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Richards vs Sobers

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SobersWinner
91.1

Sobers wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics

Richards
90.2

Richards wins: Honours

Candidates
Locked to Cricket

Shareable URL · /compare/viv-richards-vs-garfield-sobers

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🏴 Garfield Sobers
91.1

Sobers leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. 365 not out, 8,032 Test runs and 235 Test wickets — cricket's great all-rounder.

1. Garfield Sobers
91.1
2. Viv Richards
90.2

Category breakdown

Season form · Centuries per year

Career timeline · Centuries per year

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through year 5 · Centuries per year
1. 🏴 Viv Richards5 years played · career day 3,286316 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🏴 Garfield Sobers5 years played · career day 2,555281 runs
-11.1% vs Richards at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🏴 Richards000055316
🏴 Sobers0000153409

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 years are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricRichardsRetiredSobersRetired
Test runs8,5408,032
Test centuries2426
World Cups2
Test average50.2357.78
ODI runs6,721
Wisden Cricketer of the Century1
Test wickets235
Six sixes in an over1
Test catches109
Dominance w25%9092
Peak w20%9394
Longevity w20%8888
Honours w20%9088
Statistics w15%9094

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Sobers91.1
Richards90.2
The people
Richards
Sobers

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Make your case for Richards vs Sobers. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.

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