Gary Sobers plays a game of cricket in Rhodesia – shock, horror!
West Indian, Sir Garfield (Gary) Sobers, died on 17th July 2026 aged 89. Sobers was, and still is, widely recognised as one of the greatest all-round cricketers.
In 1970 Sobers had been playing for a “Rest of the World” team against England and one of the five South Africans in the team, the batsman Eddie Barlow, mentioned to Sobers that he might like to make a short visit to Rhodesia. A friendly double-wicket competition, which was quite popular in Southern Africa in those days, was to take place on Rhodesia’s Pioneers’ Day holiday, 12th September. Having checked that there was no apartheid in Rhodesia and that there would be no racial discrimination in selecting the teams he decided to go. News of the planned visit by this famous cricketer was published in the London press a few days before the trip. This raised some criticism of Sobers however he went ahead with the visit nevertheless for which he received an appearance fee of £600.
He arrived on the morning of the match and during the visit Sobers received an enthusiastic welcome from both whites and blacks which he described as “just great” and “wonderful”. At the Salisbury Sports Club his partner was the South African captain, Ali Bacher, and, as they walked out to bat, they received a standing ovation. Although they did not win, the other teams formed a guard of honour for them as they left the field. Both these events were of course by way of a special “thank you” to a great cricketer who had the courage to visit Rhodesia.
Whilst not on the field, Sobers spent some time sitting in the stands with the Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith and, later, they had dinner together. Smith had played cricket in his youth and remained a keen follower of sport. He said in his memoirs that he remembers a “lovely day discussing the great men of cricket” with Sobers. For his part, Sobers said that the Rhodesian Prime Minister was “a tremendous person to talk to”.
Photographer unknown. Originally published in ‘The Great Betrayal’ (1997, Ian Smith). Image likely originates from the archives of PA News, Rex Features, Mirror Syndication, or Alpha Press. Handled here strictly as a non-commercial orphan work for historical preservation and educational research. If you are the copyright holder, please contact me for immediate credit or removal.
Sobers browbeaten into submission.
Sobers returned home to Barbados the next day and almost immediately political pressure was placed on him to recant.
Among those who sought to browbeat Sobers was Jamaican socialist politician (and later Prime Minister), Michael Manly. The Antigua Labour Party’s Workers’ Voice newspaper damned Sobers as “a white black man” and charged that by playing in Rhodesia, he had “abdicated his loyalty to Africans everywhere, and all West Indians in particular”
And the “crisis” deepened on 10 October 1970, when Guyanese Prime Minister, Forbes Burnham, announced that Sobers would not be allowed to enter Guyana until he apologised. This was a major issue for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as the team played at least one Test match a year in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital. The Jamaica Labour Party called for Sobers to resign as captain four days later.
Sympathy for Sobers amid the affair came mainly from his fellow Barbadians. And Vernon Jamadar, Leader of the Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago, praised Sobers’ “calm dignity in response to the primitive savagery of West Indian gutter politicians”.
Sobers told the media that he had played in Rhodesia as he felt it would be good for cricket and that politics had not entered his mind. He told interviewers that he had had no problems whatsoever in Rhodesia, that sport in Rhodesia appeared to him to be integrated and that he intended to accept Smith’s invitation to return there in the future to play more cricket.
He expressed confusion regarding the calls for him to be stripped of his captaincy. “I am a professional cricketer and a sportsman, not a politician,” he said. “I went to play cricket. I don’t see why this should affect my position as captain of the West Indies team.”
Taking matters into his own hands, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams, wrote his own apology letter which was then foisted on Sobers to sign. It was addressed to WICB president Noel Pierce, and the Barbadian fast bowler Wes Hall was persuaded to deliver it to the West Indies captain. The letter presented to Sobers for signature explained that he had not known of the “deep feelings of the West Indian people” on Rhodesia, that he now better understood the political issues, and that he would not go to the southern African country again. “I therefore wish to convey to you and the members of the board my sincere regrets for any embarrassment which my action may have caused, and to assure you of my unqualified dedication whenever I may be called upon to represent my country—the West Indies—and my people,” it concluded. Sobers signed, and the apology was promptly conveyed to the WICB in late October 1970, with copies also going to the council of the West Indies Associated States and the prime ministerial offices of Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
It is worth noting that there were other West Indians who played cricket in Rhodesia both before and after the Sobers event.
Unlike the major spectator sport of soccer (see here), cricket in Rhodesia was largely played and followed by the white community rather than the black.
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Part of the above was sourced from Wikipedia and a search there for some of these West Indian leaders appears to reveal one or two interesting ways of securing election!