CRICKETING royalty visited Devon last Friday as Sir Garry Sobers visited Shebbear College to open one of its new buildings — a cricket pavilion which also boasts a new state-of-the-art Sixth Form centre.

Sir Garry, who played for the West Indies for 20 years and is widely considered cricket‘s greatest all-rounder, made the special trip from London due to the school’s close links with Barbados. After cutting the ribbon and pronouncing the building officially open, Sir Garry took time to chat with a very excited group of students and parents about his amazing career in cricket.

He was also joined briefly by Peter Lever, former opponent and English cricketer, who played in 17 tests and ten ODIs for England from 1970 to 1975.

Headmaster Simon Weale said: ‘We are thrilled that Sir Garry took time out of his busy schedule to visit us, not least because our netball and cricket teams are touring Barbados next year. As a school we promote the benefits of team sports, so to have such a sporting icon coming here can only serve to inspire our pupils.’

The opening of the new building took place on the school’s speech day which was attended by around 500 parents, grandparents and visitors. The guest speaker was Jo Bradshaw, who gave an inspiring speech about her career as an expedition leader.

She was the third British woman to reach the true summit of Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain, in 2013. She was at Camp 1 on Mount Everest in April 2015 when the Nepal earthquake hit and she went back this year to successfully reach the summit on May 19.