(born
July 28 ,
1936 in
Bridgetown ,
Barbados ), often known as '''Garry Sobers''' (though earlier in his life he preferred the spelling '''Gary'''), is a former
West Indies Cricket er, widely regarded as the greatest all-rounder (batsman and bowler) the game has ever seen. He was born with two
Extra Fingers , one on each hand, which were removed at birth. He also excelled at other
Sport s, and played
Golf ,
Football ,
Basketball ,
Table Tennis and
Dominoes for Barbados.
''Garry Sobers: My Autobiography'' - book review at Amazon,com He is universally regarded as one of the most exceptional players ever to grace the game.
Sobers was a true
All-rounder , he both
Batted and
Bowled , and was also an outstanding
Fielder , usually fielding close to the wicket. With the ball, Sobers performed superbly, taking 235
Test wickets at an
Average of 34.03. He bowled
Left-arm Orthodox Spin ,
Left-arm Unorthodox Spin , and also left-arm
Fast-medium . Sobers was also exceptionally talented with the bat, with a career Test
Batting Average of 57.78. He scored a then-record 8032 runs in his career. He played his last Test in
1974 against England, in
Trinidad .
Sobers played his first Test Match in
1953 , aged only 17. Just under five years later, in
1958 , Sobers set a
Test Cricket Record by scoring 365 runs in 614 minutes, in a single innings that included 38 fours and, interestingly, not one six against
Pakistan . It was his first Test century, and a record which stood for over 36 years. The record has since been surpassed by
Brian Lara , also of the West Indies, who scored 375 and 400 not out in 1994 and 2004 respectively,
Matthew Hayden of
Australia who scored 380 in 2003, and
Mahela Jayawardene of
Sri Lanka who scored 374 in 2006. However, Sobers' innings still remains the highest maiden Test century ever.
In 1968, Sobers became the first ever against
Glamorgan in
Swansea ; the unfortunate bowler was
Malcolm Nash . This tally of 36 runs off an over beat a 57 year-old record of 34 runs, held by
Ted Alletson . The feat of six sixes in an over has since been matched twice.
Ravi Shastri completed the only other first-class instance, playing for
Bombay against
Baroda in 1984. In an ODI match during the
2007 Cricket World Cup in the
West Indies ,
South African Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes off an over against the
Netherlands .
In
1975 ,
Queen Elizabeth II awarded Sobers a
Knighthood for his services to the sport.
He is the author of a children's novel about cricket, ''Bonaventure and the Flashing Blade'', in which computer analysis helps a university cricket team become unbeatable.
In
2000 , Sobers was named by a 100-member panel of experts as one of the five ''
Wisden Cricketers Of The Century ''. Sobers received 90 votes out of a possible 100. The other four cricketers selected for the honour were
Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes - out of 100 possible),
Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes),
Shane Warne (27 votes) and
Sir Vivian Richards (25 votes).
He was made a National Hero of
Barbados by Prime Minister
Owen Arthur in 1999.
He has two sons, Matthew and Daniel, and a daughter, Genevieve.
Cricketer Information
| |
383
|
| |
28,314
|
| |
5487
|
| |
86/121
|
| |
365
|
| |
70,789
|
| |
1,043
|
| |
2774
|
| |
36
|
| |
1
|
| |
9/49
|
| |
407
|
| |
95
|
| |
2,721
|
| |
3832
|
| |
1/18
|
| |
116
|
| |
4,387
|
| |
109
|
| |
2195
|
| |
1
|
| |
5/43
|
| |
41
|
| |
24 June
|
| |
2005
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|
