Michael Tissera**
It is with deep sadness that I received the news of Sir Garfield’s passing away and joined the cricketing world that knew of his legendary contribution to the game, to mourn his demise.
Much has and will be written of his amazing performances whether it be with bat or ball or as an outstanding fielder but what will be remembered most for is his humility and how he upheld the true value of the game while excelling in it at the highest levels.
Indeed the game has been truly transformed since his time and T 20 has brought focus on power and with it the most unorthodox strokes to achieve it. Yet Sir Gary demonstrated even then that such power could be generated with grace and elegance which reflected his inherent genius. He was a natural athlete and his movements on the field were almost like beautiful poetry in motion.
I am indeed fortunate to have played against him and to call him a friend. To share a name with the great man on a trophy donated for test ties between Sri Lanka and the West Indies has been a huge honour and it was fitting that the West Indies won it this year before his passing away.
To his family, the West Indies Cricket Board and fans I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences.
Thank you Sir Gary for the many, many years of entertainment of the highest order and for your warm friendship. You may be gone but the world of cricket will remember you forever.
Rest In Peace as you richly deserve and may the turf lie gently over you.
Michael Tissera
** This Item was sent to me by another allround sportman in the Sobers mould — namel,y Lorenz Pereira. The highlighting is my intervention.
Garfield Sober’s entry into the domains of Sri Lankan circket has been indelibly marked pictorially and item-wise in ESSAYING CRICKET. SRI LANKA AND BEYOND, Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publishers, 2006, pix 38-43.
If my memory is on the ball, this momentous role as coach in the 1980s was facilitated by his admiration/friendship with another cavalier personality named Mahadevan Sathasivam and a match against Sri Lanka in January 1967. As I have indicated, both Sobers and Satha were as twinkle-toed on the dance floor as on the batting pitch” and both “were ladies men with panache aanda zest for life caried trhroughinto the wee hours of the morning.”
The hiring of Sobers as Sri Lanka’s cricket coach in the early 1980s was surely a brilliant move and was Gamini Dissanayake’s achievement and was facilitated by Rudi Webster, one of his West Indian friends at Cambridge University.
A NOTE From The Editor, Thuppahi
** This Item was sent to me by another allround sportman in the Sobers mould — namely, Lorenz Pereira. The highlighting is my intervention.
