Basic HTML Version
20
. . . . .
S IR GARRY SOBERS :
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE MAN,
BUT NOT BY CHOICE
preceding his arrival, Notts had finished sixteenth
of seventeen in the County Championship. The year
before that, they were rock bottom, as indeed they were
the year before that.
With Sobers in the side and firing, Nottinghamshire’s
fortunes improved dramatically with a fourth placed
finish in his debut season.
“I really enjoyed my time with Nottinghamshire
because they were real underdogs when I arrived,” said
Sobers, who scored 1570 runs and took 83 wickets in
his debut season.
“They were at the bottom of the table and they needed
my services but I didn’t have a say in the county that I
would join.
“I had an agent called Bagnall Harvey and he put my
name out there and told me that Nottinghamshire had
offered the best contract and I would be signing for
them.”
The emerging tradition of bowlers prospering at Trent
Bridge has perplexed Sobers who fondly recalls the
conditions that enabled him to flourish with the bat.
“I hear that Trent Bridge is very favourable to
England’s bowling attack but during my time in
England it was a batsman’s paradise and the bowlers
had to work very hard for their wickets,” he said.
“It is clear that a lot has changed since then and I
believe that is down to Clive Rice and Richard Hadlee
who wanted the pitches prepared differently to benefit
the players that they had at their disposal.
“I remember hearing that Michael Holding had turned
up at Trent Bridge with Derbyshire and he refused to
play on the pitch that had been prepared because he
deemed it too dangerous to bat on. That would have
been unthinkable in the time I was there.”
BY MICHAEL TEMPLE: Much has been written about
Sir Garry Sobers. The six sixes, a Test Match 365, an
illustrious international career and an iconic spell at
Trent Bridge punctuated one of history’s great
cricketing careers but the man himself has no interest
in dwelling on past glories.
Still a regular on the celebrity golf circuit and
commanding more than enough pull to sell-out dinners
in London with his name above the door, he prefers to
use his status to promote the hometown tournament he
has established as a shop window for emerging talent
destined for international success.
“My tournament has run for 25 years and we have
produced lots of West Indies internationals including
Brian Lara but we welcome players from all nations
and Alistair Cook and Dale Benkenstein have featured,”
said Sir Garry, a resident of Barbados.
“We set out to give players the opportunity to
experience the conditions in Barbados and to see the
types of wicket that we play on in the West Indies.”
Cook represented Bedford School for Boys whilst
Nottingham High School entered the tournament in
2008. Sir Garry travels the globe to promote the
tournament to leading schools to convey his passion for
providing young players with opportunities that he
feels could have helped his own career.
“The way that players are developed has changed a lot
over the years,” he said.
“Now they can travel the world and play against the
best in their age group whereas we used to play against
men that were ten years older than we were to ensure
we were tested.”
Sir Garry has kept an eye on events at Trent Bridge
following the illustrious spell he spent in
Nottinghamshire from 1968-1974. In the season
MICK NEWELL
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ca l ypso Kings : Si r Garry Sobers