One of the best all-rounders, Sobers didn't speak against apartheid, toured Rhodesia

By Harsh Thakor* 
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers attained cricketing immortality, transcending boundaries no cricketer ever scaled in terms of all round cricketing skill, and art. Sobers could turn the complexion of match in all departments 360 degrees. For sheer aestheticism possibly no one surpassed Sobers in the world of sport.
On July 28th, Sobers celebrates his 88th birthday. Sobers was born with six fingers in each hand. He played his first serious cricket match with 11 digits.
Sobers possessed at least three strokes for any ball. According to Barry Richards, Sobers was “the only 360-degree player in the game” -- from his backlift to follow-through, the bat traversed a perfect and complete circle.
His style was based on the solid mastery of his back foot in perfect level with the off stump, telling him which balls could be left alone and which had to be played. His majestic drives through the off-side and his cuts, pulls and hooks, took aggression to its watermark but was still refined.
Sobers possessed an unparalleled variety as a bowler, bowling fast, fast-medium, spin and chinaman. He could be even faster than Wes Hall, with bouncer more difficult to pick since it involved no change in his action. His natural ball was the inswinger, which moved a long way. His outswinger could straighten or leave the bat just enough to nick an edge.
As a fielder, Sobers was brilliant in the slips, and razor fast in the covers, but it was at backward short leg and leg-slip that he revealed flexibility of a gymnast.

Cricketing career

For the first three years or so he was mediocre, with only one half-century to show in his first 15 innings. Sobers had an unhappy New Zealand tour, a country where Sobers never quite flourished. England in 1957 was a nightmare for West Indies but Sobers redeemed himself with scores of 39 and 42 out of totals of 86 and 89 respectively, in most challenging batting conditions.
At the end of the second home Test against Pakistan in 1958, Sobers accumulated just moderate returns. His 16 Tests had brought him 856 runs at 34.24 and 21 wickets at 40.33. Sadly he was badly undone by umpiring decisions in Pakistan, getting the wrong side f the stock on three occasions.
In 1957-58 Sobers, sent in at number three and with Conrad Hunte added 446 for the second wicket and breaking the then world record score of Len Hutton, reminiscent of climbing an unconquered mountain peak. He ended unbeaten on 365, and it stood for 36 years as the highest individual innings in Test cricket. It took him 614 minutes. It enabled West Indies to amass their highest ever test score in history-790-3. In that series Sobers aggregated 824 runs averaging 137.33, scoring 3 centuries.
In 1958-59 Gary was most prolific in India, scoring tons of runs an averaging 99.8., scoring 3 centuries and 5 fifties taking apart great spinner Subhash Gupte.
In the 1960-61 tour to Australia in the first ever tied Test in Brisbane Sobers when scoring 132, transcended batting virtuosity to peak possibly unscaled in Australia, bisecting gaps in an unbelievable manner. Alan Davidson remarked that it was the greatest he had ever seen in Australia. A most artistic 168 followed at Sydney, and in the final Test at Melbourne he hit 64 before bowling 44 overs, 41 of them unchanged, to capture 5 for 120 in front of a record crowd of 90,800.
He was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1964, for his 332 runs and 20 wickets during the historic England tour of 1963. Sobers captured 20 wickets at 28.55 and scored at an average of 40.
In 1966 in England Sobers scaled the highest peak in allround cricketing performance, scoring 722 runs with 3 hundreds at 103.14, capturing 20 wickets at 27.25 and holding 10 catches. Never did a cricketer in test matches in an English season as mercilessly subjugate the opposition with both bat and ball. His 273-run partnership at Lords with his team trailing 86 runs behind and reeling at 95-5, with cousin David Holford, was one of cricket’s most memorable evers. The third hundred, 174 at Leeds, constituted an all-time classic, scored in 240 minutes with 24 boundaries, with 103 scored between lunch and tea. He proceeded to capture 5 for 41 in the first England innings, ending it with a spell of 3 for 0 from 7 balls. He staggered back to take 3 for 39 in the second as the rubber was secured. In
In 1958-59 Gary was most prolific in India, scoring tons of runs an averaging 99.8., scoring 3 centuries and 5 fifties taking apart great spinner Subhash Gupte.
In 1964-65 Sobers average 39.11at home against Australia, when his side won. It also marked Sober’s debut as test captain, with West Indies winning their first ever series against Australia by a 2-1 margin. In a series in India in 1966 he averaged above 114 and captured 14 wickets at average of around 25.
In 1967-68 v England I rank his 113 at Kingston in the 2nd test, on a broken track, amongst the best ever innings on bad wicket, reminiscent of a man gardening in a desert.
In 1968-69 in Australia he scored 2 centuries averaging 49.7 and took 18 wickets at 14.72, when his side was defeated 3-1. At Brisbane he captured a career best, 6-73, a masterly exhibition of combined seam and spin bowling.
In 1970 representing rest of the world in England v MCC, Sobers amassed 588 runs, averaging 73.50 and captured 21 scalps averaging around 21, taking all round cricketing prowess to an unparalleled height. In single game at Lords he captured 6-21 and scored 183.
In 1971-72 against Australia at Melbourne, playing for rest of the World, when amassing 254 Sobers took perfection in batting skill and domination to a height possibly never scaled in Australia.. Gary resurrected his team from the grave, who were tottering.
In 1970-71 against India at home, Sobers amassed 697 runs, averaging 74.62, including 2 unbeaten centuries. Still West Indies lost the series.
Sadly he was badly undone by umpiring decisions in Pakistan; getting the wrong side f the stick on three occasions. He averaged a mere 32 in Pakistan, which is noteworthy.
Strangely Gary was hardly prolific in New Zealand, where he averaged only 15 runs.
In 1973, in his last series in England, Sobers bid farewell in cavalier style, averaging over 76, and scoring an unbeaten 150 in is final innings.
He retired in 1974, after the fifth test at Port of Spain against England, in a series where he hardly made an impact, averaging only 20.
Sobers career execution of six sixes of Malcolm Nash at Swansea, playing for Nottinghamshire, defied all conventions of batting bio mechanics. The 6 balls were flung over mid on, mid-wicket, mid –off and square leg, long off and finally to the Swansea town hall-a fitting end! Malcolm Nash remembers. 50 years later Nash recalled how in spite of bowling a delivery on length Sobers flung the ball over long on, how a quick seamer was hoisted over midwicket and a ball given more air was dispatched to the fielder at long off, who overbalanced when catching it beyond the boundary rope, for the ball to be declared a six.

Evaluation of Gary Sobers

Gary Sobers ended his test career scoring 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78 and captured 235 wickets at an average of 34.03 in 93 tests. He also took 109 catches. Adding unofficial games for rest of the world Sobers scored 8620 runs at 58,63, and captured 256 wickets at 33.01.In terms of pure averages he is the best ever allrounder , but is superseded by Jacques Kallis, in terms of runs and wickets aggregate. Kallis has taken 292 wickets at 32. 65 and scored 13,289 runs at 55.37. In addition, Kallis has 273 ODI scalps and 11,579 runs.
In first class cricket Sobers aggregated 28,314 runs, scoring 86 centuries, averaging a remarkable 54.87.He also captured 1043 wickets at an average of 27.74.It must be noted that Sobers played highly competitive country cricket in Australia for Sheffield Shield and in England for Nottinghamshire.
To me, figures do not illustrate Sobers’s towering supremacy over other contemporaries, or extent to which he was head and shoulders above any allrounder,in test cricketing history.
In peak periods possibly Ian Botham ,Imran Khan and Keith Miller could be as explosive match-winners, but overall never challenged Sobers’s phenomenal consistency of impact. Arguably, at peak all three were closest to Sobers.

Sobers ended his test career scoring 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78 and captured 235 wickets at an average of 34.03 in 93 tests

Praiseworthy that Sobers averaged 77.42 in games won and scored 12 centuries. He captured 104 wickets at an average of around 24 in tests won, which is also remarkable. In both departments he has outclassed modern giant Jacques Kallis, as a pure match-winner. Kallis had better allround statistics but could not turn the complexion of game like Sobers. To date Sobers is the only allrounder ever to score 300 runs and take 20 wickets in a test series on 3 occasions.

In his peak period Sobers took all-round cricketing supremacy to regions unparalleled. From 1961 to 1968, Sobers scored 3,106 runs at 63.38 with 9 hundreds and captured 125 wickets at 27.93 with every type of bowling with five fours. During this period he held 60 catches as well. All this accomplished in just 33 Tests.
Sobers is a strong candidate for the 2nd best test batsmen of all time, to Bradman, when you compare his batting average or consistency to that of Brian Lara, or even Sachin Tendulkar. Both the Chappell brothers, Ian and Greg, rate him the best batsmen they ever saw. Sobers dealt with truly great bowlers like Alan Davidson, Fred Trueman or Subash Gupte. From the 1958 Kingston test against Pakistan till the end of his career, Sobers scored 7,176 runs in 77 Tests at 62.94 with 26 hundreds.
Sobers does not have an outstanding bowling average like Imran or Hadlee, or Botham or Kapil Dev’s staggering haul. However we must remember again that in peak era he average around 27, capturing 4 wickets per test. Strike rates were also comparatively low in that period and Sobers had to compete with the likes of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffiths. Sobers could bowl almost as fast and effectively as Wasim Akram and Alan Davidson.
When ranking 100 greatest ever cricketers , John Woodcock, Cristopher Martin Jenkins rate him in 3rd place to Bradman and WG Grace, while David Gower places him only next to Bradman. In Richard Sydenham’s books of all-time team selections by former cricketers Sobers won 73 votes for a place in the all time XI, 20 more than Bradman. In test cricket, I rate Sobers the best cricketer ever, who could as an all-round cricketer morally turn the complexion of the game than Bradman could do as a batsman.
What went against Sobers was his record as a Skipper. He lost series as captain, at home against England in 1967-68, in Australia in 1968-69 and at home against India in 1970. Sobers won only 3 series as a skipper out of a total of nine in which he lead his country. Still commendable that he averaged close to 59; in the 39 tests he led West Indies.

Other side of Sobers

Sobers, above all, upheld the sporting spirit of the game, and always walked when he knew he was out. To me although his team lost, his declaration against England at Trinidad n 1967-68 was victory for sport. This is in a complete contrast to cricketers today.
There existed not the slightest touch of arrogance or conceit in Sobers, for whom cricket was to be game enjoyed to the fullest.
I am critical that Sobers undertook the tour of Rhodesia, not openly speaking against the apartheid and remained silent on the rebel tour of West Indies cricket to South Africa in 1982. Gary supported Kerry Packer World series cricket, as it endorsed more money for cricketers.
Sobers ranks Sunil Gavaskar the best batsmen he ever played with or against, and in his day he ranked Rohan Kanhai, Dexter and Everton Weekes as the best he ever saw. Sobers rated Frank Worrell and Ian Chappell as the best ever captains.
It was arguably unfair that he did not award the status of great to batsmen like Peter May, David Gower and Greg Chappell. He also underestimated greatness of Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, claiming the latter 2 hardly proved themselves in International Cricket. Gary also does not rate Glen Mcgrath in the very top bracket, where he places Wes Hall, Dennis Lillee or Fred Trueman.He places Subhash Gupte superior of Shane Warne as a spinner. Arguably Sobers overrates cricketers of his era and is not too generous to the modern greats.
Gary was also an avid golfer and lover of Horse racing. He was a profuse gambler in cricket and racing.
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*Freelance journalist