The Welcome Party and an evening
with Sir Garfield Sobers
CSSC London vice chairman Ian Hughes welcomed the competitors
and thanked Sir Garfield and "Barbados" for hosting our
third competition.
Generally accepted as the greatest living cricketing genius,
Garry Sobers excelled at all aspects of the game, and few would
argue
the claim that he is the finest all round player in modern
cricket. His
exceptional Test batting average tells little about the manner
in which he made the runs, his elegant yet powerful style
marked by
all the shots, but memorably his off-side play. As a batsman
he was great, as a bowler, merely superb. He would have made
the West
Indies
side as a bowler alone. He was remarkably versatile with
the ball, bowling two styles of spin - left-arm orthodox and wrist
spin,
but was also a fine fast-medium opening bowler. His catching
close to
the wicket may have been equalled but never surpassed, and
he was a brilliant fielder anywhere. He was an enterprising captain
-
at times maybe too enterprising, as when a generous declaration
allowed
England to win a decisive match at Port-of-Spain. Born with
an extra finger on each hand (removed at birth), Sobers excelled
at
most athletic
activities, playing golf, soccer and bastketball for Barbados,
and made his first class debut at the age of 16, appearing
in Tests a
year later. He was played initially mostly as a bowler, but
four years later set the Test record for an individual batsman
with
a mammoth 365 against Pakistan. His achievments are numerous
- including
the six consecutive sixes hit off an over from the unfortunate
Malcolm Nash, a superb innings of 254 for the Rest of the
World against Australia
in 1971 that earned the praise of Don Bradman, and much more.
Like many West Indians, he plied his trade abroad, playing for
Nottinghamshire,
and South Australia. He was knighted for his services to
cricket in 1975.
