Garfield Sobers, West Indies all-rounder, dies at 89
Cricket West Indies announced the death of the Barbados-born great, whose 365 not out and six sixes in an over became landmarks of the sport.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Garfield Sobers, the Barbados-born West Indies cricketer regarded by many in the sport as its finest all-rounder, has died at 89. Cricket West Indies announced his death on Friday and did not give a cause.
Sobers’ career helped define West Indies cricket across two decades. According to AFP and The Associated Press, he played 93 Tests from 1954 to 1974, scoring 8,032 runs, taking 235 wickets and holding 109 catches.
Kishore Shallow, president of Cricket West Indies, said Sobers belonged among the rare players who changed how greatness was understood in cricket. Shallow called him “the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen” and said his influence reached beyond batting, bowling and fielding.
A record-breaking career
According to AFP and The Associated Press, Sobers was born Garfield St Aubrun Sobers in Bridgetown, Barbados, on July 28, 1936. He grew up in a poor family, one of seven children, and was five when his father, a merchant seaman, died at sea.
AFP and The Associated Press reported that Sobers had an extra finger on each hand at birth and learned cricket on the beach, using palm-leaf bats and balls made from rolled tar. He also played golf, football and basketball for Barbados before focusing on cricket.
Sobers made his first-class debut at 16 and was playing international cricket within a year, AFP and The Associated Press reported. He began as a left-arm slow bowler but became known for his range as a batter, his fielding and his ability to bowl both wrist spin and fast-medium pace.
His first Test century came against Pakistan in Kingston in 1958. According to AFP and The Associated Press, Sobers turned that innings into an unbeaten 365, breaking Len Hutton’s mark of 364 and becoming the youngest triple-centurion at the time.
The score stood as the Test record for 36 years until Brian Lara made 375 for West Indies against England in Antigua in 1994. Sobers later recalled encouraging Lara during the innings, saying he told him in the dressing room: “Go out and do it, man.”
Six sixes and lasting acclaim
Sobers also became the first player to hit six sixes in an over in a first-class match, doing it for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan in Swansea in 1968. He later told the BBC that people around the world kept bringing up the feat, adding that it seemed to be the only thing some remembered from his career.
Wisden placed Sobers among its five leading cricketers of the 20th century, alongside Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne. Bradman, quoted before his death in 2001, said Sobers was “the greatest cricketer of all time.”
Queen Elizabeth II knighted Sobers in 1975 for services to cricket. The International Cricket Council included him among the first inductees into its Hall of Fame in 2009.
Tributes followed Friday’s announcement. The England Cricket Board called Sobers “one of the greatest to ever play the game,” while the Board of Control for Cricket in India described him as “a true icon” and one of cricket’s leading all-rounders.
Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott wrote in The Telegraph that Sobers carried himself with quiet authority at the crease. Shallow said Sobers became “a symbol of Caribbean excellence, resilience, and possibility,” adding that his legacy would remain part of West Indies and world cricket.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.