Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
THE FIRST three days of the Test match between the West Indies and England at Sabina Park have produced some interesting action, and who's to tell, before it is over, someone, a bowler or a batsman, will stamp his class on the proceedings and, like so many in the past, leave behind a memory that will never be forgotten.
That is the history of Sabina Park a history of great individuals who have paraded their skills on a pitch once considered among the fastest in the world.
BANANA BOAT
Going back to its first Test match 74 years ago, the heroes of Sabina Park have included Andy Sandham - 325 in the scheduled play-to-finish match that lasted for nine days before the England players had to catch the banana boat home. Then there was George Headley 223 in the same Test, Headley 270 not out in 1935, Trevor Bailey seven for 34 in 1954 and Clyde Walcott - 155 and 110 versus Australia in 1955.
Then Colin McDonald, Neil Harvey, Keith Miller, Ron Archer and Richie Benaud scored centuries in Australia's only innings of the same Test.
Wes Hall seven for 69 versus England in 1960, John Snow - seven for 49 in 1968, Rohan Kanhai 158 not out versus India 1971, and Law-rence Rowe 214 and 100 not out against New Zealand in 1972.
BIGGEST HERO
The biggest hero of them all, however, is Gary Sobers the Barbadian left-hander who played his first Test 50 years ago at Sabina Park as a slow left-arm spinner and who went on to enjoy himself tremendously as a batsman.
In that first Test, against England, Sobers scored 14 not out and 26 and took four wickets for 75 runs off 28.5 overs.
Although such scores are nothing to talk about, Sobers' technique, his confidence and his strokes hinted of someone with a special gift, and it was not long before he started to parade his class with the bat in performances that, among others around the world, made him the batsman of his generation and among the best, the very best of all time.
In eleven Test matches and 18 innings in 20 years at Sabina Park, Sobers scored 1,354 runs for an average of 104.15 with five centuries including his world record 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958 on his third appearance.
FIRST TEST
In an innings during which he killed three birds with one stone by ticking off his first century, his first double century and his only triple century, Sobers stroked 38 boundaries while batting for 10 hours and 14 minutes three hours and three minutes less than Len Hutton took to score the previous record of 364.
Was that the best of Sobers at Sabina Park?
In terms of runs scored, it obviously was the best. In terms of quality, however, the best of Sobers at Sa-bina was his masterpiece 113 not out against England and Snow in 1968.
In the first innings of that Test match, the West Indies, re-plying to England's 376, were routed for 143 with Snow trapping Sobers leg before wicket for a first-ball zero. In the second innings, however, with the West Indies following on a pitch described as one looking like a jigsaw puzzle, the "Great One" played probably the greatest innings ever at Sabina Park.
It was so good, so full of strokes, off the front foot and off the back foot, that the fans at Sabina Park still speak about it as if it were only yesterday.
