Sobey, you beauty!

Sir Garfield Sobers is the best batsman Irsquove ever seen and thatrsquos not taking into account all the other amazing skills he possessed on the cricket fieldHe could take the new ball as a genuine swing bowler at a lively pace and then send down either wrist or finger spin He was a terrific fielder either catching in the close cordon either side of the wicket and he was just as likely to produce a direct hit with a throw on the rare occasions he occupied an infield positionAs an 18yearold kid I had the wonderful experience of watching and learning from the best cricketer in the game in the South Australia SA teamIn 196364 SA played against the touring South African side at the Adelaide Oval It was the dark days of apartheid in the Republic Garry used to bat at four for SA and when Les entered the dressing room after the toss Garry asked ldquoOkay if I bat in the West Indies cap today skiprdquo Now Les was a stickler for players wearing the SA cap I was interested in Favellrsquos response to Garryrsquos request After a few moments of thought Les said ldquoThatrsquos fine by me SobeyrdquoSizzling at Adelaide OvalGarryrsquos reaction was to smash the South African attack all over the park in making 155Throughout his magnificent knock he wore the West Indies cap proudly I always wondered about that episode because Garry was a man without prejudiceRest of the World captain Garry Sobers in full flow against Australia in 197172 Midday archivesIn 1991 Channel Nine was in the Caribbean covering the series between Australia and the West Indies I caught up with Garry in Barbados After a couple of Banks beers I asked Garry ldquoSobey do you remember when you asked Les if you could wear the West Indies cap in the game against South AfricardquoldquoYesrdquo he replied ldquoWhy did you do thatrdquo I responded ldquoWell Ianrdquo he said picking up his drink and taking a sip before he went on ldquoat that stage the South Africans hadnrsquot seen a West Indies cap and I thought it was time they had a good long look at onerdquo Pure Sobers not only a genius on the fieldIn 197172 he captained the Rest of the World RoW team that played a series against AustraliaDennis Lillee had ripped through the muchvaunted RoW batting lineup in the second international at the WACA ground Lillee had 229 off five overs when he told me ldquoIrsquom stuffed mate I canrsquot bowl another overrdquoI talked him into bowling another over because our only other quickie Graham McKenzie wasnrsquot ready to swap ends When the RoW was bowled out for 59 Dennis had finished figures of 829 off 71 oversIan ChappellSobers was one of his victims caught by Rod Marsh for a duck Dennis then got him first ball for a duck with a bouncer in the first innings of the next match at the MCG With Australia having won the Perth match to take a 10 advantage and then leading by a hundred on the first innings in Melbourne the credibility of the series was hanging by a threadThat night in the dressing rooms Garry walked over to Dennis carrying a glass of beer ldquoWell bowled sonrdquo he said clinking glasses with Lillee ldquobut just remember I can bowl bouncers too and I bat better than yourdquoThe next time the two teams gathered for a drink in the dressing rooms Garry was 130 not out As I entered their room Garry called me over He nodded to the empty seat next to him and said ldquoIan Pruersquos left merdquoPrue problemPrue was Garryrsquos Australian wife Taking a sip from my glass I replied ldquoWell Garry if thatrsquos whatrsquos pissing you off give me her number and Irsquoll call her and tell her to come home immediatelyrdquoItrsquos funny how cricketers resort to black humour in times of stress It didnrsquot work on Sobers He finished with 254 the RoW won the match and Sir Donald Bradman described Garryrsquos innings as one of the best hersquod ever seenIn 2009 I was in the UK for the T20 World Cup After a DayNight encounter we adjourned to an Indian restaurant where a friend of Sunnyrsquos Gavaskar was holding a party Sunnyrsquos friend Nat Puri is a successful businessman and the President of Nottinghamshire CCC Notts is where Sobers played for many years 1968 to 1974 During the evening we talked a lot about Garry and at around 130 am Nat had the bright idea to ring him in his London Hotel ldquoBut Natrdquo said Sunny ldquoitrsquos late Garry mightnrsquot appreciate the callrdquoNat who was enjoying himself immensely waved away the objections and called Garry Sobey received the call in reasonably good humour considering the hour and after we hung up everyone remarked on how good it was to chat with ldquoour old materdquoldquoAh yesrdquo said Farokh with a distant look in his eyes ldquoWhat about that magnificent 254 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Did you see that innings Ianrdquo ldquoF off Farokhrdquo I exploded ldquoI was the opposing captain Obviously my captaincy left a lasting impression on yourdquoA champion who was best summed up by probably the next best allrounder Keith Miller Keith was sitting watching the cricket on television with his son Denis one day When some statistics came on the screen a commentator said ldquoTherersquos Bradman the greatest cricketer of all timerdquoKeith leapt off the couch ldquoGreatest batsman of all time Bradman Greatest cricketer of all time SobersrdquoExtracted from Chappelli mdash Life Larrikins amp Cricket published by Ebury Press 2012 with permission from Ian Chappell