Sobers had been Worrell's vice-captain on the 1963 tour of England. When Worrell retired immediately afterwards, Sobers was the obvious successor — the world's outstanding all-rounder, a Barbadian, and 28 years old. The West Indies Cricket Board's confirmation of him in late 1964 was uncontroversial and was greeted across the Caribbean as the natural continuation of the Worrell era.
Sobers's first series in charge was the home contest against Bob Simpson's Australia. The first Test at Sabina Park began on 3 March 1965. Sobers won the toss, batted, and made 35 in West Indies' first innings of 239. Charlie Griffith took six wickets in Australia's reply of 217. Sobers then made 30 in the second innings; West Indies set Australia 252 and bowled them out for 216 to win by 35 runs.
The series settled into a 2-1 win for West Indies, with Sobers contributing centuries at Bridgetown and Port of Spain and his bowling repeatedly breaking partnerships. The Frank Worrell Trophy, which had been with Australia since the 1960-61 series, returned to the Caribbean for the first time. The Kingston crowd carried Sobers off the field after the deciding Test.
As captain Sobers was less methodical than Worrell. He led from instinct, set unconventional fields, declared aggressively, sometimes too soon. He would lose some series — most notoriously the 1968 home series to England under Cowdrey, when his early-evening declaration at Port of Spain handed England the Test and the series. But by the standards of the day his record was excellent. Across 39 Tests as captain he won 9 and lost 10, with most of the losses concentrated in his last two seasons.