Mid-Day Opinion: Back to the pavilion in style

The world and Barbados in particular bid their final farewell to Sir Garfield Sobers on Wednesday His family and the Barbadian government could not have chosen a more fitting venue than Kensington Oval for people to pay their last respects to arguably the finest allround cricketer to emerge from the Caribbean if not the world It was here that Sobers took his first steps in firstclass cricket Unlike Sir Frank Worrell who moved to Jamaica and Sir Clyde Walcott who also served British Guiana Sobers remained a Barbados cricketer throughout his career much like Sir Everton WeekesldquoAs a young man playing at the Kensington Oval was the highlight of my careerrdquo Sobers wrote in his 2002 autobiographyAmong Sobersrsquos surviving Barbadian contemporaries are opening batsman Cammie Smith fiery fast bowler Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith whose fearsome pace famously ended Nari Contractorrsquos Test career during the Indians vs Barbados match on Indiarsquos 1961ndash62 tour of the West IndiesSmith three years older than Sobers was admired by the great allrounder for his sense of humour mdash a trait many journalists also witnessed during Smithrsquos ICC match referee assignments in India and abroad in the 1990s and 2000s I had the pleasure of spending some time with the big affable Smith in Galle Sri Lanka during the rainaffected Nidahas Trophy in 1998 On one occasion he returned to the dressing room laughing after being dismissed When a West Indies teammate wondered how he could smile after getting out Smith replied that he had managed to hit a halfvolley straight to the only fielder stationed in the coversThose who knew Sobers will tell you he possessed a similarly infectious sense of humour It was not uncommon to hear his hearty chuckle during conversations He showed that wit in the Bombay Test of the 195859 series when India pacer Ghulam Guard a policeman by profession caught and bowled him for 25 As Sobers walked back to the Brabourne Stadium pavilion he said to Guard ldquoThatrsquos the biggest arrest yoursquoll ever makerdquoSobers greatly admired the pace bowling of Hall and Griffith ldquoBy 1963 we had the outstanding pair of fast bowlers in world cricket Wes Hall fast tireless and full of the joy of bowling and Charlie Griffith frighteningly hostile at times and crucified by those who claimed his action was sometimes outside the lawsrdquo wrote Sobers in 20 Years at the TopUnsurprisingly Sobers defended Griffith against allegations of throwing Even if reminded that Griffithrsquos first Test captain Frank Worrell had privately admitted to some that Griffith did chuck Sobers refused to believe it Hall born in 1937 was a year older than Sobers while Griffith was born in 1938 Perhaps the greatest tribute Sobers paid them was his admission that he would rather face Clive Lloydrsquos legendary quartet of fast bowlers than Hall and Griffith at their peakTouchingly both Hall and Griffith were among the distinguished former cricketers present at Kensington Oval on WednesdayThe one fast bowler many pundits rated as the greatest of them all mdash Malcolm Marshall mdash was absent Cancer claimed Marshall at the age of 41 in 1999 Like Sobers his funeral was attended bythousands and was held at the gymnasium named in Sobersrsquos honour in 1992In his book Maco ndash The Malcolm Marshall Story Hampshire journalist Pat Symes wrote ldquoOddly the only major name missing was Sir Garfield Sobers who was away in South Africa and unable to get back in time If there was one name bigger than Marshallrsquos in the annals of Barbados cricket it was surely Sobers the greatest allrounder of all time But the true measure of Marshall the man was the number of mourners from overseas particularly Hampshire where he was equally reveredrdquoDespite the sadness of Wednesdayrsquos occasion one could not help wishing to have been a fly on the wall at Kensington Oval witnessing so many of the Caribbeanrsquos greatest cricketers gathered to bid Sobers farewell on his final journeyThere have already been suggestions that the Oval should be renamed in Sobersrsquos honour I asked veteran Caribbean commentator Joseph ldquoRedsrdquo Perreira for his thoughts ldquoThere is a lot of history attached to Kensington but Irsquod welcome something like the SobersKensington Oval which would further enhance the legacy of the great manrdquo Reds saidCome to think of it Kensington Oval already seemed to have Sobersrsquos name etched into its identity considering the memorable farewell the 96yearold ground afforded Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobersmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper