The greatest all-round cricketer that ever was and may ever be. As a tribute on his 80th birthday we invited his team-mates, opponents and observers to share their memories of Garry Sobers. Bottom line: he was a genius like no other (and loads of fun too).
Everton Weekes, former West Indies batsman
I have seen Garry Sobers since he was a 12-year-old boy growing up in Barbados. I had only started playing for West Indies then. Soon after that he joined us in the West Indies dressing room as a 17-year-old youngster. I remember him saying he was more nervous sitting in the dressing room than running around the field because of seeing himself sit next to the name players.
We never had to teach him anything. He taught himself. He started making runs, taking wickets and holding catches to overcome that nervousness.
The only thing I once told him is when we were batting together in England. Frank Tyson, who was supposed to be the fastest bowler in the world at the time, was bowling to Garry, who had a very high backlift. I told him to be careful otherwise Tyson could get him with a yorker. Oh yes, he survived.
A lot of people thought of Sobers as a natural who just played the game and did not think a hell of a lot about what he did. But he was very thoughtful. In fact, once, Mosman, the club in Sydney, was looking for a coach and the president had dinner with him and said, “Garry, we would love to have you as a coach, but you haven’t got the qualifications.” Garry said to him: “What did you think I got my knighthood for?”
He helped me a lot with my batting when I was an 18-year-old kid. I said to him, “I’ve obviously got a bit of a problem here, Garry. Have you got any suggestions?” He said, “Go get a bottle of beer, son. And I will talk to you.” He told me three things in those very early days and I did them for the rest of my career and they were a big help. He told me to take a leg-stump guard instead of middle, because I got back and across, same as him. He said also because I went back and across, I’d be better off batting just a little bit out of the crease instead of batting one foot either side of the crease. I don’t remember the third thing now, but it was helpful.