In any sports, one can always engage in endless debates as to who was the greatest ever player in some capacity. But in cricket it is universally acknowledge that Garfield Sobers was the greatest all-rounder the game has even known, and it was announced today that he had died.

Sir Garry Sobers, an undisputed cricketing great and widely regarded as the sport’s greatest all-rounder, has died aged 89.
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The late Richie Benaud, a revered broadcaster and former Australia captain, 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.”

Cricket, as in many sports, has players who excel in one particular facet of the game. In cricket, the three areas are batting, fast bowling (where the bowler uses sheer speed to get the batter out), and slow bowling, where the bowler spins the ball using fingers or the wrist in order to get the ball to change directions after bouncing, and thus fool the batter. An all-rounder is someone who can both bat and bowl well. Most all-rounders are those who are primarily batting specialists who can bowl reasonably well, or primarily bowlers who can bat reasonably well. But Sobers was someone who could bat, bowl fast, and bowl slow at the highest levels. He could also field very well.

His batting was sublime. Bradman, after watching Sobers hit 254 for the Rest of the World against Australia in Melbourne in January 1972, concluded: “I believe his innings was probably the best ever seen in Australia.”
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Meanwhile Sobers’ bowling was exceptional in three different modes – initially an orthodox finger-spinner, he would soon add wrist-spin and pace bowling to his arsenal – and he was a brilliant fielder anywhere, but especially at short leg to the off-spinner Lance Gibbs.
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He was a cavalier in an era when there were so many roundheads on the international circuit. The great West Indies’ sides of his time not only won their fair share of games but they played with a joyous freedom rarely matched by their opponents and this was so often due to the presence of Sobers.

With Sobers in the side, the West Indians could never be counted out of a game. Later in his career, he usually batted at the #6 position, the last of the recognized batters, to be followed by the bowlers who could not be counted on for many runs. On many occasions he would come in when the top batters had failed to score many runs and the opposing team scented victory. Then Sobers would almost single-handedly turn the game around with a magnificent batting performance and then, when they were on the field, use his bowling skills to demolish the opponents, turning likely defeat into victory.

Here is Sobers in fine form hitting a record six sixes in six consecutive balls. (In baseball terms, this is equivalent to hitting six home runs off six consecutive pitches.)

And here is Sobers scoring 254 for the World XI against Australia in 1972 in Melbourne, which was stated by Donald Bradman, who was widely acknowledged as the greatest batter ever, to be the best innings ever seen on Australian soil.

He epitomized the era of West Indian cricket where their players and spectators shook up the staid cricketing world by bringing joie de vivre to the field with their swashbuckling style of play and calypso and reggae music and dancing in the stands with their fans. But the teams of that era were also somewhat erratic and mercurial in their performances. When Clive Lloyd took over as as West Indies captain from Sobers, he created a disciplined cricket juggernaut with powerful batters like Viv Richards and a ferocious quartet of fast bowlers that could intimidate and mow down opposing batters

Back in those days before air travel, cricket teams would travel by ship and they would stop over in Colombo on the way to Australia and play friendly games against local sides. I was privileged to see Sobers play when the West Indies team played such a game in Colombo in 1962.