Garfield Sobers

(Garry Sobers, Sir Garfield Sobers)

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Born
1936-07-28
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Bridgetown, Barbados

Died
2026-08-17 (Aged 90)
Saint Michael, Barbados

Position
All-Rounder

Status
Deceased

Ethnicity
Black

Team Number

Height
5 ft 11 in (180 cm)

Outfitter

Kit

Side
Left

Wage Year

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Archive

Full Body Render

Sport

Cricket

Team
_Deceased Cricket

League
_No League Cricket

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Yes

Description

The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers (28 July 1936 – 17 July 2026), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, was a Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled and aggressive batsman, a versatile bowler and an excellent fielder, he is widely considered to be cricket's greatest ever all-rounder and one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

Born in Bridgetown, Barbados, Sobers made his first-class debut for the Barbados cricket team at the age of 16 in 1953, and his Test debut for the West Indies the following year. Originally playing mainly as a bowler, he was soon promoted up the batting order. Against Pakistan in 1958, Sobers scored his maiden Test century, progressing to 365 not out and establishing a new record for the highest individual score in an innings. His record was not broken until Brian Lara scored 375 in 1994. Sobers was made captain of the West Indies in 1965, a role which he held until 1972. He also captained a Rest of the World XI during their 1970 tour of England.

Overall, Sobers played 93 Tests for the West Indies, scoring 8032 runs at an average of 57.78, and taking 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He has the fifth-highest batting average in Test cricket in the list of cricketers with more than 5,000 runs. In his 383 first-class matches, he scored over 28,000 runs and took over 1000 wickets, having spent time with South Australia and Nottinghamshire towards the end of his career. Sobers was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 for his services to cricket. He became a dual Barbadian-Australian citizen through marriage in 1980. By an act of Parliament in 1998, Sobers was named as one of the eleven National Heroes of Barbados. In 2009, Sobers was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.