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‘ My goodness, it’s gone
way down to Swansea’
It is half a century since Garry Sobers hit all six balls
of a Malcolm Nash over for six. Simon Hughes spoke
to them both on the launch of Nash’s autobiography
T
here are three landmark performances in the
history of cricket. Brian Lara’s 501 not out at
Edgbaston 1994, Jim Laker’s 19 for 90 at Old
Trafford in 1956, and Sir Garfield Sobers’ six
sixes off an over at Swansea in 1968. None, you would
imagine, would ever be bettered. It is hard to imagine a
batsman having the time and relentless scoring ability
to exceed Lara’s achievement, or to have the conditions,
skill and luck (in the sense of only one wicket in two
innings falling to another bowler) to even equal Laker’s
feat. There are only two instances of a bowler taking 18
wickets in a match – in 1837 and 1861.
In the era of free hits for a no-ball, Sobers’ achievementcould theoretically be overtaken, and actually was in
a match in New Zealand in 1989/90 when Wellington’s
Robert Vance deliberately conceded 77 off an over
containing 17 no-balls. But Sobers was the first to attain
the maximum possible runs off six legal deliveries –
from Malcolm Nash – without ‘help’ from the fielding
side. It is a feat only once since equalled in first-class
cricket, by Ravi Shastri in 1984/85. And the legitimacy
of Sobers’ performance, 50 years ago this August, is
confirmed when you hear the two protagonists’ stories.
The 1968 season was the first year that overseas players
could sign for counties without a two-year qualification
period. There was quite an influx of foreign stars
including Majid Khan, Mike Procter, Barry Richards, Asif
Iqbal, Greg Chappell and Rohan Kanhai. Nottinghamshire
pulled off the biggest coup and signed Garfield Sobers,
indisputably the best cricketer in the world.
Overlooking his favourite playground, the Kensington
Oval in Barbados, Sobers recalls an unlikely wager when
his recruitment had been announced: “Bunty Ames, the36 | thecricketer.com