Just hours after securing a commanding 90-run victory over Pakistan on what would have been the late Sir Garfield Sobers’ 90th birthday, the Barbadian members of the West Indies Senior Men’s Test team returned home to pay their final respects to the cricket legend at his State Funeral held at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Wednesday.
Alrick Swaby tells us more.
Leading the contingent were Test captain Roston Chase, vice-captain Jomel Warrican, white-ball captain Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Kemar Roach, Joshua Bishop and assistant coach Floyd Reifer.
They were joined by a Cricket West Indies delegation headed by President Dr. Kishore Shallow, chief executive officer Chris Dehring and CWI director Enoch Lewis.
Also attending were president of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board Bissoondyal Singh, president of the Guyana Cricket Board, and president of the Windward Islands Cricket Board Clement Marcellin.
The funeral brought together some of the biggest names in Caribbean cricket and regional leadership.
Among those in attendance were Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, West Indies batting great Brian Lara, Antiguan legends Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Vivian Richards, and legendary Barbados and West Indies opener Desmond Haynes.
Senator Abkar Fitz-Henley represented the Government of Jamaica.
Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd delivered a heartfelt tribute, reflecting on Sir Garfield Sobers’ remarkable life and career.
Lloyd said Sobers’ outlook on life was profoundly shaped by the tragic death of fellow West Indies batsman Collie Smith, an experience that influenced the way he approached both cricket and life.
Meanwhile, former West Indies player and head coach, Phil Simmons, said while it’s a sad day for the region, it’s also a reminder that Barbados, and by extension West Indies, produced arguably the greatest all-rounder cricket has ever seen in Sir Garry Sobers.
Simmons added that the greatness of the man may never be surpassed.
Phil Simmons.
