Reflecting on the life and times of Garfield St. Aubyn Sobers, I cannot help but feel that all who saw him play cricket were blessed and privileged to have seen him. I can also say without fear of contradiction that I saw cricket the way cricket should have been played and that I would never see anyone else play cricket like that again.
In explaining cricket to someone who has never seen a cricket match, one would say that there are three major aspects to the game: batting, bowling, and fielding; that bowling can be either fast or spin; and that spin can be either finger or wrist. Sobers is the only cricketer in the history of the game who mastered batting and every type of bowling, as well as all the different aspects of fielding. Many of us are familiar with the saying, “Jack of all trades and master of none,” but Sobers was the Master of All Trades!
Even if he was on an opposing team to yours, one could not help but enjoy his presence on the field. What was even more endearing to all who saw cricket was that he played the game with such joy and grace that you could not keep your eyes off him. He filled us with a sense of satisfaction such as in the taste of a perfect glass of wine, the sounds of a Bach symphony, or the tones of an aria by Pavarotti.
In short, Sir Garry was to cricket what William Shakespeare was to literature.