Vignesh Ganapathi-Subramanian

A tale heard from someone about Sobers who passed away yesterday: Sobers recalls: “I went in to bat in the first innings and Dennis came up with a short-pitched ball. I played a little bit early and Keith Stackpole picked me up at second slip. That evening I went to the dressing room where Ian (Chappell) was sitting and said to him, ‘You’ve got a boy here called Lillee. Every time I have gone in, all I have got from him is bouncers. I want you to tell him that I can bowl quick too, and I can bowl bouncers. So watch out for me when he comes in.” "Lillee came in with the score reading 285 for nine. I bowled this bouncer, and it whizzed past Dennis and he looked at me and he had turned completely pink. I knew by that time that I had got him.” Sobers had gone in to the Australian dressing room yet again and Ian Chappell confided to him, “I’ll tell you something: when Dennis came in, before he reached the room, the bat hit the wall, and he said, ‘That little so-and-so, I will show him. I haven’t really bowled quick at him yet’.” The legendary all-rounder replied, “Well, he’s got the ball, I’ve got the bat. I’ve never met the one who can scare me before, and I don’t think that I will.” CARNAGE! The next day, Sobers came in to bat at 146 for 3. The lead less than fifty and the balance was still tilted well in favour of Australia. Lillee charged up and bowled short. What followed was carnage. Sobers started with a blistering square-cut past point that sped to the fence at a rate almost approaching the speed of light. It set the tone for the day. When the ball was up, he drove — with timing and power beyond the capability of lesser men bound by the limitations of the mortal. When it was short and wide, he cut or drove off the backfoot with a ferocity that was primal in beauty and brutality. And when deliveries came rearing into his body, he rocked back to pull and hook, furious and fearless. Lillee, Bob Massie, Terry Jenner and Kerry O’Keeffe combined into an intimidating attack. All of them were slaughtered with a blade that flashed in a manner both savage and sublime. The fast men were carted all around the wicket. The spinners were driven and lofted with uncanny quickness of eye and feet, and a thorough disdain for their length, line and reputation. Everyone at the ground was aware of an exhibition beyond the ability and dreams of all but that one man on the planet, and there were plenty of great cricketers assembled for the match. The few hours at the crease saw dominance never witnessed before. “I had three men square on the off side for the short delivery, and I remember him driving and cutting repeatedly between them. It was amazing stuff,” recalls Lillee. By the end of the day, he was on 139 and World XI at a respectable 344 for 7. Ian Chappell trudged into the rival dressing room that evening. “I head over in his direction to congratulate him, just the two of us are in a quiet corner, and after I pour him a beer, he has a sip and then says, ‘Prue’s left me.’ Prue being his wife who lived in Melbourne in those days. I said: ‘Sobie, if that’s the bloody thing that’s annoying you so much, give me her phone number, and I’ll tell her to get bloody home straight away.’ You know, he just laughed. And it didn’t make any difference — he came out and belted us again.” The crowd stood as one to applaud each time he reached a milestone — hundred, hundred and fifty, double hundred, two hundred and fifty. And when he finally fell, lofting Greg Chappell down the throat of mid-on, he had scored 254. The Australian fielders clapped him all the way back to the pavilion. Lillee looked at Sobers and said, “I’ve heard about you and now I’ve got my tail cut properly.” Sitting in the stands was the great Don Bradman, who thought it was the greatest innings he had ever seen in Australia. And he had seen quite a lot. #GarySobers #memories