Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the greatest all-rounders to have represented the West Indies team, passed away yesterday. Born on July 28, 1936 in Saint Michael, Barbados, British West Indies, he passed away 11 days before his 90th birthday, the West Indies Cricket Board announced this morning.
In addition to the West Indies team, Garfield Sobers represented the Barbados team, Nottinghamshire in England and South Australia in his cricket career, scoring 8032 runs in 93 Test matches. In addition, he held the record for the highest Test scorer in the world for a long time, scoring 365 runs in a Test innings. Brian Lara later broke Sobers’ record.
He played 93 Test matches and scored 8032 runs in 160 innings. The highest score was 365, which Sobers did not concede on 21 occasions.
As a bowler, he bowled 21,599 balls in 159 innings in 93 Test matches, conceding 7999 runs and taking 235 wickets. Sobers played an ODI against England on 5 September 1973, taking 1 wicket for 31 runs off 63 balls. Sabers did not score as a batsman in that match. England won the match by one wicket. It was Garfield Sobers’ first and last ODI.
In August 1968, Sobers, playing for Nottinghamshire, set a world record by hitting six sixes in an over bowled by Glamorgan bowler Malcolm Nash.
Queen Elizabeth II knighted Sobers in 1975 for his services to cricket.
Garfield Sobers played a significant role in the development of Sri Lankan cricket, including as coach of the Sri Lankan team that participated in the 1983 Prudential World Cup.