Sir Garfield Sobers on lucky 77 not out

By A.C. De Silva

FLASHBACK..... Probably cricket's greatest all-rounder Garry Sobers the West Indian star and a very affectionate friend of Sri Lanka, has stepped on to his lucky age group and will celebrate his 77th birthday today - July 28th. Sobers was born in Bay Street, Barbados on 28th July, 1936.

Sobers is a much travelled man round the globe and was an affectionate friend of Sri Lanka where the game of cricket was concerned and in the late Mr. Gamini Dissanayake - a one-time Cricket Board President placed a lot of faith on Sobers to coach our cricketers several years ago.

In the good old days, the name Garfield Sobers was a household name during his playing days. He conjured up all sorts of magnificent deeds on the cricket field, whether batting, bowling or fielding. Because of that people argue about his greatness as a batsman and as a bowler of different styles as they compare him with the champions of the past.

Knighted by Queen

He was such a wonderful person on the cricket field that the cricket loving public respected him wherever he went. He was considered of being the greatest all-rounder of all times and the Queen of England, mindful of the tremendous work done on he cricket field, Queen Elizabeth knighted him with the title "Sir" in 1975.

Sobers was honoured, as a result of the positive steps he took to spread the game throughout the length and breadth of the world and looking back at his career he brought many laurels for the West Indies wherever he played the game.

Sobers played 93 Test matches and had 160 innings with 21 not outs, scored 8,032 runs with 365 not out as his highest. He hit 26 hundreds and his average was 57.38.

In bowling, Sobers sent down 21,599 deliveries and he was successful in taking 235 wickets conceding 7,999 runs for an average of 34.03.

26 centuries

During his playing days, Sobers had 26 Test centuries to his career.

VS PAKISTAN (3): 365 not out at Kingston, 1957-58, 125 and 109 not out at Georgetown 1957-58.

Another Sobers' bat, which hit the then World Record Test record of 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958, was snapped up for dollars 129,250.

VS INDIA (8): 142 not out at Bombay 1958-59, 198 at Kanpur 1958-59, 106 not out at Calcutta 1958-59, 153 at Kingston 1961-62, 104 at Kingston 1961-62, 108 not out at Georgetown, 178 not out at Bridgetown 1970-71, 132 at Trinidad 1970-71.

VS ENGLAND (10): 226 at Bridgetown 1959-60, 147 at Kingston 1959-60, 145 at Georgetown1959-60, 102 at Leeds 1963, 161 at Old Trafford 1966, 163 not out at Lord's 1966, 174 at Subheading 1966, 113 not out at Kingston 1967-68, 152 at Bridgetown 1967-68, 150 not out at Lord's 1973.

VS AUSTRALIA (4): 132 at Brisbane 1960-61, 168 at Sydney 1960-61, 110 at Adelaide 1968-69, 113 at Sydney 1968-69.

VS NEW ZEALAND (1): 142 at Bridgetown 1971-72.

1st Test 1953

Sobers played his first Test match in 1953, aged 17 years. Then five years later in 1958, he set a Test cricket record with that magnificent knock of 365 not out against Pakistan in the 1957-58 series.

Sobers batted for 10 hours and 14 minutes for that knock and tucked into it 38 fours with Conrad Hunte who made 260 (run out). Sobers was involved in a second-wicket stand of 446. It was Sobers' first century in Tests. The record of Sobers stood for over 36 years until it was overtaken by Brian Lara.

Rich prize for bats

The great left-handed batsman Sobers had the rare privilege of hitting six sixes in one over while captaining Nottinghamshire in the English County Championship match against Glamorgan in Swansa on 31st August 1968. The bat that Sobers used on the occasion fetched a record price.

The famous bat - a short handled Slazenger fetched a record figure of dollars 146,875 from a mystery phone bidder in Melbourne. The West Indian star used the bat during a 1968 County Cricket Match. Indian batsman Ravi Shastri equalled this feat in 1985.

Another Sobers' bat, which hit the then World Record Test record of 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958, was snapped up for dollars 129,250.

Sobers 115 vs Board |XI

The great West Indian cricketer Sobers was a much loved person in Sri Lanka as well. He and his erstwhile friend - the late Gamini Dissanayake who was President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, pushed up the standard of the game here.

Before Sobers began his coaching stint in Sri Lanka, he showed the cricket fans what he is capable of with the bat too, like what he showed cricket elsewhere.

On January 22 and 23 in 1967 at the Colombo Oval then, now the Saravanamuttu Stadium, a sparkling display of cricket was witnessed when a match was played with Michael Tissera leading Ceylon and Sobers the West Indies.

Ceylon batted first and made 290 for 9 wickets with Tissera making 52, David Heyn 69, Lionel Fernando 42, H.I.K. Fernando 42, Neil Chanmugam 72 and Ian Pieris 46.

If Ceylon did impress on that occasion, then when the West Indies batted, it was sparkling batting by Garfield Sobers who made 115 together with Basil Butcher (152), Clive Lloyd (138) helped the West Indies to make 549 for 8 wickets.Sarath Wimalaratne bowled best for Sri Lanka taking 4 for 141.

Sri Lanka made 163 for 3 wickets in their second innings, with Anura Tennekoon making 54 not out, Lionel Fernando 72 not out with D.P. De Silva (28) who put on 112 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket partnership.