Sobers, undoubtedly the world's best all-rounder

Tony Becca,  Contributor

When I was a young boy, my favourite batsman was Frank Worrell, when I was a bit older, my favourite batsman was Rohan Kanhai, and when I became older, a little older, my favourite batsman was Lawrence Rowe.

Worrell was an elegant batsman, Kanhai was stylish, creative, volatile and with a shot all his own; while Rowe was simply Rowe, cool and classical.

When I became a man, even though I still believed that Rowe was the purest batsman that I have ever seen, my favourite batsman was Rohan Bhoolalal Kanhai, and for many reasons, more so because of his ability to invent, to give the world his famous falling hook, the shot which left him flat on his back as the ball landed beyond the backward square-leg boundary.

George Headley, Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Sir Garfield Sobers, Vivian Richards, and Brian Lara were geniuses with the bat, but even though Headley was acclaimed as the Windies' greatest and one of the best in the world, even though I was forced to ask myself if I was watching the best batsman who ever played the game one rainy Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford while watching Richards bat, and even though I remember that all but Headley boast more runs than Kanhai, and all with better averages, my pick remains Kanhai.

Judging by that, everyone would know that I am a West Indian.

When it comes to all-round cricketers, however - men who can bat, bowl, and field - there is no argument, there can be no argument, and there should be no argument, who should be the greatest cricketer, the best all-rounder, who ever lived.

It should be undeniable, and it should be unquestioned, so much so that it should be written on stone.

He was, he is, and he ever will be, Garry Sobers.

He was not just a great batsman. He was arguably the greatest of his time, good enough to match strides with the best of all time.

Great bowler

He was not just a great bowler. After starting his career as a low left-arm orthodox bowler, he developed into one of the best fast-medium swing bowler of his day and into one of the best back-of-the-hand spin bowlers of his time.

He was not just a great fielder. He was a catcher beyond the ordinary, especially close to the bat, and more so round the corner at backward short-leg.

He could have made the West Indies team, or any team of his time, either as a batsman, a bowler, any type, or even as a fielder.

In 93 Test matches, he scored 8,032 runs with a top score of 365 not out, a world record at the time, a record which lasted from Len Hutton to Lara and from 1958 to 1994.

He scored 26 Test centuries, three behind Don Bradman's 29 which seemed, for a long time, unapproachable, including two in one match. He took 109 catches, some blindingly brilliant ones, and he played at the highest level from 1953 to 1974.

Garry Sobers is recognised by Wisden, the Bible of cricket, and by everyone in cricket, as the greatest cricketer who ever played the game, the number one all-rounder, and yet there was no place for him in a World XI instigated by the ICC, chosen by the public, and done to commemorate the 2,000th Test match recently.

For whatever reason, the ICC did not leave the public to select from the entire list of cricketers. It narrowed the list down to a selected few, and although Sobers' name was there, it was not selected in the final 11.

Although the World X1 is not gospel, although it cannot be taken as such, and although it should not be taken as such if only because it were not selected from all those who played and did not include a number of all the great players, batsmen like Wally Hammond and Herbert Sutcliffe, and pace bowlers like E. A. MacDonald and Joe Gregory.

It also did include spin bowlers like Jim Laker and Clarrie Grimmett, wicketkeepers like Godfrey Evans and George Duckworth. It also contained no Englishman and no South African while finding space for four Indians, including Kapil Dev, the all-rounder with a record of 131 Test matches, 5,248 runs, five centuries, a top score of 163, and a batting average of 31.08.

He also took 434 wickets at an average of 29.64 and 64 catches.

The final 11 was Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose, and Glen McGrath.

I am not a selector, much more one good enough to select an all-time team, but I could not, despite the Indian part of my ancestry, select Kapil Dev, or any all-rounder, before or after, just on figures alone, ahead of Sobers.

An exercise in futility

To select a team from all the Test players who have played the game from 1876 to the present day in 2,000 Test matches is an exercise in futility.

To measure players from different generations is bad enough, to do so over so many, many years is begging for trouble, if only because of the changes in the rules of the game, such as those dealing with the leg-before-wicket decision, the bowler's front-foot and the no-ball, covering of the pitch, the leg-side rule, and so on.

Apart from remembering the bias of generations and nationalities, selecting a World XI should be a matter of personal choices, and it should be done for fun and for enjoyment, nothing else.

Who is to say that Jack Hobbs, who opened the batting for England in the 1920s, is better than Gordon Greenidge, who opened the batting for the West Indies in the 1980s when, among other changes to the game, wickets were covered, or that Harold Larwood of the 1930s is a better fast bowler than Dennis Lillee of the 1970s or that Sydney Barnes of the early 20th century is not a better spin bowler than Warne?

No, it is impossible for those who did not see them play, despite the obvious improvement that takes place over the years, to compare the players of today with those of yesteryear.

All this recent exercise proves is the greatness of Bradman: he is the only player who played the game before 1980 who is in the team.

Sobers should be there also. When all is said and done, Garry Sobers' name should be there in any World XI for his runs scored, wickets taken, catches taken, and for his presence, his all-conquering presence on the field.

For 21 years, Sobers lit up the cricket fields of the world, and for that, cricket, or those who select World XIs, should not forget him, or his exploits, including that of hitting six sixes in one over in a first-class match.

Sir Garry celebrated his 75th birthday on Thursday, and as useless as the exercise may be, selection to the World XI would have made it a wonderful day.