When I look at someone like Andrew Symonds, I see a player who has done phenomenally well with the bat, as his record shows. He certainly has the ability to be a very good all-rounder, but I think to be a great one, you need to be able to turn a game with the bat or the ball.

Garfield Sobers

Categorized in : You Good Great Game

Records must not be the focus and that's the most important thing. It mustn't come at the cost of the team.

Garfield Sobers

focus team important

Concentration's like a shower. You don't turn it on until you want to bathe... You don't walk out of the shower and leave it running. You turn it off, you turn it on... It has to be fresh and ready when you need it.

Garfield Sobers

focus want running

The game is always going to be bigger than the man and it doesn't matter what you are doing; records or whatever, somebody is just going to come along and break your records. But to achieve something that people would always look up to is something you will always appreciate.

Garfield Sobers

games men people

Indians are great lovers of cricket, they have always been that as far as I can remember - great followers of the game and have knowledge about the game.

Garfield Sobers

great-love followers games

In all of my life, when I was playing sports, I always put 100 percent. I have always given the best.

Garfield Sobers

playing-sports given sports

I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best.

Garfield Sobers

cricketers cricket tendulkar

People call me a genius. I don't know much about geniuses. But I do believe that what I achieved was not just because of the ability that I was born with but also because I worked hard.

Garfield Sobers

me genius believe people

T20 is good entertainment. It is a game you need. People go to watch it. You have to be careful how far you let it go.

Garfield Sobers

game good you people

I have so many fond memories of the Tied Test, and I can't wait to come back to Brisbane. One thing that stands out is that both teams stayed at the same hotel. We got to know each other so well. Some of my best cricketing friends were in that Australian team.

Garfield Sobers

best friends team memories

My whole obligation was to West Indies cricket. As I have always said, I have never made a run for me. Records meant nothing. The team was important.

Garfield Sobers

me cricket team important

Until we can get people who are willing to play for West Indies in the right way, I think that we're going to be struggling for a long time.

Garfield Sobers

long-time time long people

West Indian cricket means so much to people who live here. And when we're not doing well, we all feel it.

Garfield Sobers

live feel cricket people

If you take five wickets, someone has to take the catches. If you score a hundred, someone has to be there with you. You haven't done it individually. Some contributions may be small, but they are still tangible. You have to look at it from a team point of view. When you start looking at it as an individual, then you have no team.

Garfield Sobers

looking look you team

When I played cricket for the West Indies, I never worried. I never really watched anyone else. I had a job to do, and I tried to do it to the best of my ability.

Garfield Sobers

never best job cricket

In the 1950s, when we went to Lord's, you had to sit down, and it was very prim and proper. It was only in the 1960s when we started to do well that West Indians started voicing their opinions.

Garfield Sobers

sit opinions down you

If you are going to raise youngsters for Test cricket that don't have the experience, you can't stick them into T20. You've got to teach them first how to play Test cricket, and when they're good enough for Test cricket and if they want to play both formats, then they can.

Garfield Sobers

good you cricket experience

If I am talking to a youngster, I coach him what I feel is best for him to bowl, how to hold the ball, how to bowl certain things, and how to bowl to certain batsmen, how to position himself. I never talk to them about the rules.

Garfield Sobers

i-am feel never best

There are a plenty of shots that I have been amazed by, but a lot of these shots are played because you have worn an iron mask. Take away the protection, and let me see if they play them. Don't forget that the past players did not have any protection.

Garfield Sobers

me you forget past

I enjoyed playing any type of cricket. Didn't matter what type it was because I did not want to change my game. My game was built on one type of cricket: if there was a ball to hit, you hit it, whether it was Test matches, whatever it was.

Garfield Sobers

game you cricket change

I don't think cricket is a game that people who have never played or been involved in understand the excitement. It's a game that is full of excitement, because cricket lovers follow the game and understand the basic principles and rules. They become connoisseurs of the game.

Garfield Sobers

game think cricket people