Sir Garry Sobers, the legendary West Indies allrounder and one of the sport’s most towering icons, has died at his home in Barbados. He was 89 years old.

Widely regarded by many as the greatest allrounder and most gifted cricketer to have played the game, Sobers excelled as Test batter, could bowl left-arm pace as well as orthodox and wrist-spin, and he was an exceptional fielder and close-in catcher – attributes that once led his fellow all-timer, Sir Donald Bradman, to describe him as a “five-in-one cricketer”. Sobers played 93 Test matches for West Indies between 1954 and 1974, scoring 8032 runs at an average of 57.78 and took 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He also captained West Indies in 39 Tests between 1965 and 1972, winning nine and losing 10. The ICC’s premier annual award in men’s cricket – the Sir Garfield Sobers Award – is named in his honour and recognises the most outstanding overall performer in men’s international cricket across all formats. Sobers made his first-class cricket debut at the age of 16, against the touring India team in January 1953, and excelled with four first-innings wickets to help his side enforce the follow-on. His Test debut followed a year later, against England in Jamaica, where he scored 14 and 26 from No.9 and took 4 for 75 in England’s first innings. He played his initial Tests as a bowler, but at the age of 23 he scored his maiden Test hundred and also broke Len Hutton’s world record for the highest individual Test score by making 365 against Pakistan at Sabina Park in 1958. It was a record that stood until 1994, when it was broken by Brian Lara, an achievement Sobers was on hand to witness and celebrate...Read more