old had a restorative effect.”

In total Sobers played 93 Tests for West Indies, scoring 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78, and taking 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He has the fourth-highest batting average in Test cricket in the list of players with more than 5,000 runs.

In his 383 first-class matches, he scored over 28,000 runs and took over 1,000 wickets, having spent time with South Australia and Nottinghamshire towards the end of his career. Sobers was knighted in 1975 for his services to cricket.