Cricket commentators and administrators have paid glowing tribute to National Hero of Barbados, The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, following his death at age 89.
The global icon passed away at his home on Friday, after battling an illness.
Veteran commentator Joseph Reds Pereira remembers Sobers, whom he had the privilege of watching play on several occasions. Later in life, the pair became good friends off the field.
Pereira said: “I was a young boy hooked on cricket. I managed to stay up and listen to the 1961 opening Test when Sobers scored that brilliant 132. It was an amazing display, some amazing commentary, and just listening to it brought home a very special performance.
“The first time I actually saw Sobers was in 1955… it started with a couple of shots through the offside and looking to drive Ian Johnson, the ball hit Billy Watson hard on his instep and the ball then jumped towards Ian Johnson, who caught it.”
The pair would grow closer in the years following Sobers’ retirement.
“I also got to know Sobers as a person in 1978 when I was invited by the Kerry Packer organisation to go up to Australia for the second Kerry Packer series. By then he was a very relaxed ambassador for the Caribbean. He would simply say, Reds, I want to play golf tomorrow. What time are we going to fly?”
Pereira shared a favourite moment of Sobers batting alongside another West Indies legend:
“When I go back to the one time I saw Sobers and Rohan Kanhai batting, it was at Bourda in Guyana, and it was like royalty walking out together. He was truly a giant of the game.”
The news of Sir Garry’s passing broke as the annual Sir Garfield Sobers Under-19 Cricket Tournament was underway at grounds across the island, including at Queen’s College, where co-ordinator Ricky Clarke described the news as very hard to take:
“I was privileged to be involved in a lot of his early exploits on and off the field. I am quoted in National Geographic all the way back in 1982 about the grace of the man. That grace of Sir Garry transcends so many things that I’ve recognised and seen in his life.
“Back in 1991 when Sir Garry invited me to be part of this tournament,
it was an extreme honour because I got the opportunity to sit and have jovial conversations, cricketing conversations, life conversations. It was unreal, and his passing this morning has really affected me a lot.”
The administrator reflected on the competition’s legacy, noting that Sobers took a hands-on approach, which has in turn helped to nurture several generations of players.
“You talk about some of the great players, and when he put this tournament together, we were able to have the honour of players like Brian Lara from Fatima College to come through and play. There were so many other great players, especially out of the UK as well, that were part of this tournament, and his thoughts and the brain behind the man was just great.
Clarke said there could be no debate that Sobers was indeed “ the greatest of all time, on and off the field”.
He added: “He had all the grace and the touch of a human being, and no wonder he became one of our national heroes because it’s extremely fitting for him to have that honour, but it’s now really sad for me today to know that he’s passed.”
Commentator Wayne Holder expressed his regret that the national hero “did not get to bat into his 90’s”, with his death occurring just 11 days before his 90th birthday.
He also described the news of the death of Sobers as devastating:
“When the news came and fully hit me, I felt as if I had lost a close family member, because when you think of The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, you think of the Barbados family and we as a community, we as a country, as a nation, have lost a very important and monumental part of the Bajan family.
“It is a sad day and although we know that death is inevitable, we are never actually prepared for it and in this case, I think it is a really sad occasion and the country is going to be poorer for his passing.”
Reflecting on the humble nature of Sobers despite his stature as a giant of the game, Holder reflected on their first interaction, which occurred decades ago in Baxters Road.
The pair had a chance encounter at Enid’s Bar in the early hours of the morning, where both had gone in search of patties.
“I saw the gentleman, and I approached him and asked if I may introduce myself to him, because I had identified him as a hero of mine who I looked up to. Since then, because of my involvement with cricket, we would have come across each other on various occasions, and as we say in Barbados, he never passed me ever since.”
President of Maple Cricket Club, Andy Payne, a product of the Sir Garfield Sobers Schools Competition, had several fond memories of Sobers off the field of play, noting the iconic former batsman as a fan, player and organiser in golf:
“As a player who… represented Barbados in golf from as far back as the 70’s and even after 2010, he was still very much involved in golf in and around Barbados. He also had the Sir Garfield Sobers Festival of Golf, of which he was a patron.
“I can recall being employed in the tourism industry, and there was a time I struggled to get time to play cricket, but on one occasion Sir Garry would have batted for me in terms of getting me the opportunity to play.
He would have gone to the employers and said, look, this is one of our junior players up and coming. He should be afforded the opportunity to play on the domestic circuit.”
Payne echoed the sentiments of the entire cricket fraternity when asked to sum up the impact of Sobers and his legacy.
“Obviously, he was awarded a knighthood, and he’s lived that life and had that legacy. For all he’s done for the sport and tourism, he’s the greatest of all time. That’s all I can really say.”
Sobers represented the West Indies between 1954 and 1974 and, for more than 36 years, held the record for the highest individual Test score after making an unbeaten 365 against Pakistan in 1958.
He played 93 Test matches for the West Indies, scoring 8 032 runs at an average of 57.78 and taking 235 wickets at an average of 34.03.
He also made history in 1968 when he became the first batsman to hit six sixes in a single over in first-class cricket while captaining Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan.
(KH)
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