The Greatest Player of Every Decade

The 1960s:

Gary Sobers with Brian Close

Garfield Sobers (WI)

No side captured the imagination of cricket fans in the 1960s like the West Indies did. In a decade where scoring was often slow and draws were commonplace, the West Indies' aggressive style of cricket provided the perfect antidote.

In their ranks were the likes of Rohan Kanhai, Seymour Nurse, Lance Gibbs and Wes Hall, but despite the talent of these players, none were as prolific as Sobers.

Sobers' Test career would span over 20 years, from 1954 to 1974, so it makes sense that during the 1960s he was in his prime.

Throughout the decade, Sobers scored the fourth most runs of any player, with 4563 at 60.03, and also took the fourth most wickets, with 162 at 32.39.

These were often important wickets too, as the batsmen Sobers dismissed the most were Geoffrey Boycott, and Ken Barrington, who was Sobers closest rival for best batsman of the decade.

Sobers completeness as a player cannot be overstated, as during the 1960s he also took the second most catches, taking 80 in 51 Tests. Furthermore, Sobers bowled pace, finger-spin and wrist-spin at various times, scored a century at every batting position - from opener to seven, and unsurprisingly excelled at many sports apart from cricket.

Sobers peaked in 1966, where he made 895 runs at 99.44 and took 32 wickets at 24.00. He generally scored at a brisk rate and was economical with his bowling, suggesting he would have found further success had he played more of the game's shorter forms.

Outside the 1960s, Sobers still had many great performances, with his world record 365 having come in 1958. Yet for his performances in the 1960s alone, Sobers deserves to be considered one of the greatest players in history, and perhaps even the most complete.