Random Cricket Thread (International Cricket)

[westoelad]

I bought a book by Tony Cozier in the late seventies, called West Indies, Fifty Years of Test Cricket, which gave me a bit of grounding in the history of cricket in the Caribbean. Particularly the players of their past who often seemed to be poetically named. The openers Stollmeyer and Rae. The spinners, Ramadhin and Valentine. Marty Martindale. Seymour Nurse. Lord Learie Constantine.

And to give him his full title, Sir Garfield St.Aubrun Sobers

[Arthur Crabtree]

The Great Sir Garfield St.Aubrun Sobers

[Aidan11]

I'm sure I once read Sobers preferred golf to cricket.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Wasn't he one of those cricketers that were great at golf, left and right handed?

[Aidan11]

Yeah I think so.

[sussexpob]

The legend is that Sobers plays one over par as a leftie, and something like 5 over with his right.......

The legend is clearly not true, to be that good with either hand would take years as a non professional to get there (and serious dedication)..... why would someone get to a 1 handicap and then switch hands, or a 5 for that matter? And there is no way a bloke would hit 5 over par using a different hand and swing without serious practice.

To implausible to be true. Most amateur players would never reach that playing for a lifetime, to expect him to beat them and do it twice is simply not true.

[Dr Cricket]

TBH most speak of Sobers sound made up to me or exaggerated reckon we will be hearing the same thing about kallis 40-50 year in the future.

no way is he a great fast bowler, great spinner, great chinaman or what ever he bowled.
He could probably bowl it at a decent level but no way was he the best at everything he did.

[Aidan11]

He definitely hit six, sixes off one over.


There is TV footage to prove it.


Can't vouch for his 365 though.

[Dr Cricket]

Also a lot of Sobers bowling talks were done in First class cricket which is frankly not the same as Test cricket.
is like saying Mark Ramprakash is a batting great for scoring 115 first class hundreds.
For someone that is supposedly a great bowler he only averaged 34 and a strike rate of 91.
the strike rate is the prove I need that show he wasn't a great bowler like he is made out to be.
Kallis which people say isn't in the same level as sobers because his bowling wasn't as good as sobers as a strike rate of 70.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Plenty of people say Sobers was the best bat they've seen (Boycott does), and the best allrounder. But I don't think anyone says he is the best bowler, or anywhere near. His bowling record is decent though.

I think ABDV has a prodigious golfing record. And Lara.

[Dr Cricket]

Plenty of people say Sobers was the best bat they've seen (Boycott does), and the best allrounder. But I don't think anyone says he is the best bowler, or anywhere near. His bowling record is decent though.

I think ABDV has a prodigious golfing record. And Lara.

think the bowling stories come from him being the best all rounder or when they compare him to kallis.
generally heard stories of him doing all sorts, being able to swing the ball late, reverse swing, spin and chinamen.
Anyway he is a great player just wanted to know if the bowling stories were true or exaggerated.
think Sobers was a great athlete just like ABDV, Buttler, Stokes etc.

[Dr Cricket]

just find it hard to believe someone can just suddenly decide to bowl spin or wrist spin and be taking wickets with it and being quite good.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalman ... 54556.html
look at this wisden article.
started as a spinner, then a batsman and then a fast bowler and then chinaman.

[Aidan11]

Nasser Hussain started as a spinner.


Obviously I'm not comparing him to G Sobers but I just wanted to put it out there.

[Dr Cricket]

Nasser Hussain started as a spinner.


Obviously I'm not comparing him to G Sobers but I just wanted to put it out there.

Sky could use that in the 90s programme next week.
Think I heard them saying Hussain was a great player for england in the 90s lol.

[sussexpob]

Sobers career average profited greatly from plundering terrible teams from Asia before they were arguably capable