To many a modern day cricket fan, the on field exploits of Sir Garfield St. Aubrun Sobers is the stuff of legend.
Photo Album – Sir Garfield Sobers Felicitation
So it is only natural that the great man’s arrival in Sri Lanka has been met with much excitement by generations of cricket lovers. Accordingly, the SLC together with Dialog Axiata organized a special felicitation for the Sir Garfield at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on the 24th of October.
Sri Lanka Cricket Interim committee chairman, Sidath Wettimuny was called upon to speak a few words about Sir Garfield to the guests, including Michael Tissera, Anurudda Polonowita, Ranjan Madugalle and Arjuna Ranatunga. Many of the former players present had been coached by Sir Garfield during his stint in the Island in the early 80s.
Sir Garfield lived up to his reputation of being an excellent storyteller as he regaled the crowd with many a recollection of past events.
He recalled his time in Sri Lanka with fondness but also a sense of modesty, insisting that those who coached the team before him had done a fine job with the crop of players. “I just went to the nets and had a look. I knew that I didn’t have lot of work to do. There were some players who had some very good lessons of the technical aspects of the game” His approach to coaching was much like his approach to playing; play your natural game, but be fearless. “As a coach, you don’t try to change what is natural; you try to help what is natural. I recognized what I had to do, that is to brainwash them,” he pin-pointed his main task – to eradicate the Lankan’s fear of fast bowlers.
Sir Garfield went on to say that he always expected great things from Sri Lanka Cricket and his affection for “Captain Cool” Arjuna Ranatunga, in particular, was evident, “when I first saw him, in particular, I was flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe that there was such a youngster, with that kind of ability, that kind of technique. And when he was left out of the team, I knew that something had to be done. I was glad that was able to just go there and say ‘he must play’, and he hasn’t let me down, he went from strength to strength and I am so pleased to see him in the position that he’s in. Arjuna, you’ve always been with me, I always remember you, all of the others too, but you were a kind of a special.”
On being asked about who he saw as the greatest batsman, Sir Garfield gave the audience something to really ponder upon. “I have my own ideas and thoughts about that. There is no way that you can class the present with the past. The conditions they (Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara) played under are so far removed from the conditions we played under. When you look at it, its common sense. When we played we had uncovered wickets, we played off the back foot rule, people would bowl ten bouncers an over, it didn’t matter, we didn’t have a helmet, we didn’t have arm guards…. I can go on and on. But they are great players in their era.”
Sir Garfield was never lauded as a technically correct batsman and he emphasized the fact that it is a somewhat overrated aspect of the game by saying “You only need to be technically correct in defense. I am not going to hit a ball outside off-stump to cover and let him field it, when I can put my foot in the same place and hit it towards mid-wicket for four, runs is cricket not batting beautifully.”
He also spoke of the relationship he built with Sir Donald Bradman, who he called “the greatest batsman that ever lived”, during his stint in South Australia. “You admire him because he’d never give you praise unless he thought you deserved it. I remember when I was playing for South Australia, I used to sleep, I never watch cricket…. Because I always believe in doing it for myself, not looking to see what others do. And I remember he’d come to me…and he’d say to me ‘South Australia’s in trouble, and I need you to get me a hundred’. And every time he said that, I went and got him a hundred. He’d always come back to me and say ‘I knew that you wouldn’t let me down’. And he was a very good judge of cricket, of batsmen.”
Amidst his tales of his exploits in Australia facing the likes of Dennis Lillee, Sir Garfield spoke of how his great friend Sir Donald thought the century he scored in Queensland was the best he’d ever seen in Australia, but that he disagreed. “When I played for West Indies in Queensland, we were in trouble, I got 132, he (Sir Donald Bradman) reckoned that it is the best he saw in Australia. That was in 1961 where we had the first-ever tied Test, but for me, the best century was in 1966 when I scored 174 against England.”
Sir Garfield also spoke at length of how the game had changed since his playing days and when asked what rule he would like to change, he jokingly replied that he would like to change all of them! He later went on to say that “the rules are for batsmen, the poor bowlers are the ones suffering. But, I would like to take out the bouncers, if I would change, it would be more than two bouncers, bowl as many as you like.”
It is clear that his love and understanding of the game is almost unparalleled, and he sought to remind us too of why we love cricket: “Think of it, ladies and gentlemen, here you’ve got the greatest batsman in the world, needs 4 runs to become an average of 100. A chap called Eric Hollies, who wasn’t no big bowler, was bowling to him and bowled him down for a duck. That’s to show you the glorious uncertainties of this game you call cricket.”
At the end of the Q & A session, Mr. Harsha Samaranayake – General Manager, Brand & Media, Dialog Axiata presented a special plaque to Sir Garfield Sobers while Mr. Sidath Wettimuny handed over a token of appreciation from Sri Lanka Cricket.
The Q &A was in collaboration with ThePapare.com- Sri Lanka’s No 1 Sports Hub and the felicitation video can be watched on www.thepapare.com
