Garry Sobers: The Three-in-One Bowler

Mon, Jul 28, '25

by FRANK A. DENBOW, MD, MRCP

Garry Sobers was selected for the test match against England at Sabina Park in 1954 to replace the injured Alfred Valentine. Sobers was 17 years old at the time and it was a like-for-like replacement—one slow left-arm orthodox bowler for another. Sobers batted at number 9. This was March 1954, but by 1958-59 on the tour of India and Pakistan, Sobers watched the Indian wizard, Subhash Gupte, and decided to try his hand at bowling wrist spin. Thus a new weapon in his armament was created and Sobers the chinaman and googly bowler was born.

The Evolution of a Versatile Bowler

A mere two years later while playing in the English Leagues, Sobers started experimenting and found that he could get the ball to swing prodigiously both ways. He perfected his left-arm swing and seam bowling and soon became one of the best new ball bowlers in the world. Unfortunately for him, he had already established himself as one of the best batsmen in the world, so opening the bowling was out of the question, particularly with the fearsome Hall and dangerous Charlie Griffith leading the West Indies attack.

Many captains were reluctant to have their premier batsman opening the bowling, and as a result Sobers rarely opened the bowling except for a few cameos. One such cameo occurred in the Headingley test in 1963, when Sobers told his captain that he believed he could dismiss the England opener, Mickey Stewart, if he was given the new ball. Frankie Worrell agreed to try this tactic and Sobers duly had Mickey Stewart clean bowled for a duck in his first over.

Success with the New Ball

Sobers over the years took the new ball several times with notable success, dismissing Geoff Boycott in the first over of the innings on 3 occasions without scoring. In 1963-64 Sobers opened the bowling in all 9 matches he played for South Australia and dismissed 13 batsmen in his opening spell with the new ball. Here is a memorable opening spell against the powerful New South Wales team in 1964:

South Australia vs New South Wales, January 31 - February 4, 1964

Bowling Statistics and Analysis

The reality of Sobers the bowler is that he was an extremely gifted new ball bowler who swung the ball both ways and troubled all batsmen when he took the new ball. However, his slow left-arm orthodox and his wrist spin of chinamen and googlies were less effective at the test level. Sobers bowled slow left-arm orthodox in his first thirty-two test matches and he took 40 wickets at 44.98 apiece. In his last 61 test matches he bowled in all three styles and took 195 wickets at 31.79, averaging 3.2 wickets per test.

Sobers was at his peak as a bowler between January 1961 and December 1968 when he was clearly one of the top ten bowlers in the world.

Best Test Bowlers (January 1961 - December 1968)

Qualification: 100 wickets

Bowler	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike Rate	5WI/10WM
Fred Trueman	26	133	21.67	49.4	10/3
Lance Gibbs	33	158	24.24	75.7	12/2
Peter Pollock	24	101	25.22	57.7	8/1
Garry Sobers	33	125	27.93	76.3	5/0
Graham McKenzie	46	201	28.42	68.8	14/3
Wes Hall	30	100	29.17	57.8	3/0
David Allen	32	109	29.91	89.6	4/0
Fred Titmus	47	145	30.82	96.1	7/0

Expert Opinion

The words of Mike Selvey are instructive:

"Those who had never seen Sobers play may query how anyone could play the game with greater all-round efficiency than Kallis but then only those who have seen Sobers as well can truly make that judgment. It is not just about the sheer versatility of Sobers (I would argue that statistically the fact he bowled a fair amount of pretty ordinary spin is to the detriment of his bowling stats: he was a world-class left-arm pace bowler), but the manner in which he changed matches. And charisma. And star quality."

It is clear that Sobers was a world-class fast bowler but a relatively ordinary spin bowler.

Battles with Geoffrey Boycott

His duels with the great Yorkshire and England opening batsman Geoffrey Boycott reveal that Sobers dismissed Boycott a total of ten times in first-class cricket. He got him six times with the new ball for low scores including three times for a duck, all in test cricket. In this memorable match, Sobers dismissed Boycott in both innings.

First-Class Career

Sobers is one of a handful of West Indians to take more than one thousand first-class wickets. He took 1,043 wickets at 27.74 apiece and had 36 five-wicket hauls. Sobers was the quintessential entertainer and travelled all over the world playing cricket and entertaining cricket fans in far-off places.

Memorable Performances

Malaysia, 1964

One great and unforgettable performance occurred in Malaysia with the E.W. Swanton XI in 1964 when at the peak of his powers more than 5,000 fans crowded into a cricket stadium to see Sobers bat and he was dismissed first ball for a duck. Undeterred, Sobers took the new ball and after three dot balls took 5 wickets with his next five deliveries.

Barbados, 1966

Another amazing anecdote took place at the Mecca in Barbados in 1966 when the Manager of the then British Guiana team announced to all and sundry before the match that B.G had a new batting star in Clive Lloyd. Sobers duly took note and put himself on as soon as Lloyd came in to bat. The records show that Sobers dismissed Lloyd for a duck, but Lloyd had the last laugh hitting a brutal hundred in the second innings.

Bowling Style and Technique

Garry Sobers seemed to perform magic with the ball when he felt like it and was a most dangerous swing bowler. Unfortunately there are no records to document how many of his wickets were taken bowling each of the three styles of bowling, but of the 195 test wickets he took since 1961, the majority were as a fast bowler. Like Mitch Starc, his dangerous ball was the late in-swinger to the right-hander from over the wicket, though he outfoxed many an opener with the one that went the other way.

Sobers generally bowled a brisk medium pace but occasionally could bowl genuinely quick deliveries. He ended his test career with 235 wickets at 34.04 apiece including six 5-wicket hauls, which was not a true reflection of his quality as a fast bowler. Those batsmen who he bowled to can attest to the fact of his genius as a quick bowler, moving the ball prodigiously both ways with a picture-perfect run-up and delivery.

Conclusion

The unique ability to bowl effectively in three different styles—slow left-arm orthodox, wrist spin, and fast swing bowling—made Sobers a captain's dream and a batsman's nightmare. While his spin bowling may have been ordinary by test standards, his fast bowling was world-class, and it's this versatility that sets him apart as one of cricket's most complete players. The fact that he could trouble the world's best batsmen with the new ball while also being the premier batsman of his era speaks to his extraordinary cricketing genius.