I’ve never met the one who can scare me before, and I don’t think that I will.”. When Lillee ran in with the third new ball, he was blasted out of the attack within a few overs. And my father was paid to work in a bar at a match that wasn't even a Test match. Every little thing was important to me. This brought Garry Sobers to the crease. Garry Sobers annihilates Australia with a merciless 254 Garry Sobers annihilates Australia with a merciless 254 The innings Don Bradman called the greatest he had seen on Australian soil. It's not anything like a match report, it's all personal, like Sobers was there for his pleasure, all the stars aligned. CRR: 3.30, Day 1 - South Aust chose to bat. Lillee slogged the next ball straight up in the air and Bishan Bedi took a skier at mid-off. That this might be the last we'd see. Jaffer made 4 off 27. Sobers scored 254 (after a first-innings duck). An elegant yet powerful batsman, highly skilled fielder, deceptive spin bowler, devastating fast bowler and enterprising captain, Sobers’ versatility while playing the … It is probably harsh to say he was over the hill; even now he'd be a better batsman for the Windies than Kirk Edwards. View the profiles of people named Gary Sobers. The fielders saw the ball rocketing between them, stood rooted to the ground and shrugged. My old man is past 60. Garry Sobers Biography - Get Garry Sobers full profile with all the records, quotes and latest news. RRR: 9.08, SL Army need 3 runs in 52 balls. Young Dennis Lillee had been ripping the vaunted World XI batting line up apart. And when he finally fell, lofting Greg Chappell down the throat of mid-on, he had scored 254. I don't believe it myself. His innings went from nervous-scratchy to frantic-nervous. In my dad's story, Sobers isn't Sobers but Batman with Superman's powers. Watching Garry Sobers' famous innings for the World XI at the MCG was a near-religious experience for one part-time bartender. 03:30 IST | 22:00 GMT, 10 Mar, 2021 Gary Sobers: Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, AO, OCC, also known as Gary or Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974, and is widely considered to be crickets greatest all-rounder. There was no doubt this was going to be a huge drinking day. I haven’t really bowled quick at him yet’.”, The legendary all-rounder replied, “Well, he’s got the ball, I’ve got the bat. I ran up and I bowled this bouncer, and it whizzed past Dennis and he looked at me and he had turned completely pink. Ian Chappell trudged into the rival dressing room that evening. But the 414-run target was always going to be too much for the Australians. It's not so much because of his failing memory this time - it's because of how much Sobers gave him. That evening I went to the dressing room where Ian was sitting and said to him, ‘You’ve got a boy here called Lillee. Not many, though - because the barman was out on the balcony watching the game. Gary Sobers will celebrate 85rd birthday on a Wednesday 28th of July 2021. It set the tone for the day. Sachin's batting sobered us up. My old man might have been a big cricket fan but to give up guaranteed income from a second job is not in line with his devout working-class ethic. When I was young he'd bowl at me in the backyard. 11:30 IST | 06:00 GMT, 10 Mar, 2021 This is an edited extract of an article included in the book Australia: Story of a Cricket Country, Jarrod Kimber is 50% of the Two Chucks, and the mind responsible for cricketwithballs.com, Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur, When I ask my dad who else played in that World XI, he has no idea. Dravid was going through a career-defining crisis - namely, he'd forgotten how to score. Arunabha Sengupta recalls the blistering 254 made at Melbourne that Don Bradman considered the greatest innings ever played in Australia. He was dropped, mocked and booed. Soon after the dismissal of Sobers, World XI were all out for 514. With the second new ball, Lillee bowled a searing yorker on the off stump. With grace." My dad always admired batsmen like Gavaskar and Geoff Boycott. 17 Facts about Gary Sobers: Arguably the Greatest Cricketer. When his turn to bat came he went out and scored his fastest hundred. He's not sure if Barry Richards was in the World XI or not. Lillee came in with the score reading 285 for nine. It can't, though, have been the very worst job he ever had. The next day the merciless annihilation continued. He has no real memory of who was on either side. It did not matter to Lillee. Surely, I say, someone came in? That evening Sobers let his opposite number, Ian Chappell, know that he was taking the short pitched stuff seriously. Everyone at the ground was aware of an exhibition beyond the ability and dreams of all but that one man on the planet, and there were plenty of great cricketers assembled for the match. It was too much for Joel and me so we kept on drinking. Three beers in the first session, a couple more that lunch break and we were off to the sort of flyer Rahul Dravid would have paid good money for. SCAN-TELE-01263219 The story of my birth takes him only a few seconds. 4:22. Suddenly he began playing a shot a ball. He came to me and said, ‘Why don’t you let him have it?’ I said, ‘Let him have what?’ He said, ‘Let him have the bouncer’. Part of this is down to age. He was not exactly out of form, or in any actual danger of being dropped, but his tennis elbow and his struggles to make consistently huge runs had him looking human, and this was the closest his career ever came to fading out. And when deliveries came rearing into his body, he rocked back to pull and hook, furious and fearless. The next day, Sobers came in to bat at 146 for 3. He emptied it, instantly, the moment he entered the ground. However, the great left hander continued to belt boundary after boundary, with power and grace and sublime timing. World XI 184 (Tony Greig 66; Dennis Lillee 5 for 48) and 514 (Zaheer Abbas 86, Garry Sobers 254, Peter Pollock 54; Dennis Lillee 3 for 133, Terry Jenner 4 for 87) beat Australia 285 (Greg Chappell 115*; Garry Sobers 3 for 67, Tony Greig 4 for 41) and 317 (Ian Chappell 41, Doug Walters 127; Bishan Bedi 4 for 81, Intikhab Alam 3 for 83) by 96 runs. And when you do push my dad on this, there was, it turns out, the odd person who came into that bar. From that moment we got as drunk as we could. World XI 184 (Greig 66, Lille 5-48, Jenner 2-24) and 514 (Sobers 254, Abbas 86) beat Australia 285 (Greg Chappell 115*, Greig 4-41, Sobers 3-67) and 317 (Walters 127, Bedi 4-81, Intikhab 3-83) by 96 runs Scorecard. The great man had gloved the third delivery he faced to ‘keeper Rod Marsh. All the talk went to Sachin. So watch out for me when he comes in.’ ”. There was another great stroke, a gem that shone brightly even in that dazzling display of fireworks. When I ask my dad who else played in that World XI, he has no idea. Everyone, though, had their own cricketing origin story. Graeme Pollock had flown in to add quality to the World XI batting. Dad does not tell the story in chronological order. The 'G pulsates through big contests, yawns at small ones, rips people to shreds and makes heroes out of those who treat them to a show. Garfied Sobers 254- World XI vs Australia 1971-72 - YouTube Sir Gary Sobers 254 vs Australia 197172 (Low) Yorkerbd1. This wasn't a Test. Three weeks earlier he had demolished the side at Perth with 8 for 29 in the first innings, taking nine wickets in a session. For my dad this was a good thing. That's he's let me down by being vague and ethereal. And of course once I've got those few details out of him, I can't help myself: I mention to my dad that some people reckon Jacques Kallis to be the better allrounder. The innings that Bradman said was "probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia". And it didn’t make any difference — he came out and belted us again.”. Garfield Sobers 150* vs England at Lords 1973. Gary Sobers - Six Sixes in 1 over [eCric] goldenboy4824. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. My dad's favourite quote about that day is: "If my boss had come in I would've been in strife, but I would've said sack me, I'm watching the cricket.". This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 04:30 IST | 23:00 GMT, 08 Mar, 2021 It was a hastily added fixture featuring a few bonafide stars and a few John Benaud-types. Sir Garfield Sobers, better known as Garry Sobers, is widely regarded as the greatest all-round cricketer of all-time. Veeran Author. But he hadn't made a Test century in 23 months. This was Sobers' 254. Find Sobers's Records, Biography, Centuries, Runs, wickets. Peter Pollock, who scored 54 and added 186 runs with his captain for the eighth wicket, went up to Sobers time and again, asking him not to give it away. The following day, Greg Chappell led the Australian reply with an attractive century, but Sobers, Tony Greig and Intikhab Alam bowled steadily to restrict the lead within manageable limits. The Australian fielders clapped him all the way back to the pavilion. Browse more videos. He does not fill in the gaps, such as whether Sobers started off strong and then consolidated before attacking the spinners later, or whether it happened the other way round.