Foreign Correspondence #8: Sobers' State Funeral, The Hundred, and JL

PL casts his eyes abroad

Sir Garfield Sobers’ funeral will be held in Barbados on Wednesday. The Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has declared a National Day of Mourning and directed the army and cabinet to arrange events for a man she describes as one of the country’s “greatest sons”.

“Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, our Sir Garry, did not begin life among privilege or parade,” the PM said when she announced his death to the nation. “He began in Walcott Avenue, Bay Land, a boy of Barbados, shaped by family, community, loss, discipline, and faith. He travelled from Bay Land to Kensington, from Kensington to Sabina Park, and onto the world stage, carrying his country Barbados, carrying the West Indies, and carrying the Caribbean as a whole with distinction.”

The state funeral will be held at the Kensington Oval; flags will fly at half-mast across the country. His body will lie in state over the two days prior to the funeral, first at the Parliament Buildings and then at the cricket ground.

Sobers’ first Test captain Sir Frank Worrell, who died at the age of 42 in 1967, was the first person to be granted a state funeral by an independent Barbados.

Barbados, a small island of about 280,000 people, takes great pride in the accomplishments of its athletes and artists.

Tickets for the funeral are free and are expected to be in great demand.

Et Al has been able to assist in providing tributes for the memorial from some past Australian greats, and organisers are hoping to make the live stream of the event available worldwide. Pat Cummins has also recorded a tribute for the event

Pat Cummins and Roston Chase in front of the magnificent Garfield Sobers Pavilion at Kensington Oval in 2025.