Sobers at 82: Still on top of game
As I chatted to Sir Garfield Sobers, the greatest all-rounder to have graced the game, I couldn’t help thinking of a quote from Fred Trueman, one of his toughest adversaries. Trueman described Sobers as possessing ‘‘a great cricketing brain’’ with ‘‘thought processes that are lightning quick’’.
For more than 30 minutes that great brain was in full flight, Sobers lighting up our conversation with keen observations about those he played with and against, and the way that cricket has evolved over the past half-century. But he was, perhaps, most fascinating on his own development as a person and cricketer, railing against the tendency today towards identikit players who are overcoached and overanalysed.
‘‘I never had a coach. I learnt by watching. I watched players like [Everton] Weekes and [Frank] Worrell. I wouldn’t just clap when they were scoring fours or sixes, I would look at the way they played and figure out how they had become great players,’’ said Sobers, now 82.
‘‘I think a lot of coaches take away from the natural abilities of the player. They give too many instructions, too much information. They talk about what they think is correct rather than trying to understand the player as an individual.’’
The more Sobers talked, the more I glimpsed his vision of cricket as a game of creativity and self-expression. He talked about the importance of ‘‘improvisation’’ and ‘‘inventiveness’’. Above all, he worried that modern coaching has become too didactic, ironing out idiosyncrasies rather than nurturing them.
‘‘The opponent I admired the most was probably Ted Dexter,’’ Sobers said. ‘‘A lot of Englishmen played with bat and pad. They would have the bat very close to the pad when playing a shot because that is how they had been coached.
‘‘Dexter had the courage to play with the bat. He was like a West Indian in that regard. He did his own thing and played to his strengths. And when he got going he was very difficult to stop.’’
What about other opponents he has faced. Which bowlers impressed him most? ‘‘Probably the best was Freddie Truman. Freddie was the type with a big heart, and it didn’t matter what the conditions were like. He just kept trying.
‘‘As I went on in my career, Dennis Lillee came along. He was very quick and accurate. He wasn’t bothered about stemming the flow of runs, he was always just looking to get you out. He was very attacking, which I admired.
‘‘[Subhash] Gupte was a fine spin bowler. He had two different types of googlies. You had to watch the hand and arm closely, or spot the spin of the ball in the air.’’
Sobers retired at 38 after scoring more than 8000 test runs at an average of 57.78 and taking 235 wickets. In the Wisden player of the century poll in 2000 he received more votes than any player except Sir Donald Bradman.
He was also selected as Wisden’s leading cricketer in the world on eight occasions, between 1958 and 1970, a tally surpassed only by Bradman’s 10. No other player has received more than three selections, a testament to the position of Sobers near the very pinnacle of the game.
THE TIMES, LONDON