Farnworth<\/a> Cricket Club treasurer Martin Axford, who was fortunate enough to spend time with the sporting icon after being introduced through former cricketer Victor Walcott.\n<\/p>\n\n Mr Axford recalled meeting Sir Garfield at the club on a winter evening and being astonished by his sharp memory.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “As soon as he walked onto cricket pitch, even though it was dark, he said, ‘I’ve played on here.’\n<\/p>\n
\n After a drink in the cricket club, the pair later headed into Manchester for a meal with a small group.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He ordered a fillet steak and said he didn’t eat vegetables, so he just had a fillet steak on its own.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We found that quite amusing,” he remembered with a laugh.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Sir Garry Sobers is pictured with Farnworth CC treasurer Martin Axford, during a social visit to the club in 2016. (Image: Harry McGuire)\n<\/p>\n
\n What struck him most, however, was the opportunity to spend time with a man many consider the finest cricketer in history.\n<\/p>\n
\n “To talk to someone that’s possibly the best cricketer of all time was absolutely amazing.” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sir Garfield was said to have spoken warmly about his life in Barbados, where he played golf six days a week at Sandy Lane, and for Mr Axford, the evening remains one of his most treasured memories.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: “We had a lovely night with him and it was just one of those on-the-spot things that happen to you in your life and you just never, ever forget the time we spent with him that night.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was just one of those moments I was privileged to have in my life, I’ll never forget it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was probably the best company you could ever wish for – he was such a gentleman.”\n<\/p>\n
\n News of Sir Garfield death prompted an immediate response at Farnworth Cricket Club, with members raising a toast when they learned of his passing.\n<\/p>\n
\n The club has also lowered its flag to half-mast as a mark of respect for a player whose influence stretched far beyond the cricket field.\n<\/p>\n
\n For cricket fans in Bolton, Sir Garfield will be remembered not only as a global sporting giant but as a humble and gracious visitor who never forgot the grounds, clubs, and people he encountered along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Often regarded as the greatest all-round cricketer of all time, Sir Garfield enjoyed an impressive career with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-708591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}