Garfield Sobers - Style and Technique

Style and Technique

An outstanding all-rounder, Sobers was left-handed as both batsman and bowler. His versatility enabled him to bowl all varieties of left-arm bowling from spin to fast-medium. As a fielder he was usually stationed close to the wicket but he was also a very capable outfielder.

Richie Benaud described Sobers as "the greatest all-round cricketer the world has seen". Sobers, wrote Benaud, was "a brilliant batsman, splendid fielder, particularly close to the wicket, and a bowler of extraordinary skill, whether bowling with the new ball, providing orthodox left-arm spin or over-the-wrist spin".

Fred Trueman enjoyed a great rivalry with Sobers and later described him as a "sublime left-hand batsman" who was "one of the greatest cricketers ever to have graced the game, certainly the greatest all-rounder". Trueman went on to say that Sobers as a batsman "has a great cricketing brain and his thought processes are lightning quick".

C L R James, when describing the batsmanship of Wilton St Hill, commented upon St Hill's ability to judge the ball early in its flight and so quickly decide which stroke to play. In James' view, only Don Bradman and Sobers were comparable with St Hill in having this capability of "seeing" the ball. Wisden 1969 described the "lightning footwork" of Sobers as he got into position for his stroke. Commenting upon Sobers' six sixes in an over against his team in 1968, Glamorgan captain Tony Lewis said: "It was not sheer slogging through strength, but scientific hitting with every movement working in harmony".

As a bowler, Sobers began as an orthodox left arm spinner (SLA) and later developed the ability to bowl left arm wrist spin or chinaman and googlies. Sobers could also operate as a seamer, sometimes using medium pace, but he was much more effective when he bowled fast. With the new ball, he could make the delivery curve late in flight at high speed; his action being a loose, springy run followed by a "whiplash" delivery.

Though he mostly fielded close to the wicket, Sobers was an exceptional outfielder who was seen on one occasion, when he had fielded the ball on the boundary, to "bend his hand back almost parallel with his arm before flipping the ball a full seventy yards to the wicketkeeper".

Following his success as captain of West Indies on the 1966 tour of England, the 1967 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack declared that for Sobers "(the 1966 Tests) were one triumph after another with bat and ball, as well as in the field as a master tactician and fantastic catcher close to the bat". Sobers' exploits in 1966 earned him the media-bestowed sobriquet of "King Cricket", which soon afterwards became the title of a book about him.