Garfield Sobers, the legendary Barbadian cricketer who represented the West Indies at international level and widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history, has died.

Sobers’ former team Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, which the deceased cricketer played for between 1968 and 1974, confirmed his passing in a statement on Friday.

“Nottinghamshire are extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Garfield Sobers, at the age of 89,” the club said in a statement published on its official website. 

It added “Widely regarded as cricket’s greatest ever all-rounder, Sobers amassed 7,041 First-Class runs for Notts – more than he scored for any other domestic team – including 18 centuries.

“He also contributed 281 wickets at 25.62 with his mixture of fast-medium pace and canny left-arm spin. In List A cricket, he hit 2,553 runs and took 103 wickets.”

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Sobers was an entertaining left-handed batter who famously scored 365 not out against Pakistan in 1958. It was his maiden Test century and remained the highest individual Test score for 36 years until Brian Lara made 375 against England in 1994. 

During his time at Nottinghamshire, he became the first batsman in First-Class cricket history to hit six consecutive sixes in a single over, a feat that further underscored his extraordinary batting ability.

Overall, Sobers scored 28,314 in his first-class career and also took 1,043 first-class wickets. He was knighted after retiring from the sport in 1974 and was one of only 11 individuals to have been awarded Barbados’ Order of National Heroes. 

Wisden named him Cricketer of the Year in 1964 as well as the Cricketer of the Century in 2000.