Remembering Sir Garfield Sobers | The Wisdom & Experience of Robert Craddock (20.07.26)
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How did the episode open and what memorable cricket moment is first described?
And he's done it! He's done it! And my goodness, it's gone way down to Swansea. Six on the trot. When they asked me to choose between you hitting Malcolm Nash for six, six times and beating hell out of me in the first innings of the tied test match up in Brisbane, I used my assistant producer's prerogative.
In the last 20 years, the 6-6s seem to be a very big part of my cricketing career. It seems like that's the only thing I've ever done in cricket.
Sir Garfield Sovers and Richie Beno one night at the Allen Border Medal at Passed Away Crash and we heard everyone from Jeff Boycott to Dennis Lilly said he was the greatest.
He was, he was. And to think he was born with 12 fingers and when he landed there, his dad said to his mum, I wonder whether he'll lead a normal life.
What memories do hosts share about Sir Garfield Sobers’ on-field versatility and impact?
lead a normal life, averaged 57 as a batsman, could bowl left arm spin, wrist spin, finger spin, and fast bowling, batted from number one to nine in the order, and was the best fieldsman in any position in the game. And just people – I put in my story, Gerry, but in the West Indies, people walked like so. Yes. They didn't bat like him. You know, you'd – Kids just wanted to walk with that roundhouse sort of rather arrogant swagger. So he would have been the ultimate T20 cricketer today. I said he would have been worth $4 million, an absolute one of a kind. If you said – we had him on Cricket Legends. He came to Brisbane out of the blue about 10 years ago. But the interview didn't start well, Gerard.
I'll just tell you a quick story.
Yeah.
I heard the way to loosen him up was he loved black-labeled scotch. And they said, get one ready for the start of the interview. So I got two ready. I thought, I'll have one with him even though I don't drink. But then when I walked in, I said, Cigar Phil, here's a black-labeled scotch for you. And he goes, what's the time? And I said, oh, it's 11.15 a.m. And he said, do you think I'm an alcoholic? He spun on his heel and walked off. Oh, Jesus, it was a terrible moment. I shouldn't tell that story.
How did listeners and legends describe Sobers’ playing style and cultural influence?
I don't even know why I did, but you know, it was just very embarrassing, Gerard.
You recovered it. I was searching for the episode yesterday, but I couldn't find it on KOR online. I want to see it. What do you remember of it?
What I remember was he took me on mid-interview. He had a really big night out. His answers were great. But I asked him this question, Gerard. I said, Sir Garfield, it must have been great the day that you were a knight. Sir Garfield Sobers, and it was a terrific function, including the famous singers Tom Jones and Inklebert Humperdinck. And he said, that's the most ridiculous question I've ever been asked in my life. He said, that's stupid. Where'd you get that from? And I went, it was on page 60 of your autobiography. And he goes, no, it wasn't. He said, and so, oh, Gerald, geez, I was nervous. I just, you know, sometimes you just... You know, things just don't go quite as planned. But he was, look, he was one of a kind.
There will never be another one like him. His stamina was just incredible. And just picture this, a kid of age nine when he ripped one of his extra finger off. Oh, I know. And at 11 when he used a knife to cut his extra one off and he said, I'll do the best I can. And then he became the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen. It's just... It's a story like no other.
It is. It is. Paul Amy wrote the story on the weekend of the couple of years he spent at the East Malvern Cricket Club, which is just at the end of my street, East Malvern. That was a hell of a good story as well.
Oh, yeah. And, hey, he was a big man, small man. He loved going to the dogs. He loved going to the trots. In Perth, he loved Australia. But as Ian Chappell said, he said, look, he did all this stuff, bowling, fielding, wrist spin, finger spin. He said, but he was singularly the best batsman I ever saw. He said, don't worry about the rest of it. So it's, you know, it's an – I remember Tony Kosia from Barbados, the famous commentator. We had him on stage once. And we said, who's your favourite West Indian cricketer?
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