Sir Garfield Sobers | Career Uplift
Sir "Garry" Garfield Sobers is arguably the best all-rounder in the history of test cricket. He was a ferocious left arm batsman who could pinch-hit the ball through anywhere he wanted. He was very cunning at bowling. He used to do left-arm pace, orthodox off-break and leg-break. As a china-man bowler, he was really good at delivering a break-through over the opponent's batting innings. As a pacer, he was prosperous at generating power and transferring through the ball to whip away opponent batsman's wicket. He is a true legend of this sports. This is Mashhud Hasan from frenzyweb360 and today I'm going to talk about Sir Garry Sobers' legendary career.
Garry Sobers was born on 28th July, 1936 in Barbados. He is arguably the greatest all-rounder from Barbados who've played 93 test matches for West Indies. He has also played for the World XI, South Australia at the Sheffield Shield, Nottingham at the English County and Barbados at domestic cricket in first-class format. He has batted for 160 innings and scored mammoth 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78, including a triple century, 2 double centuries, 26 centuries and 30 fifties. While most of the West Indian batting legends (including Viv Richards, Alvin Kallicharran, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and many) fail to keep up their career average against agile spinning attack on Asian turf, Garfield Sobers scored 1059 runs out of 18 innings at an average of 75.64 with 3 centuries and 6 fifties on Asian soil. When West Indians defeated India at 1958 in Kanpur test, Sobers was the man to play the major role. In that test, he scored a brilliant "daddy hundred" of 198 runs in the 2nd innings and took 2 wickets by conceding 62 runs in the 1st innings. Particularly Indian turf and Indian opposition is his favorite condition for batting. He has 899 runs in 13 innings (at an unbelievable average of 99.88 with 3 centuries and 5 fifties) on Indian soil. Against India, he has scored 1920 runs out of 30 innings with 83.47 average run, 8 centuries and 7 fifties. Now let's take a look at his performance across all Asian teams. Against all Asian teams, he has scored 2904 runs at an average of 85.41 including 11 centuries and same number of fifties. His highest test innings was scored against Pakistan at Kingston in 1958. He scored 365* runs and cruised West Indies to reach a huge total of 790 runs by losing only 3 wickets. He built a record breaking partnership of 446 runs with Conrad Hunte, which is currently 3rd highest second wicket partnership.He was really consistent particularly against Pakistan. Against Pakistan, he has scored 984 runs out of 13 innings at an average of 89.45 including 3 centuries and 4 fifties. Even though he has retired way before than Bangladesh has debuted in test, but this is a matter of pride for all of Bangladeshi cricket fans that they've experienced watching a legend like Garry Sobers to step inside the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. In that Dhaka test against Pakistan, he has scored 29 & 45 runs conceded 11 runs by taking no wickets in that match. His bowling on Asian turf is also better than his average bowling (according to statistics at-least). He has bowled in 159 innings and took 235 wickets at a bowling average of only 34.03, which includes only 2.22 of economy rate, 8 four wicket haul,6 five wicket haul and a best bowling figure of 6-73 (against Australia at Brisbane test, 1968). On the other hand, his bowling average is only 29.95 in Asian wicket and took 24 wickets out of 20 innings (11 test matches).
Garry Sobers' one of the most memorable matches was at 1971 in Australia tour. Australia supposed to play with South Africa which they later cancelled and the World XI was replaced. That World XI was stacked with so many legends. There was Zahir Abbas, Hylton Ackerman, Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Rohan Kanhai and of-course Sir Garry Sobers as the captain of that team. That time Australia's bowling attack was filled with high-end pacers and spinners. They had Dennis Lillee, Kerry O'keeffe, Bob Massie, Ashley Mallett and many. During that series, Sobers had a feud with Dennis Lillee. At the 1st match in Brisbane, World XI was able to draw the match safely. At the 2nd match in Perth, Dennis Lillee used the best of Perth's seaming track and bowled absolutely brilliant. World XI was all-out for only 59 and they've lost that match by innings & 11 runs. In that test, Dennis Lillee's bowling spell was 8-29 in the 1st innings. Dennis Lillee also wrecked the World XI in their 3rd match in Melbourne as well. He bounced out Sobers. After that devastating day in backstage, Sobers had an argument with Lillee. In front of Ian Chappell, he congratulated Lillee but said to him, "I can also give bouncers and I can bat better than you". Later in that match at 2nd innings, he scored a magnificent innings of 254 runs. In that innings he showed how to nick the ball by bat in the most classy way as possible. He was a bit shaky against bouncers at the beginning of his innings but soon got adjusted with it. Most of his shots were placed at the back-foot by cocking the bat from high back-lift. He used the elasticity of his body and the power of his wrist. Those hooks, drives and cuts that he played were perfectly nicked. He reached his century by flicking the ball through the square leg. Sobers was chasing every single balls and sometimes he was missing by swinging his bat against flattened wide deliveries. One of the most eye-catching shots was when Sobers smashed O'keeffe's one of his orthodox leg-breaks through the long-off for six. Right after the next ball, Sobers played an on-drive through the long-on for six. Sobers placed a calculative cover-drive through the extra cover for a boundary and reached his double ton. By the same shot over Kerry O'keeffe, he reached his 250 landmark. Before getting caught out at mid-on, he scored a massive innings of 254 runs. He was consistent later that series and his team World XI won the series by 2-1. Not as a cricketer but as a captain, this was one of his most memorable series. And the feud between Sobers and Dennis has become one of the greatest on-field cricket battles.
Another Sobers special is his 150* vs England at Lord's. That was his last test match at Lord's and that series against England was his last series as a cricketer. There were many emotions involved to that test. West Indies won that test by an innings and 226 runs thanks to their massive score of 652-8 at the 1st innings. Under Rohan Kanhai's captaincy, West Indies won that 3-match series by 2-0. At the last innings in Lord's, Sobers scored 150* out of 227 balls with a strike-rate of 66.07, that includes 19 fours. Sobers started his innings by hitting a boundary by leg-glance against Ray Illingworth's full-tracker flighty off-break. He played a well calculative drive for four over Derek Underwood's slider. Some of those back-footed cover drives over Bob Willis' short pitch deliveries were really impressive.He scored back to back boundary over Illingworth's flight deliveries (by hitting slash and on-drive respectively). Geoff Arnold delivered a medium pace pitching on the good length and Sobers played a sturdy cover drive to reach the triple digit figure. He still didn't stop playing shots. Played many flicks and leg glances over Bob Willis' half-trackers. He handled off-spins very intelligently, especially left-arm off-breaks of the legend Derek Underwood. Derek has 17 five wicket hauls in test which is 3rd highest along with Shakib Al Hasan among all left-arm spinners in cricket history (only Rangana Herath and Daniel Vettori are ahead of him). He delivered many flights and sliders from over the wicket but Sobers handled with patience at first glance and soon turned it into aggression. One of Illingworth's mid-pitched off-breaks, Sobers swung the bat for a clean hook and scored a boundary to reach his 150 figure in a remarkable fashion. His heroic innings sealed West Indies to reach a huge total and eventually capture a historical win. This innings will forever be remembered as one of the best centuries in Lord's Cricket Ground.
Overall he's really good at English turf. On England's soil, he has batted for 37 innings and scored 1820 runs with an average of 53.52, including 5 centuries and 9 fifties. As an opposition, England washis favorite. His 2nd highest individual test innings is 226, which was played against England at Bridgetown. He has a Bradman-like average at the Lord's Cricket Ground. On this venue, he has scored 571 runs out of 9 innings at an average of 95.16, this includes 2 centuries and the same number of fifty. Particularly against England, he's statistically and analytically the most dangerous batsman. Against English attack, he has batted for 60 innings and scored 3214 runs with 60.64 average. He has 10 centuries and 13 fifties against them. He is the first batsman in cricket history to hit 6 sixes in an over in first-class cricket. Even in bowling, he's the most successful against England than any other nations. He has bowled 62 innings and took 102 wickets with a bowling average of only 32.57 and economy of 2.27 (3 five wicket hauls).
Sir Garry Sobers has cemented his legacy as the greatest all-rounder of all time and there's no question or doubt about that. He was really aggressive as a batsman, always wanted to chase every types of balls and wanted to nick it by cocking the bat from high back-lift. He didn't really show any foot-works but his stroke playing capability is one of the best in cricket history, if not the best. He could play shots at anywhere he wanted. His productive shots were hooks, drives and pulls but he could place balls to any area by playing any kind of shots. His shot selections were calculative and placements were rookie. On the other hand, his bowling was purely skilled. With his furious pace bowling, he could dismantle the stump and snap it off from the field. His off-spin was varied with different flights, lengths and speeds and it was really hard to predict it. His leg-spin was tricky to read. He was good at pitching the ball on outside-leg and turning it inside the impact. He took 235 wickets out of 159 innings but numbers did lie in this aspect. This statistics is dumb enough to hide the fact that in Sobers' era, West Indies had a bowling line-up of Wes Hall. Charlie Griffith, Vanburn Holder, Lance Gibbs. Sobers was more of a batting all-rounder than a complete all-rounder and he didn't really get any opportunities to take wickets since his team's bowling attack was so strong that the other bowlers would take the most of the wickets even before when he used to come with the ball. He has a 20 years of career span (1954-1974). When he retired from cricket, in that same year another legend Viv Richards was debuted. Later many bowling legends like Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose, Joel Garner, Michael Holding had their debut and shone. But Sobers' trio attack in bowling is unique than anything else. And as a batsman, he's without a doubt the best in West Indies' history. Don Bradman titled Sobers as the best batsman he has ever seen with his own eye. Sobers himself was a big competitor of Bradman for the best batsman in test cricket history (even though their era were different). Many records will be broken, many records will be built or maybe many records will remain unbreakable but one thing will forever be undeniable that, Sir Garfield Sobers is the first pioneer of all-rounders sector and the best all-rounder in cricket history.
Garry Sobers was born on 28th July, 1936 in Barbados. He is arguably the greatest all-rounder from Barbados who've played 93 test matches for West Indies. He has also played for the World XI, South Australia at the Sheffield Shield, Nottingham at the English County and Barbados at domestic cricket in first-class format. He has batted for 160 innings and scored mammoth 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78, including a triple century, 2 double centuries, 26 centuries and 30 fifties. While most of the West Indian batting legends (including Viv Richards, Alvin Kallicharran, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and many) fail to keep up their career average against agile spinning attack on Asian turf, Garfield Sobers scored 1059 runs out of 18 innings at an average of 75.64 with 3 centuries and 6 fifties on Asian soil. When West Indians defeated India at 1958 in Kanpur test, Sobers was the man to play the major role. In that test, he scored a brilliant "daddy hundred" of 198 runs in the 2nd innings and took 2 wickets by conceding 62 runs in the 1st innings. Particularly Indian turf and Indian opposition is his favorite condition for batting. He has 899 runs in 13 innings (at an unbelievable average of 99.88 with 3 centuries and 5 fifties) on Indian soil. Against India, he has scored 1920 runs out of 30 innings with 83.47 average run, 8 centuries and 7 fifties. Now let's take a look at his performance across all Asian teams. Against all Asian teams, he has scored 2904 runs at an average of 85.41 including 11 centuries and same number of fifties. His highest test innings was scored against Pakistan at Kingston in 1958. He scored 365* runs and cruised West Indies to reach a huge total of 790 runs by losing only 3 wickets. He built a record breaking partnership of 446 runs with Conrad Hunte, which is currently 3rd highest second wicket partnership.He was really consistent particularly against Pakistan. Against Pakistan, he has scored 984 runs out of 13 innings at an average of 89.45 including 3 centuries and 4 fifties. Even though he has retired way before than Bangladesh has debuted in test, but this is a matter of pride for all of Bangladeshi cricket fans that they've experienced watching a legend like Garry Sobers to step inside the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. In that Dhaka test against Pakistan, he has scored 29 & 45 runs conceded 11 runs by taking no wickets in that match. His bowling on Asian turf is also better than his average bowling (according to statistics at-least). He has bowled in 159 innings and took 235 wickets at a bowling average of only 34.03, which includes only 2.22 of economy rate, 8 four wicket haul,6 five wicket haul and a best bowling figure of 6-73 (against Australia at Brisbane test, 1968). On the other hand, his bowling average is only 29.95 in Asian wicket and took 24 wickets out of 20 innings (11 test matches).
Garry Sobers' one of the most memorable matches was at 1971 in Australia tour. Australia supposed to play with South Africa which they later cancelled and the World XI was replaced. That World XI was stacked with so many legends. There was Zahir Abbas, Hylton Ackerman, Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd, Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Rohan Kanhai and of-course Sir Garry Sobers as the captain of that team. That time Australia's bowling attack was filled with high-end pacers and spinners. They had Dennis Lillee, Kerry O'keeffe, Bob Massie, Ashley Mallett and many. During that series, Sobers had a feud with Dennis Lillee. At the 1st match in Brisbane, World XI was able to draw the match safely. At the 2nd match in Perth, Dennis Lillee used the best of Perth's seaming track and bowled absolutely brilliant. World XI was all-out for only 59 and they've lost that match by innings & 11 runs. In that test, Dennis Lillee's bowling spell was 8-29 in the 1st innings. Dennis Lillee also wrecked the World XI in their 3rd match in Melbourne as well. He bounced out Sobers. After that devastating day in backstage, Sobers had an argument with Lillee. In front of Ian Chappell, he congratulated Lillee but said to him, "I can also give bouncers and I can bat better than you". Later in that match at 2nd innings, he scored a magnificent innings of 254 runs. In that innings he showed how to nick the ball by bat in the most classy way as possible. He was a bit shaky against bouncers at the beginning of his innings but soon got adjusted with it. Most of his shots were placed at the back-foot by cocking the bat from high back-lift. He used the elasticity of his body and the power of his wrist. Those hooks, drives and cuts that he played were perfectly nicked. He reached his century by flicking the ball through the square leg. Sobers was chasing every single balls and sometimes he was missing by swinging his bat against flattened wide deliveries. One of the most eye-catching shots was when Sobers smashed O'keeffe's one of his orthodox leg-breaks through the long-off for six. Right after the next ball, Sobers played an on-drive through the long-on for six. Sobers placed a calculative cover-drive through the extra cover for a boundary and reached his double ton. By the same shot over Kerry O'keeffe, he reached his 250 landmark. Before getting caught out at mid-on, he scored a massive innings of 254 runs. He was consistent later that series and his team World XI won the series by 2-1. Not as a cricketer but as a captain, this was one of his most memorable series. And the feud between Sobers and Dennis has become one of the greatest on-field cricket battles.
Overall he's really good at English turf. On England's soil, he has batted for 37 innings and scored 1820 runs with an average of 53.52, including 5 centuries and 9 fifties. As an opposition, England washis favorite. His 2nd highest individual test innings is 226, which was played against England at Bridgetown. He has a Bradman-like average at the Lord's Cricket Ground. On this venue, he has scored 571 runs out of 9 innings at an average of 95.16, this includes 2 centuries and the same number of fifty. Particularly against England, he's statistically and analytically the most dangerous batsman. Against English attack, he has batted for 60 innings and scored 3214 runs with 60.64 average. He has 10 centuries and 13 fifties against them. He is the first batsman in cricket history to hit 6 sixes in an over in first-class cricket. Even in bowling, he's the most successful against England than any other nations. He has bowled 62 innings and took 102 wickets with a bowling average of only 32.57 and economy of 2.27 (3 five wicket hauls).
Sir Garry Sobers has cemented his legacy as the greatest all-rounder of all time and there's no question or doubt about that. He was really aggressive as a batsman, always wanted to chase every types of balls and wanted to nick it by cocking the bat from high back-lift. He didn't really show any foot-works but his stroke playing capability is one of the best in cricket history, if not the best. He could play shots at anywhere he wanted. His productive shots were hooks, drives and pulls but he could place balls to any area by playing any kind of shots. His shot selections were calculative and placements were rookie. On the other hand, his bowling was purely skilled. With his furious pace bowling, he could dismantle the stump and snap it off from the field. His off-spin was varied with different flights, lengths and speeds and it was really hard to predict it. His leg-spin was tricky to read. He was good at pitching the ball on outside-leg and turning it inside the impact. He took 235 wickets out of 159 innings but numbers did lie in this aspect. This statistics is dumb enough to hide the fact that in Sobers' era, West Indies had a bowling line-up of Wes Hall. Charlie Griffith, Vanburn Holder, Lance Gibbs. Sobers was more of a batting all-rounder than a complete all-rounder and he didn't really get any opportunities to take wickets since his team's bowling attack was so strong that the other bowlers would take the most of the wickets even before when he used to come with the ball. He has a 20 years of career span (1954-1974). When he retired from cricket, in that same year another legend Viv Richards was debuted. Later many bowling legends like Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose, Joel Garner, Michael Holding had their debut and shone. But Sobers' trio attack in bowling is unique than anything else. And as a batsman, he's without a doubt the best in West Indies' history. Don Bradman titled Sobers as the best batsman he has ever seen with his own eye. Sobers himself was a big competitor of Bradman for the best batsman in test cricket history (even though their era were different). Many records will be broken, many records will be built or maybe many records will remain unbreakable but one thing will forever be undeniable that, Sir Garfield Sobers is the first pioneer of all-rounders sector and the best all-rounder in cricket history.
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