Biography of Cricketer Garry Sobers Sir Garry Sobers was Born on the tropical island of Barbados, in the working-class Bayland district, Garry Sobers grew up within a ball’s throw of the glittering Caribbean Sea where the gritty sandbanks became his first pitch and make-shift bats and balls his first tools of the game.
Sir Garry Sobers was Born on the tropical island of Barbados, in the working-class Bayland district, Garry Sobers grew up within a ball’s throw of the glittering Caribbean Sea where the gritty sandbanks became his first pitch and make-shift bats and balls his first tools of the game.
At age six, his father, John Shamont Sobers, a merchant seaman, was killed when his ship the CNS Lady Hawkins was torpedoed during World War II. He was raised single-handedly with his brothers and sisters by his stalwart mother, Thelma.
When it came to sport, the young Garry Sobers was a natural. It was this innate ability that was to propel him from his modest beginnings to the imposing world stage as the greatest all-rounder to have ever taken up bat and ball.
In 1975, Garfield Sobers was knighted by HRM Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding services to cricket. In 2003 as a naturalised Australian, he was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia, the highest Honour afforded to a citizen of that country. The greatest honour for him personally however, was in being named one of ten outstanding citizens from throughout the history of his Island home Barbados to be named a National Hero, by then Prime Minister Owen Arthur.
SIR GARRY: THE CRICKETER AND THE MAN
Sir Garry’s journey from his humble roots in the Bayland, Barbados, to his knighthood at age 39, reflects the supreme dedication and will to achieve that was to elevate him as champion of his sport — not in his time but for all time. None can argue that a more complete cricketer from any nation has ever equaled his genius on the field.
As a batsman he played 93 Test Matches scored 8,032 runs with 26 centuries including 365 not out in 1958 at the age of 21 against Pakistan, a record that stood for 36 years. It was the first century of his test career. As a bowler he took 235 Test Wickets, on the field 109 catches. In his first class career for Barbados, Nottinghamshire and South Australia, he scored a combined 28,315 runs, took 1,043 wickets and an untold amount of classic catches. He was the first batsman to score six successive sixes from every ball in one over, off the bowling of Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash in Swansea in 1968.
Today, Sir Garry lives in Barbados where he works for the Barbados Board of Tourism as their sports consultant and unofficial ambassador for Barbados. Mixing business with pleasure wherever he can both abroad and at home, Sir Garry can often be seen teeing off at one of his home golf clubs, Country Club at Sandy Lane. He is one of only ten outstanding Barbadians in history to receive the accolade of National Hero. Today, he is Barbados’s only living National Hero.
Sir Garry never forgets a face. In spite of his rise to stardom he is a man of humility, no more overwhelmed by people in high places than he is by the local boys with whom he grew up. On the same night, he has been known to dine with royalty then seek out the sweet and sultry, late-night jazz joints, or meet with friends to share jokes and hot chicken on the vibrant back streets of Bridgetown.
Sir Garry lives by example, welcoming people to his island home, Barbados, where a joke and a grin are never far away. The player etiquette and good humour he exhibited on the field is reflected in a graciousness displayed in his everyday life; such personal attributes have earned him a reputation not only as a gentle man, but a gentleman.
There have been many a great batsman. There have been outstanding bowlers and top class fieldsmen.
But there is only one Garry Sobers!
At age six, his father, John Shamont Sobers, a merchant seaman, was killed when his ship the CNS Lady Hawkins was torpedoed during World War II. He was raised single-handedly with his brothers and sisters by his stalwart mother, Thelma.
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| Garry Sobers |
When it came to sport, the young Garry Sobers was a natural. It was this innate ability that was to propel him from his modest beginnings to the imposing world stage as the greatest all-rounder to have ever taken up bat and ball.
In 1975, Garfield Sobers was knighted by HRM Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding services to cricket. In 2003 as a naturalised Australian, he was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia, the highest Honour afforded to a citizen of that country. The greatest honour for him personally however, was in being named one of ten outstanding citizens from throughout the history of his Island home Barbados to be named a National Hero, by then Prime Minister Owen Arthur.
SIR GARRY: THE CRICKETER AND THE MAN
Sir Garry’s journey from his humble roots in the Bayland, Barbados, to his knighthood at age 39, reflects the supreme dedication and will to achieve that was to elevate him as champion of his sport — not in his time but for all time. None can argue that a more complete cricketer from any nation has ever equaled his genius on the field.
As a batsman he played 93 Test Matches scored 8,032 runs with 26 centuries including 365 not out in 1958 at the age of 21 against Pakistan, a record that stood for 36 years. It was the first century of his test career. As a bowler he took 235 Test Wickets, on the field 109 catches. In his first class career for Barbados, Nottinghamshire and South Australia, he scored a combined 28,315 runs, took 1,043 wickets and an untold amount of classic catches. He was the first batsman to score six successive sixes from every ball in one over, off the bowling of Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash in Swansea in 1968.
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| Garry Sobers career graph |
Today, Sir Garry lives in Barbados where he works for the Barbados Board of Tourism as their sports consultant and unofficial ambassador for Barbados. Mixing business with pleasure wherever he can both abroad and at home, Sir Garry can often be seen teeing off at one of his home golf clubs, Country Club at Sandy Lane. He is one of only ten outstanding Barbadians in history to receive the accolade of National Hero. Today, he is Barbados’s only living National Hero.
Sir Garry never forgets a face. In spite of his rise to stardom he is a man of humility, no more overwhelmed by people in high places than he is by the local boys with whom he grew up. On the same night, he has been known to dine with royalty then seek out the sweet and sultry, late-night jazz joints, or meet with friends to share jokes and hot chicken on the vibrant back streets of Bridgetown.
Sir Garry lives by example, welcoming people to his island home, Barbados, where a joke and a grin are never far away. The player etiquette and good humour he exhibited on the field is reflected in a graciousness displayed in his everyday life; such personal attributes have earned him a reputation not only as a gentle man, but a gentleman.
There have been many a great batsman. There have been outstanding bowlers and top class fieldsmen.
But there is only one Garry Sobers!
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