By FRANCIS JOSEPH
The late Sir Garfield Sobers could not have asked for a better send-off.
The entire island of Barbados was shut down. Don’t forget Barbados is in the middle of Crop Over. The island stood still on Wednesday as the country and the region paid tribute to the greatest all rounder.
Sobers died on July 17 – 11 days shy of his 90th birthday. But it was a fitting tribute to him that the West Indies defeated Pakistan on his birthday by…guess what….90 runs.
The who’s who in the Caribbean cricketing world, both past and present, were in attendance at the iconic Kensington Oval. The list of mourners was headed by Lt Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, President of Barbados. Other dignitaries included Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and Barbados singing icon, Rihanna.
Mottley and members of her Cabinet along with a contingent of armed and unarmed military personnel joined a grand procession trailing behind the gun carriage bearing the body of Sobers to the Kensington Oval.
The procession radiated quiet pride and immense gratitude for a true giant from the Bayland who elevated Bajan excellence onto the global stage. Cabinet members arrived early to take their positions, shortly followed by Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw, dressed in black.
Mottley later arrived dressed in white, walking at pace with the state procession and pausing briefly at Cricket Legends of Barbados to include members of the Sobers family.
The procession drew pockets of mourners along the route as the gun carriage made its way towards Kensington Oval. Barbadians from all walks of life gathered to pay their final respects to a man who became a defining symbol of national pride.
Inside the Oval, tributes were paid. Among them was Trinidadian Brian Charles Lara, the man who broke Sobers’ world record. In 1958, Sobers broke the world record with a highest test score of 365 against Pakistan.
That record stood for 36 years before Lara, in 1994, scored 375 in Antigua. According to Lara, Sobers walked out on the field to congratulate him for that feat against England.
Lara said Sobers coached and inspired many generations of cricketers. “This is not a sad moment for us, but one for us to celebrate.”
Another tribute came from Sir Clive Loyd, former West Indies cricket captain.
After the funeral service, there was a procession to the Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens. There, the Barbados flag was presented to one of Sobers sons. The funeral ended at 2.30 pm – six hours after it started.
