West Indies legend Sobers dies, aged 89

West Indies cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers has died at the age of 89. 

Perhaps modern cricket's finest allrounder, Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, who died just 11 days short of his 90th birthday, was an elegant left-handed batsman, a versatile bowler, a brilliant fielder and a respected captain.

Sobers, widely regarded as one of the finest cricketers ever to play the game, played for the West Indies for 20 years, making both his first and last Test appearances in 1954 and 1974 respectively against England.

Born in Barbados, he played 93 Tests for the Windies, scoring 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78 and took 235 wickets at an average of 34.03.

Sobers spent three summers representing South Australia in the Sheffield Shield, between 1961-62 and 1963-64. His third summer in Australian domestic cricket saw him put together perhaps the greatest all-round season in the competition's history as he scored 973 runs and claimed 47 wickets in South Australia's title-winning season. Sobers averaged 74.85 with the bat and 27.60 with the ball that summer. In the 133-years since the competition began, only one other reached the 900 runs - 30 wickets double for a season (Beau Webster's 938-run and 30-wicket effort in 2003-04).

He burst on to the scene with Barbados, making his first-class debut as a 16-year-old before being elevated to the West Indies ranks a year later, although he was 23 by the time he registered his first Test century, a world record 365 against Pakistan. That was the highest score in Test cricket for 36 years until Brian Lara bettered it. 

Initially selected as a bowler, an injury to a teammate saw Sobers elevated to open against the touring Australians in the fourth Test of the 1955 series, in his home town of Barbados, where he promptly smacked the opening three balls he faced from Keith Miller to the boundary. Repeating the dose in the bowler's second over, he hit a total of 10 fours in his 43 runs in an opening stand of 52. 

Sobers made a century on the opening day of the famous Tied Test between Australia and West Indies in Brisbane in 1960, hitting 132. In all he hit four of his 26 Test centuries against the Australians, all of them in Australia, with a best of 168 in Sydney in 1961.

In 1971-72, Sobers captained a World XI that played a five-match series against Australia after a Test tour of Australia was cancelled. Not Test matches, they were first-class cricket and included an incredible second-innings 254 from Sobers at the MCG in January 1972 that Don Bradman called "probably the greatest innings ever played on Australian soil". 

"It was an incredible innings full of the most savage power, the most brilliant shots, the most delicate placements," said Bradman, who commentated on the match. 

When Sobers played his last Test, in 1974, he had the most runs in the format ever, with 8,032, having hit 26 Test hundreds. That total has been passed by many since, yet among those with at least 5,000 Test runs, only Bradman, Ken Barrington and Wally Hammond have a better average than Sobers' Test mark of 57.78. 

In his 383 first-class matches, Sobers scored 28,314 runs at 54.87 and claimed 1,043 wickets at 27.74 and was remarkable in his ability to bowl either left-arm orthodox or wrist spin, as well as taking the new ball with fast-medium pace. His best return in first-class cricket was 9-49, while he claimed a Test five-wicket haul six times.

He was also an exceptional fielder and noted for being a safe pair of hands in the slips. He held 109 catches in his Test career.

"In the story of cricket, there are great players. There are champions. Then, there are those rare individuals who redefine the very meaning of greatness," said Kishore Shallow, president of Cricket West Indies.

"Sir Garfield Sobers was the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen. His mastery of batting, bowling and fielding was unparalleled, but his true significance reached far beyond the boundary ropes."

Sobers is perhaps best remembered in England, where we spent six seasons with Nottinghamshire from 1968 to 1974, for the six successive sixes he hit in a single over from Glamorgan's Malcolm Nash.

News of Sobers' death sparked an outpouring of warmth for a cricketer who transcended national loyalties.

Cricket Australia said: "We join the cricketing world in mourning the death of Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the game's greatest players and a significant contributor to Australian Cricket, including in his time as a player for South Australia. Our deepest condolences to his family, friends and teammates at this sad time."

There were tributes too from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which said: "The BCCI mourns the passing of Sir Garfield Sobers, a true icon of the game and one of cricket's greatest ever allrounders.

"His extraordinary achievements, lasting influence on Caribbean cricket and immeasurable contribution to the global game have left an enduring legacy that will continue to inspire generations.

"Our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and the global cricketing fraternity. May his soul rest in peace."