Geoffrey Boycott
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Boycott OBE
(born 21 October 1940) is a former Yorkshire
and England cricket
er. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen. Since retiring as a player, Boycott has found further success as a cricket commentator.
Boycott made his international debut in a 1964 Test match against Australia. He was noted for his ability to occupy the crease and became a key feature of England's Test batting line up for many years, although he was less successful in his limited One Day International (ODI) appearances. He accumulated large scores – he is the fourth highest accumulator of first class centuries in history, and the first English player to average over 100.00 in a season – but often encountered friction with his team mates. Journalist Ian Wooldridge
commented that "Boycott, in short, walks alone", while cricket writer John Arlott
wrote that Boycott had a "lonely" career. Others, however, have stated that the extent of his introverted nature has been exaggerated, and that while he was "obsessed with success" he was not a selfish player.
After 108 Test match appearances for England, Boycott ended his international career in 1982 as the leading Test run scorer with over 8,000 Test match runs, earning an OBE for services to cricket. He was dropped from the Yorkshire team in 1986 as the leading run scorer in first class cricket. While still a young player, he had been named as one of five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden
, the Cricket Almanack, in 1965. He was inducted into the International Cricket Council
's Hall of Fame in 2009.
After his playing career ended, Boycott became an often outspoken and controversial cricket commentator
on both radio and television. In 1998, it was alleged that Boycott assaulted his former girlfriend Margaret Moore; he was given a suspended sentence and fined. In 2002, after being diagnosed with throat cancer
, he underwent successful radiation treatment, and went into remission. He revived his commentating career in 2003, and continues to attract both criticism and praise. He is currently a member of BBC Radio 4
's Test Match Special
commentary team.
, near Wakefield
and Pontefract
in Yorkshire. He was the eldest of three sons of Jane (14 November 1915–1978), (née Speight) and Thomas Wilfred Boycott, a colliery worker from Shropshire
. When Boycott was eight years old, he was impaled through his chest by the handle of an unturned mangle after falling off an iron railing near his home. Boycott nearly died, and in the efforts to save his life, his spleen
was removed. In March 1950, Boycott's father had a serious accident while working as a coalminer
. His spine
was severely damaged after he was hit by empty coal carts; Thomas Boycott never fully recovered, and died in 1967.
Boycott attended Fitzwilliam Primary School. There, playing cricket, he won a Len Hutton
bat award for scoring 45 runs and capturing of six wickets for 10 runs in a schools match. At age 10, he joined Ackworth Cricket Club, demonstrating "outstanding ability." At the age of 11 he failed the examinations that would have taken him to grammar school
, and instead went to the local Kinsley Secondary Modern School
. A year later, however, he passed his late-entry exams, and transferred to Hemsworth Grammar School. His cricket prowess was such that he was captaining the school's Cricket First XI at the age of 15. During the winters he attended an indoor cricket school, where he was coached by former county professional Johnny Lawrence
. While studying for his O-levels he began to have difficulties reading the blackboard
and was initially devastated when told he would need glasses. At first, he played poorly at school in fragile spectacles before a more robust pair was fashioned for him at the behest of his uncle—a strong influence on his early game—similar to those glasses worn by cricketer Roy Marshall
. In 1958 Boycott left school with seven O-level passes and the school's Individual Cricket Cup. In the summer he played for the Leeds United
under-18 football team alongside Billy Bremner
and attracted the attention of Leeds United scouts. During the winter he played cricket in the nets
at his uncle John Lawrence's house, and was invited to the winter nets for Yorkshire Cricket Club by Clifford Hesketh.
Boycott told the BBC
in 1965 that he chose to leave school at 17 because he no longer wished to be a financial strain on his parents, and because he wanted to pursue his cricketing career. He worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance
in Barnsley
from 1958 to 1963, at the same time playing for a number of cricket clubs. He captained the South Elmsall district team, and achieved a batting average of 70. He also played for the Yorkshire Federation's Under-18 team, and for Barnsley, where he was noticed by Clifford Hesketh, a member of Yorkshire's County Cricket team committee.
against Essex
, and 103 centuries in all. He scored another 8,699 runs in List A cricket, averaging 40.08. Boycott twice averaged over 100 in an English first-class season: 100.12 in 1971, and 102.53 in 1979. He is one of only two players to have achieved this twice, Mark Ramprakash
being the other. Boycott was appointed captain of Yorkshire in 1971, but was sacked in 1978 after failing to win a trophy while in charge. He was then dismissed as a player, but reinstated after a members' revolt. During his career Boycott frequently clashed with other strong personalities at the club, including Fred Trueman
, Brian Close
and Ray Illingworth
, but remained popular with the Yorkshire crowds.
Before he played in first-class cricket, Boycott played for the successful Barnsley Cricket Club, making his debut in 1959 and becoming a regular team member in 1959 alongside Dickie Bird, Bill Foord
and Michael Parkinson
. In one match, Boycott faced a delivery from Foord which he dispatched to the boundary for four. Foord turned to Parkinson and asked: "Christ almighty, what's this lad's name?" Bird remembered his "application, concentration and absolute belief in himself. He had one great gift, mental strength. You can have all the coaching in the world but the most important thing is to be mentally strong." Though Bird later left Boycott out of his choice XI, he would write: "of all the great players I have seen, if I had to pick a batsman to bat for my life, I would go for Geoffrey." He made his Yorkshire Second XI debut on 6 July 1959 against Cumberland at Penrith
, scoring five and 15.
Boycott made his Yorkshire first team debut on 16 June 1962 against the Pakistan touring team
. He opened the batting, scoring four in both innings – the first from a boundary off of his first ball in first class cricket – and taking one catch, but he did not bowl. He then went on to play his first County Championship
match the next day, on 20 June, against Northamptonshire
. Batting at number four, he scored six and 21*.
Early in his career, Boycott continued to play in his spectacles, and later switched to contact lenses. He feared his career would have ended had he not used such aids as his eyesight was poor. Boycott's initial appearances for Yorkshire failed to impress, and he was compared unfavourably to his main rival, John Hampshire
. When Brian Close took over from Vic Wilson
as captain of Yorkshire in 1963 he persuaded the committee to keep Boycott on, and was rewarded when, on 2 June 1963, Boycott scored 145 against Lancashire
. His century was also part of a 249-run fourth wicket partnership which became a Yorkshire record. Boycott cemented his place in the Yorkshire XI in the 1963 season with successive scores of 76, 53, 49 not out and 50, and on 29 August made a century partnership in both innings of a match against Leicestershire with Ken Taylor
. Boycott handed in his notice to the Ministry of Pensions that same year. After a brief loss of form he kept his place with scores of 62, 28 and 113 in the following matches. This second century again came against Lancashire, making Boycott the first Yorkshire cricketer to score his first two centuries in a Roses match, as the hotly contested Yorkshire versus Lancashire matches were termed. Boycott went on to hit his highest score thus far, 165 not out, against Leicestershire, and ended his first full season with 1,446 runs at an average of 46.64, placing him second in the 1963 national batting averages. He was awarded his county cap on 2 October. At the start of the 1964 season Boycott hit 151 against Middlesex
, followed by another hundred against Lancashire in May, and then played for the MCC
against the Australian touring side at Lord's
, where he scored 63. On 16 May he completed a third consecutive century, and on 31 May he was called up for the First Test against Australia at Trent Bridge
.
Although he later became renowned for his ability to occupy the crease for hours of defensive play, he was capable of playing attacking cricket. His highest one day score, a match-winning 146, came in the 1965 Gillette Cup final against Surrey. In his previous Gillette Cup match, the quarter-final against Somerset, Boycott took 32 overs to accumulate 23 runs. According to captain, Close, at Lord's after Yorkshire had slowly reached 22/1, he Close promoted himself to number three in the batting order so that he could urge Boycott into action. "I joined Geoffrey in the middle and said to him: "Listen, if I call, you bloody well run." Boycott later claimed this plan had been agreed on a fortnight previously, and denied such an incident ever occurring. Boycott subsequently hit 15 fours and three sixes, even though the modern-day fielding restrictions, which facilitate rapid scoring, did not exist in 1965. One shot, a lofted straight drive off England paceman Geoff Arnold
was nearly caught by Boycott's team mates on the players' balcony in the pavilion. Close and Boycott added 192 runs for the second wicket, as Yorkshire posted a then record total of 317. Cricket writer John Woodcock
wrote in The Times
that "his magnificent innings contained every stroke in the book. " In the 1966 season Boycott scored two centuries in one match for the first time, against Nottinghamshire on 18 July. Against Leicestershire on 15 June 1968 he carried his bat through an entire Yorkshire innings of 297 all out, remaining unbeaten on 114*. It was the first time he had been unbeaten at the end of an innings. He ended the season top of the national averages for the first time. On 27 July 1970 he scored 260*, his highest first-class score in England, against Essex. At the end of the season, Close was sacked by the club committee in what Boycott called in 1987 "one of the cruellest incidents in the history of sport." Boycott, on tour in Australia, was awarded the captaincy.
commented later that Boycott "never got the support he deserved from the committee. After the captaincy was decided on a casting vote, the half that didn't want him never wanted him. " Some members of the committee strove to have him removed almost immediately. He also caused strife between his fellow players, including a reciprocated dislike for Richard Hutton, with many players leaving the club citing personal differences with Boycott as the reason for their departure. After his first season as captain he spent the winter of 1971 playing in South Africa for Northern Transvaal
. He played only one match, however, scoring 107 and 41.
Boycott's eight seasons of captaincy were among Yorkshire's least successful, with the club failing to win any competitions and ranking low in the Championship table, in contrast to their one-time dominance of English cricket. The beginning of the end of his captaincy came after BBC Radio Leeds interviews in which two Yorkshire committee members and former players, Don Brennan and Mel Ryan, said that a change in leadership was needed. Boycott himself did not suffer a loss of form to mirror that of his county's; in his first year as captain, he scored 2503 runs at an average of 100.12, included a century in hist first match as captain. His success was cited by Trueman as evidence that his selfish nature was harming Yorkshire. Boycott headed the national batting averages in 1972 with 72.35, and was second in 1973 with 63.62. In 1973, however, Yorkshire failed to win a single championship game, which Wisden called "disturbingly unsuccessful" and which led to further calls for Boycott to be stripped of the captaincy. He was also coming into increased conflict with Richard Hutton, Close, and several members of the committee and senior players. "Looking back," Boycott wrote in 1987 "I wish I had given up the Yorkshire captaincy at the end of that year."
In 1974 Boycott's form dipped, when he scored only 75 runs in the first innings of the season, other than a non-championship century against Cambridge University. He did, however, score 152* against Worcestershire on 15 May to complete his tour of centuries against every first-class county. Both he and Yorkshire suffered through 1975 and 1976, as did his international career, since he refused to play for England from 1974 until 1977. During the summer of 1978 Boycott broke a finger, so John Hampshire
temporarily took over as captain. Boycott returned later in the season, scoring 968 runs at 50.94, but this was second to Hampshire's 1,463 at 54.18. A poll of the dressing room showed that 95% of the players wanted a permanent change in the captaincy. On 15 September 1978 Boycott's mother, to whom he was very close, died of cancer, placing further pressure on him. On 29 September, the Yorkshire club committee met with Boycott to discuss terminating his captaincy. A statement by the club outlined Yorkshire's intention to retain Boycott as a player while giving the captaincy to Hampshire. Boycott, in response, attacked the Yorkshire club and its decision in an appearance on the BBC
's flagship chatshow Parkinson
on 7 October, prompting both strong criticism from the club and strong public support for his own position.
's record of 129 first-class centuries. In 1980 he scored his ninth Roses century, equalling Herbert Sutcliffe
's record. He also finished the season with an average of over 50.00 for the eleventh consecutive year, exceeding the record previously held by Jack Hobbs
. He would experience growing friction with Hutton's son, Yorkshire's Richard, as well as with later Yorkshire captain John Hampshire
. In the early 1980s Boycott continued his run of form, although a slow 347-ball knock of 140* incensed captain, Ray Illingworth
, and created friction between Boycott and the rest of the Yorkshire Committee. In 1982 Boycott and Graham Stevenson
added a record 149 runs for Yorkshire's tenth wicket against Warwickshire, Stevenson scoring 115 of these runs.
On 3 October 1983 the friction between Boycott and the committee culminated in a unanimous decision not to offer Boycott a contract for the next season. This generated much protest from Boycott supporters, who rallied, calling for his reinstatement at a meeting on 9 October in Ossett, Yorkshire. Bill Athey
also left the club at this time, and while Boycott in his biography maintained that he had no reason to believe that his actions had caused Athey's departure, Athey later stated to biographer Leo McKinstry that "Boycott's attitude and the atmosphere he created had everything to do with my decision to leave Yorkshire." The "Members 84 Group", consisting of strong supporters of Boycott, met regularly to clamour for the batsman's reinstatement. Their leader, Peter Briggs, stated "Geoffrey Boycott is a giant playing among pygmies."
On 21 January 1984 the Yorkshire Club committee, in the face of this rising pressure, agreed to offer Boycott a contract for 1984. Several members of the committee, including Trueman, Billy Sutcliffe
and Ronnie Burnet
, resigned. Of the replacement members, 17 were from the Members 84 Group, and Boycott himself was elected, leaving him with both a position on the team and on the Yorkshire Club committee. The 1984 season was, however, not the most prolific for Boycott. McKinstry records that he scored slowly in several matches: 60 in 52 overs against Somerset; 53 in 51 overs against Hampshire; 17 in 26 overs against Leicestershire; 77 in 67 overs against Sussex. This was coupled with continued friction between himself and both players and club members. In particular, Boycott's place on both the team and the committee led to feelings of distrust from both – though Boycott denies this – which led to the loss of support from long-term ally Sid Fielden.
His success on the field resumed in 1985, where he scored 1657 runs at 75.31, second only to Viv Richards
in the national averages. He also shared a record opening partnership of 351 with Martyn Moxon
. In contrast to the poor relations between Boycott and the senior players, many junior members of the team remember 1985 and 1986 as pleasant times to be around Boycott, who often coached them on their technique. 1986 saw Boycott score 890 runs at 52.35, his season cut short by injuries which were becoming more frequent as he passed the age of 45. This season was the first since 1962 that he had not hit an overall total of 1,000 runs; he finished eight short in his final match, when he was run out for 61. He advised the then captain to enforce the follow-on, and did not bat again. Since 1984, support for Boycott had waned in light of his slow scoring, multiple injuries and the general atmosphere around him. Both Brian Close and Ray Illingworth increasingly advocated his removal to Yorkshire's committee, and on 23 September 1986 it was confirmed that he would not be offered a contract for the following year. A few months later, captain David Bairstow
, a long term ally of Boycott whose leadership had Boycott's support, was ruled out of the running for captaincy for the following season, which was instead given to Phil Carrick
, of whom Boycott disapproved. Boycott paid tribute to the Reform Group in 1987, describing them as "dedicated Yorkshire members with a heartfelt stake in their club." He suggests that Close and Illingworth feared his popularity. Boycott was offered contracts by other counties, including Derbyshire
and Glamorgan
, but he never took these offers up, nor played professional cricket again. At the time of his retirement he had scored more first-class runs than any other player.
for England. He was the first England cricketer to pass 8,000 Test runs and is still fourth on England's all-time run scoring list (behind Graham Gooch
, Alec Stewart
and David Gower
). His average of 47.72 runs over 193 innings is the highest completed career average among England players since 1970. His Test career included 22 centuries (an England record that he holds jointly with Wally Hammond
and Colin Cowdrey
). England did not lose a Test match in which he scored a century and only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat. John Arlott wrote in 1979 that "any expectation of an English win, except in freak bowling conditions, is based on a major innings from Boycott. "
in 1964. He top scored on debut, making 48 runs from 118 deliveries before he was bowled by Grahame Corling
, as England declared at 216 for eight wickets. The match ended as a rain-plagued draw, and Boycott did not bat in the second innings as he had suffered a cracked finger. He made 58 at Old Trafford, and then hit his maiden century, 113, at The Oval
. He finished his first Test series with 291 runs at 48.50. In the same year he topped the country's domestic averages with 59.45. In the winter of 1964, Boycott was selected for the England team touring South Africa. After a low scoring series of warm up matches, he hit 73 in the opening Test, and another 76 in the fourth, followed by 117 in the fifth and final match. He averaged 49.66 overall, and took five wickets with the ball as England won the Test series 1–0. He had a mixed impact on the other England players, who were impressed by his talent but perplexed by his introverted attitude each time he was dismissed.
and a two hour and twenty minute long 16, when England needed to mount a large total quickly, and which Wisden described as a "dreadful effort when courage was needed" he was dropped and replaced by Eric Russell. Boycott was brought back into the team following the summer and toured Australia in the 1965-66 Ashes series, but illness dogged his performance initially. He then hit a form of "brighter cricket" during the First and Second Tests. Uncharacteristically, he hit a four from his very first delivery at Perth
, and put on 98 in 16 overs with Bob Barber
in the Second Test. In the Third Test, Boycott and Barber put on an opening partnership of 234 in four hours, Boycott hitting 84, his highest score of a series where he also took two wickets with the ball. But in the Fifth Test he monopolised the strike, ran out Bob Barber and took 75 minutes to make 17 runs. His form deserted him again when the MCC went on to tour New Zealand.
In 1966, England faced the West Indies, and Boycott struggled with a series average of 26.57, although few English batsmen impressed. He was left out for the first Test, however in the second did partake in a partnership of 115 with Tom Graveney
. Nevertheless, it was a disappointing year for Boycott both for England and Yorkshire, and his average for the former fell to 36.60. Furthermore, he had only passed 50 twice in his last 12 first-class innings. He rediscovered his form the following summer, however. Boycott's highest Test score of 246* came against India on 8–9 June 1967 on his home ground of Headingley. Batting for 573 minutes (slightly under ten hours), Boycott struck thirty fours and a six at a strike rate of 44.32. He began his innings slowly, scoring 106 runs in six hours, with 17 of those in the first and eight in the second. This particularly frustrated the England selectors as the pitch was excellent for batting, and the Indian attack had been weakened by injury. Such frustration was exacerbated by Boycott's adding of 140 runs in four hours on the second day. Ian Wooldridge
recording in the Daily Mail
that Boycott "could not be excused by his nearest and dearest relations. " He did not bat in the second innings as England won by six wickets.
This slow scoring led to increasing media pressure, and what was perceived as a selfish attitude led to Boycott being dropped from the team after the match. He recorded in 1987 that "the decision stunned me at the time, though looking back now I see that it had become inevitable. I was mortified with embarrassment and filled with an angry, burning sense of injustice which I can remember clearly an painfully to this day." A combination of low confidence and a throat infection limited Boycott to two other Test appearances, against India and Pakistan respectively, for the rest of the year. He nevertheless again topped the domestic averages with 1260 at 48.46. 1967 took England to the West Indies, where Boycott hit a rich seam of form, scoring 463 runs at 66.14 and seeing England home safely with a series victory of 1–0.
The next two years saw only a sporadic inclusion of Boycott in the Test team. A back injury in 1967 forced Boycott to miss half the season, and an average of 32.40 against the Australians during the follow years Ashes was unspectacular with Boycott hitting scores of 35, 11, 49, 36 and 31 in the series. Domestically, his injury also limited his contribution, however he did hit five centuries before he was forced to stop playing in June 1968. A tour of Pakistan in the winter of 1968 left Boycott behind complaining of troubles with his spleen
and with adjusting to his new contact lenses. He was back in the team by the summer of 1969, scoring 128 against the West Indies at Old Trafford, and another century at Lord's, however his form slipped and he scored 12 and zero in the next match. Boycott then suffered at the hands of New Zealand, averaging only 20.20 with two ducks, and then succumbed to an injury towards the end of the domestic season.
His form returned by 1970. While he was left out of the first three Tests against the World XI, he played in the fourth and scored 15 and 64, and in the final Test of the summer scored 157. He won the Walter Lawrence Trophy
for this century. Over the winter of 1970–71 Boycott toured Australia, and averaged 95.93 over all first-class matches. He scored 173 in the first warm up match, followed by 124 against Queensland
. In the third Test match, having hit good partnerships in the first two, Boycott made 77 and 142*. During the second match, Boycott allegedly told Basil D'Oliveira
, the latter having just announced that he had worked out the action of Australian spinner Johnny Gleeson, that he had "sorted that out a fortnight ago." This incident was used as evidence for Boycott's selfish attitude for many years after. His highest score was 142 not out in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Sydney
, 23 more runs than Australia who were dismissed for 119 in a crushing 299 run victory. The Fifth Test was drawn, Boycott making 12 and 76*, and in the Sixth Test he was run out
for 58. Boycott initially refused to leave the ground in disbelief, and eventually walked off to boos from the crowd. He made 119 in the second innings, however. Boycott then injured his arm against fast bowler Garth McKenzie in a following one day match and missed the final Test, where England retained the Ashes. He later maintained that the injury permanently affected his wrist, and that he carried a squash ball in a sock in his pocket, which he could squeeze to keep his wrist strong. He nevertheless ended the series with 657 Test runs at 93.85.
In 1971, Boycott made his One Day International debut against Australia, the press by then touting him as the best batsman in the world. He was the first batsman to receive a ball in a one day international and his was the first wicket to fall, scoring eight from 37 balls. In the summer of 1971 he enjoyed an average of over 100 in domestic cricket, and scored 121* against Pakistan at Lord's. He played only two Tests in 1972 during a spate of injuries, but rejoined the team in the West Indies under Denness' captaincy. Boycott was dismissed for 99 in the first innings against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1973–74 and scored 112 in the second, followed by a career-best 261 not out against a West Indies Board President's XI. The two personalities of Boycott and Denness did not get on well together, and at the end of the tour they clashed over Boycott's preference for a one day match over a three day game against Bermuda. Boycott recalled in his autobiography that when Denness confronted him on the issue he replied "Get out of here before I do something I'll regret." It was the end of any relationship between the two players. He had "no confidence in Denness's professional ability and no respect for him as a man and another tour like the previous one to the West Indies was the last thing I wanted."
and then Tony Greig
as England Captain in preference to him. Boycott was very critical of Denness's captaincy and his standard of batting in his autobiography in 1987, citing it then as a factor in his decision along with the pressures at Yorkshire. His weak immune system was a recurring motivation for not touring the Indian subcontinent. This period of "exile" also enabled him to avoid fast-bowlers Dennis Lillee
, Jeff Thomson
, Andy Roberts, and Michael Holding
at their peaks, although he came back to face the West Indies pace battery at its most fearsome in the late 70s and early 80s.
In his autobiography and an interview, Boycott has responded to these accusations by pointing out that Lillee had been out of cricket for 21 months suffering from a serious back complaint and that Thomson had not played in Tests for 23 months prior to the 1974–5 Ashes series, since an unsuccessful debut Test against Pakistan (Thomson's match figures were 0–110). Furthermore, he was dismissed for 99 in the first innings against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1973–74 and scored 112 in the second, followed by a career-best 261 not out against a West Indies Board President's XI. All of these teams included Roberts, with a young Holding representing the Board XI.
in 1977 he ran out Derek Randall
in front of his home crowd before going on to make a century. In this match, in which Ian Botham
made his England debut, he batted on each of the five days of the match: his first innings 107 started at the end of the first day, he batted throughout the second day and was dismissed on the third day; he started his second innings at the end of day four and batted throughout England's successful run chase scoring 80 not out, scoring the winning runs in partnership with Randall. Among England batsmen, only Allan Lamb
and Andrew Flintoff
have emulated this feat of batting on all five days, and both subsequent to Boycott. He also enjoyed a 215-run partnership with Alan Knott
. Botham later remarked that "The Aussies, shell-shocked at having to bowl at Boycott for twenty-two and a half hours, capitulated without much of a fight. "
On 12 August 1977 he scored 191 against Australia in the fourth Test in front of a full house at his home ground of Leeds
, becoming the first cricketer to score his one hundredth first-class century in a Test match and the fourth English player to be on the field for the entire duration of a Test Match. Boycott reached the milestone with an on drive from the bowling of Greg Chappell
through mid-on for four. Boycott ended the series 442 runs at an average of 147.33.
Appointed vice-captain for the ensuing tour of Pakistan
and New Zealand that winter, Boycott took over as captain in 1978 for two Tests when Mike Brearley
was injured, and brought with him his successful summer form. However, he was replaced upon Brearley's return. While the rest of the England team took part in warm-up matches, Boycott remained in Lahore
and organised a special warm up match where the team would play itself. However he went on to occupy the crease for a long period of time, limiting the amount of time other players had to practice. He later stated that, as the number one batsman, he should have the most time in the middle. In the second Test match, he scored 79 and 100*, increasing his statistics since his return to the England team to 684 runs at 136.80. It was between this match and the third Test that Brearley broke his arm, giving Boycott the captaincy. Boycott led England to a draw in the third match, his leadership meeting mixed reviews.
Following Pakistan, Boycott and the England team travelled to New Zealand. England were defeated in the opening Test for the first time in 48 years, Boycott taking seven hours and 22 minutes to score 77 runs, and England being bowled out for 64 when chasing 137 to win. In the second match, Botham's first Test century took England to a commanding 418, however by the end of the match England needed to score quickly to force a win. Boycott, however, told his team that he would play the way he always had, and proceeded to accumulate runs very slowly. Derek Randall
was run out, and Botham came out to bat with his captain, informing the dressing room that "Boycs will be back in here before the end of the over." Botham then ran Boycott out, later claiming in his autobiography that he had done it deliberately. Indeed, some have suggested that this was a team order. Boycott disputes the suggestion that the run-out was deliberate in his autobiography, referring to Botham's account as "a story that gets bigger and more fanciful with every telling". The tale does nevertheless remain a renowned story. Boycott then delayed his declaration, much to the frustration of England bowler Bob Willis
. England did eventually declare, and Willis took 4/14. New Zealand were bowled out for 105 and England won by 174 runs. Boycott suffered a scratch on his cornea
and missed the last two days of the final match, and by the start of the 1978 season, Brearley had taken the captaincy back from Boycott.
During the 1978–79 Ashes series, Boycott unusually went in at No. 11 in the second innings of a match against state side South Australia (not due to injury). At Perth on 15 December, he also scored 77 runs without hitting a boundary – the highest total of this nature – though it did include an all-run four. England went on to win the six-Test series 5–1, with Boycott struggling overall through three of the Tests with 263 runs at 21.91. Boycott then played in the 1979 Cricket World Cup
held in England, taking two wickets in the opening match against Australia, which England won. The hosts then went on to win their next two games and topped their table for the opening round. Reaching the final after a close victory against New Zealand in which Boycott scored only two, he hit 57 from 105 balls as England chased Viv Richards 138 not out-inspired 286 to win, falling 92 runs short at 194 all out. Boycott ended the competition with the sixth highest strike rate of 42.99 and an average of 23.00.
Following the World Cup, against Australia during a Test match at Perth in 1979–80, Boycott became the first man to be marooned on 99 not out in a Test when he ran out of partners. England then toured the West Indies. Here, Boycott again faced the West Indies' feared pace attack, but succeeded in scoring centuries off the likes of Holding, Roberts, Colin Croft
and Joel Garner
, despite having passed the age of 40 the previous year. Other batsmen, such as David Gower
found the attack difficult to cope with, and the later England captain stated that Boycott often had no sympathy. Boycott was the third most successful batsman, behind Gooch and Gower, during a tour where England went down 2–0. He scored 70 in the opening match, the only England player to pass 50. In the third match, Boycott was to face what was later said to be Holding's greatest over. Boycott was hit on the gloves by the first delivery, played-and-missed the second outside off stump, was hit on the thigh by the third, fended the next two deliveries away with his bat, and was then bowled by the final delivery. Though in 1987 Boycott would claim a 1966 delivery by Gary Sobers to be the best he ever faced in cricket, he noted of Holding's over that "for the first time in my life I can look at a scoreboard with a duck against my name and not feel a profound sense of failure. " Boycott led an England fight back in the fourth Test. Having watched Holding's over several times on video, and worked in the nets on his game, Boycott came out and made 38 in the first innings and then hit his twentieth Test century. His career run total was now 7,410, gaining on Gary Sobers' record of 8,032.
Boycott was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours
"for services to Cricket." He then played in the 1981 Ashes series, despite being aged 40. During the second Test at Lord's Cricket Ground
Boycott was dismissed 40 short of a hundred by Dennis Lillee
, and was "crushed" given that, as it was his hundredth Test match, he wished to score a century. Forever keen on the England captaincy, Boycott's hopes were cut short when Botham's 149 not out secured victory in Boycott's 101st Test match, and Mike Brearley
's position as captain was made secure. During the series, Boycott became concerned with his form and that he may be dropped before he could chase Sobers' record in the upcoming tour of India. He had scored only 10 and 37 in the Fifth Test, however in the drawn Sixth Test at The Oval
he scored 137, passing Colin Cowdrey's record of 7624 runs and becoming England's highest run-scorer. He ended the series behind only Botham, with 392 runs at 32.66.
over his slow scoring rate, playing Fletcher's comments to him during a press conference using a tape recorder. The series against India was to be his last. In his final ODI match during England's tour he scored 6 from 12 deliveries. During the following Test series he passed Sobers' career run record, hitting 60 in the first Test, 36 and 50 in the second to take him 81 runs short, and in the third Test he overtook the record with a flick off his pads for four. He thus became the leading Test run-scorer. In his last Test match, the fourth of the tour, taking place in January 1982, he scored 18 and six. During the tour, Boycott claimed that he was too ill to field in a Test Match, but it was later discovered that he was playing golf while his team mates were still out on the field.
This led to Boycott being dropped from the side and forced to return to England, despite apologising via note to the England dressing room. He claimed in his autobiography, however, that he went to the golf course following medical advice to get fresh air. Later in 1982 he was instrumental in organising, in defiance of a United Nations and a TCCB
ban, a so-called "rebel" tour of apartheid South Africa by 13 current and former England Test cricketers, who were almost all nearing the end of their careers. All the players were banned from international cricket for three years as a result. By the mid-1980s, with Boycott in good county form and physical shape, there was speculation that he might return to the England side. David Gower
, England captain of the time, however, stated that "Geoffrey's been a marvellous servant for England but we have to look to the future and, in view of his age, it wouldn't make an awful lot of sense to pick him again." This was confirmed by the return of Graham Gooch and Tim Robinson
's 175 against Australia at Leeds, which prompted Botham, who had once remarked that Boycott was "totally, almost insanely, selfish", to sing "Bye bye Boycott" from the England balcony.
" as a reference to the area outside the off stump where a batsman is unsure whether he should leave or hit the ball, and for using a key to measure the hardness of the pitch, that is until this was outlawed by the International Cricket Council
.
Boycott was offered a role by talkSPORT
. He continued to commentate for the station, along with various satellite and Asian channels, until 2003, when his career was further threatened by throat cancer
. Having successfully undergone treatment, Boycott enjoyed a renaissance in his career as he returned to high-profile commentating with Channel 4
, which had meanwhile taken over from the BBC in televising England's home Test games. In November 2005, Boycott rejoined the BBC's Test Match Special
to provide commentary for England's 2005 tour of Pakistan. In January 2006, Boycott joined Asian channel Ten Sports. He delivered the Colin Cowdrey Lecture in 2005, speaking about the need for cricket to adapt to changing circumstances and embrace innovations like Twenty20
.
Boycott worked on Cricket on Five with Mark Nicholas
and Simon Hughes as co-commentators, and was a member of the BBC Cricket Team for commentary on the 2006/7 Ashes series. His role, as in his other commentary-related work, was to contribute to discussion of the main talking points. During England's 5–0 whitewash by Australia, Boycott stated that the team were undeserving of their MBEs and that he felt "so bad about mine I'm going to tie it round my cat. It doesn't mean anything any more. It's a joke". Boycott has been credited as having a high level of influence in the game, with Yorkshire's Chief Executive Stewart Regan crediting Boycott over the completion of a deal for Younis Khan
to play county cricket for Yorkshire in the 2007 season. On a larger scale, Boycott has worked towards scrapping the rule at Yorkshire regarding the number of overseas players. He stated that he believed Brian Close and the other selectors to be living in past times, and that he wished to encourage a growth in the number of players from Pakistan
, the West Indies or India.
His on air commentary has caused controversy. As a commentator, Boycott has renewed his 'pull-no-punches' style in contrast to most of his fellow commentators. In particular he is known for criticising players, often in a caustic and strident style. After witnessing a dropped catch, he said "I reckon my mum could have caught that in her pinny
", and in 2005 he mocked the Australian captain Ricky Ponting
for electing to bowl first on a batsman-friendly pitch, saying he was a "nice man" for being so generous to the England team. In 2006, he was initially receptive to the difficulties endured by Marcus Trescothick
during his periods of stress-related illness; however, he was not always as amiable. In March 2008, recently dropped Steve Harmison
attacked Boycott in an article in the Mail on Sunday where he referred to Boycott as a "waste of space." This was in response to Boycott's statement a few days previously on 19 March 2008 that if Harmison "gets a central contract this summer then a lot of us will be screaming favouritism and a total waste of money. England should forget him".
Nevertheless, Boycott has enjoyed a successful commentating career, and his opinions are sought across a number of cricketing media. As well as newspaper columns, Boycott contributes to several online blogs, podcasts and question and answer sessions, notably on the BBC News
website and CricInfo
. He is also popular among cricket pundits and biographers, being the subject of three significant biographies from 1982 to 2000, while his comments are reproduced across a number of published cricketing quotes collections.
.
The conviction gravely jeopardised Boycott's commentating career. At the time of the conviction he was working for BSkyB and BBC Radio
, commentating on England's tour of the West Indies. He was sacked from both roles. He was also sacked from his columnist's job in The Sun
, which announced the dismissal in an article on the front page with the headline "Sun Sacks Boycott the Brute", although the Sun gave Boycott an undertaking in writing that they would continue to employ him regardless of the result of the court case, as did Talk Sport. A BBC television spokesman said "Geoffrey Boycott is not under contract with the BBC [television] and there are no plans to use him in the future."
Boycott's commentating career continued, however, as he was able to carry on working overseas, particularly in India. He hosted The Sunny and Boycs Show with Sunil Gavaskar
and he hosted the touring Indian team at his home in August 2002. He also worked in South Africa and coached the Pakistan cricket team upon request. In 2001, as resentment towards him in the British media following the court case died down, he was reinstated as a writer for British newspapers, and there was speculation that he would lead Lancashire Cricket Club
following the departure of Bobby Simpson
, though Mike Watkinson
eventually took the role.
. By 3 September, he was informed that he had four cancerous tumours in his throat. Initially, surgeons recommended an eight-hour procedure to remove the tumours; however, their size and proximity to his voice box eventually persuaded them to recommend radiotherapy, of which Boycott had 35 sessions from 22 October. By December, scans revealed that the majority of the tumours had disappeared, and the final tumour's disappearance was confirmed in early 2003. Although initially reluctant to discuss his health with the public, he spoke privately with his daughter, Emma, and then released a statement publicly, which evoked a significant emotional response. On 16 August 2003, he was given his own standing ovation by the crowd at Trent Bridge
as he and a number of other cricketers did a lap of the ground in vehicles to celebrate Trent Bridge's 50th Test match.
. In early 2008 there was speculation that Boycott would be awarded a role amongst the England coaching staff, pertaining in particular to the coaching of Andrew Flintoff
back from injury.
On 8 May 2008, however, the ECB revealed that Boycott would not hold such a position. The two had been involved in the past, and while Flintoff is an admirer of Boycott, the ECB stressed any coaching relationship would only be informal. Boycott, however, used to give informal talks to younger cricket players during his career, and the media speculated that he might find a place coaching the England U19s. Boycott continued in his commentating career for TMS, criticising the England team's approach to the ODI matches under Pietersen in India in November 2008. Also in November, Daily Mail contributor Leo McKinstry published a new biography on Boycott. On 2 January 2009, Boycott, along with 54 others, was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He continued to be an active member of the cricket community, voicing his support in late April 2009 for Pakistan player Saeed Ajmal
, and calling for the legalisation of the doosra
spin-bowling delivery.
Boycott continued to be vocal in matters cricket. He levelled criticism in July against Kevin Pietersen
for his captaincy difficulties and in September against Andrew Flintoff
for his apparent favour of club cricket over internationals. On 29 November 2009, he was commentating an ODI between England and South Africa when he was heard swearing on air following a catch taken by Paul Collingwood
dismissed Ryan McLaren
. The BBC released a statement on 30 November which read: "An off-air comment made by Geoffrey Boycott in a live broadcast was heard by some listeners which we apologised for as soon as we realised it had been audible." He nevertheless continued to be a part of the commentating team, scheduled to travel to Australia to broadcast on the 2010-11 Ashes series.
wrote in 1987, in The Test Within, that "the greatness of Boycott the batsman and the gaffes of Boycott the man had common roots in an unceasing quest after perfection."
While this style facilitated his solid defensive play, it inhibited him as a stroke player and made him susceptible to hand and arm injuries. Such injuries would be common throughout his career. One such injury almost required the tip of a broken finger to be amputated. He was occasionally vulnerable to left-arm bowlers, either due to his inability to adjust his line of stroke or because during his career there were few fast left-hand bowlers for him to practice against in the nets. Boycott himself disputes this. In spite of that, he was never vulnerable to any one particular bowler. Pace bowler Dennis Lillee
was the most successful against him in Test matches, with seven dismissals. Gary Sobers also dismissed him seven times, but Lillee did so in fewer matches. Peter Lever
, a Test colleague, discussed with Boycott his vulnerability when playing the hook stroke, which was to get him out on more than one occasion. Overall in Test cricket, 54% of Boycott's dismissals were by being caught, with lbw, and bowled taking 14% and 16% respectively.
Boycott was also a very occasional medium-pace inswing bowler. He was never a genuine all-rounder
, but took seven wickets at Test level at an average of 54.57, often bowling wearing his cap turned back-to-front to assist his vision. At the start of his career, Boycott was a below average fielder, having received no coaching on this from Yorkshire and with little inclination to rectify it when concentrating on his batting. A fellow Yorkshire batsman Ken Taylor
worked with Boycott, who was "limited in [fielding] ability, " but had "tremendous determination". With further help from his two brothers Boycott's fielding improved. He became a safe pair of hands generally at cover point, though he continued to lack power and pace in the field, never taking more than two catches in a Test innings, and averaging 0.170 dismissals per innings with 33 career catches in all. He would remark in his autobiography that his usual fielding positions depended not on the tactical situation but on whether the captain was one of Boycott's critics, who would therefore banish him to a remote part of the field.
Career performance:
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 21 October 1940) is a former Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
and England cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen. Since retiring as a player, Boycott has found further success as a cricket commentator.
Boycott made his international debut in a 1964 Test match against Australia. He was noted for his ability to occupy the crease and became a key feature of England's Test batting line up for many years, although he was less successful in his limited One Day International (ODI) appearances. He accumulated large scores – he is the fourth highest accumulator of first class centuries in history, and the first English player to average over 100.00 in a season – but often encountered friction with his team mates. Journalist Ian Wooldridge
Ian Wooldridge
Ian Wooldridge, OBE was a British sports journalist. He was with the Daily Mail for nearly 50 years. He died from cancer...
commented that "Boycott, in short, walks alone", while cricket writer John Arlott
John Arlott
Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...
wrote that Boycott had a "lonely" career. Others, however, have stated that the extent of his introverted nature has been exaggerated, and that while he was "obsessed with success" he was not a selfish player.
After 108 Test match appearances for England, Boycott ended his international career in 1982 as the leading Test run scorer with over 8,000 Test match runs, earning an OBE for services to cricket. He was dropped from the Yorkshire team in 1986 as the leading run scorer in first class cricket. While still a young player, he had been named as one of five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
, the Cricket Almanack, in 1965. He was inducted into the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
's Hall of Fame in 2009.
After his playing career ended, Boycott became an often outspoken and controversial cricket commentator
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
on both radio and television. In 1998, it was alleged that Boycott assaulted his former girlfriend Margaret Moore; he was given a suspended sentence and fined. In 2002, after being diagnosed with throat cancer
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers that start in the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity , nasal cavity , paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , originating from the mucosal lining...
, he underwent successful radiation treatment, and went into remission. He revived his commentating career in 2003, and continues to attract both criticism and praise. He is currently a member of BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Test Match Special
Test Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
commentary team.
Early life
Boycott was born in the mining village of FitzwilliamFitzwilliam, West Yorkshire
Fitzwilliam is a small village on the edge of West Yorkshire, England. It is located in the City of Wakefield district. Technically, it is part of the town of Hemsworth and governed by Hemsworth Town Council as well as Wakefield M.D.C., but the Land Registry and Post Office recognise Fitzwilliam...
, near Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
and Pontefract
Pontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
in Yorkshire. He was the eldest of three sons of Jane (14 November 1915–1978), (née Speight) and Thomas Wilfred Boycott, a colliery worker from Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. When Boycott was eight years old, he was impaled through his chest by the handle of an unturned mangle after falling off an iron railing near his home. Boycott nearly died, and in the efforts to save his life, his spleen
Spleen
The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...
was removed. In March 1950, Boycott's father had a serious accident while working as a coalminer
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
. His spine
Vertebral column
In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...
was severely damaged after he was hit by empty coal carts; Thomas Boycott never fully recovered, and died in 1967.
Boycott attended Fitzwilliam Primary School. There, playing cricket, he won a Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
bat award for scoring 45 runs and capturing of six wickets for 10 runs in a schools match. At age 10, he joined Ackworth Cricket Club, demonstrating "outstanding ability." At the age of 11 he failed the examinations that would have taken him to grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, and instead went to the local Kinsley Secondary Modern School
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
. A year later, however, he passed his late-entry exams, and transferred to Hemsworth Grammar School. His cricket prowess was such that he was captaining the school's Cricket First XI at the age of 15. During the winters he attended an indoor cricket school, where he was coached by former county professional Johnny Lawrence
Johnny Lawrence
John Lawrence, known as "Johnny", was a diminutive Yorkshire-born all-round cricketer whose middle or lower order batting and leg-break and googly bowling were of great importance to Somerset in the 10 cricket seasons immediately after the Second World War.-Early career and playing style:Born at...
. While studying for his O-levels he began to have difficulties reading the blackboard
Blackboard
A chalkboard is a reusable writing surface.Blackboard may also refer to:* Blackboards are synonymous with "boards of infamy", an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor...
and was initially devastated when told he would need glasses. At first, he played poorly at school in fragile spectacles before a more robust pair was fashioned for him at the behest of his uncle—a strong influence on his early game—similar to those glasses worn by cricketer Roy Marshall
Roy Marshall
Roy Edwin Marshall was a West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests from 1951 to 1952. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959.-Early career:...
. In 1958 Boycott left school with seven O-level passes and the school's Individual Cricket Cup. In the summer he played for the Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
under-18 football team alongside Billy Bremner
Billy Bremner
William John "Billy" Bremner was a Scottish professional footballer, most noted for his captaincy of the Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road...
and attracted the attention of Leeds United scouts. During the winter he played cricket in the nets
Cricket nets
Cricket nets are practice nets used by batsmen and bowlers to warm up and/or improve their cricketing techniques. Cricket nets consist of a cricket pitch which is enclosed by cricket nets on either side, to the rear and optionally the roof. The bowling end of the net is left open...
at his uncle John Lawrence's house, and was invited to the winter nets for Yorkshire Cricket Club by Clifford Hesketh.
Boycott told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1965 that he chose to leave school at 17 because he no longer wished to be a financial strain on his parents, and because he wanted to pursue his cricketing career. He worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance
Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance
The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance or MPNI was a British government ministry responsible for the administration and delivery of welfare benefits...
in Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
from 1958 to 1963, at the same time playing for a number of cricket clubs. He captained the South Elmsall district team, and achieved a batting average of 70. He also played for the Yorkshire Federation's Under-18 team, and for Barnsley, where he was noticed by Clifford Hesketh, a member of Yorkshire's County Cricket team committee.
County career
Boycott began playing for his home county in 1962 after topping the averages for Leeds, Yorkshire Colts and Yorkshire Second XI. In 414 matches for Yorkshire he scored 32,570 runs at an average of 57.85, with a highest score of 260 not outNot out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
, and 103 centuries in all. He scored another 8,699 runs in List A cricket, averaging 40.08. Boycott twice averaged over 100 in an English first-class season: 100.12 in 1971, and 102.53 in 1979. He is one of only two players to have achieved this twice, Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
being the other. Boycott was appointed captain of Yorkshire in 1971, but was sacked in 1978 after failing to win a trophy while in charge. He was then dismissed as a player, but reinstated after a members' revolt. During his career Boycott frequently clashed with other strong personalities at the club, including Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...
, Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
and Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
, but remained popular with the Yorkshire crowds.
Early years
Bill Foord
Bill Foord is an English first-class cricketer, who played 51 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1947 and 1953...
and Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
. In one match, Boycott faced a delivery from Foord which he dispatched to the boundary for four. Foord turned to Parkinson and asked: "Christ almighty, what's this lad's name?" Bird remembered his "application, concentration and absolute belief in himself. He had one great gift, mental strength. You can have all the coaching in the world but the most important thing is to be mentally strong." Though Bird later left Boycott out of his choice XI, he would write: "of all the great players I have seen, if I had to pick a batsman to bat for my life, I would go for Geoffrey." He made his Yorkshire Second XI debut on 6 July 1959 against Cumberland at Penrith
Penrith, Cumbria
Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....
, scoring five and 15.
Boycott made his Yorkshire first team debut on 16 June 1962 against the Pakistan touring team
Pakistani cricket team in England in 1962
The Pakistan cricket team toured England in the 1962 season to play a five-match Test series against England.England won the series 4-0 with 1 match drawn.-Test series summary:* at Edgbaston – England won by an innings and 24 runs...
. He opened the batting, scoring four in both innings – the first from a boundary off of his first ball in first class cricket – and taking one catch, but he did not bowl. He then went on to play his first County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
match the next day, on 20 June, against Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
. Batting at number four, he scored six and 21*.
Early in his career, Boycott continued to play in his spectacles, and later switched to contact lenses. He feared his career would have ended had he not used such aids as his eyesight was poor. Boycott's initial appearances for Yorkshire failed to impress, and he was compared unfavourably to his main rival, John Hampshire
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire (born 10 February 1941, Thurnscoe (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) better known as Jack Hampshire, is a former English cricketer, who played eight Tests and three ODIs for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class cricket for...
. When Brian Close took over from Vic Wilson
Vic Wilson (cricketer)
John Victor "Vic" Wilson was an English first-class cricketer, who played for and captained Yorkshire. He was born in Scampston, Malton, Yorkshire, England....
as captain of Yorkshire in 1963 he persuaded the committee to keep Boycott on, and was rewarded when, on 2 June 1963, Boycott scored 145 against Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
. His century was also part of a 249-run fourth wicket partnership which became a Yorkshire record. Boycott cemented his place in the Yorkshire XI in the 1963 season with successive scores of 76, 53, 49 not out and 50, and on 29 August made a century partnership in both innings of a match against Leicestershire with Ken Taylor
Ken Taylor (cricketer)
Ken Taylor is an English former cricketer, who played in three Tests for England from 1959 to 1964. He also played first-class cricket for Yorkshire...
. Boycott handed in his notice to the Ministry of Pensions that same year. After a brief loss of form he kept his place with scores of 62, 28 and 113 in the following matches. This second century again came against Lancashire, making Boycott the first Yorkshire cricketer to score his first two centuries in a Roses match, as the hotly contested Yorkshire versus Lancashire matches were termed. Boycott went on to hit his highest score thus far, 165 not out, against Leicestershire, and ended his first full season with 1,446 runs at an average of 46.64, placing him second in the 1963 national batting averages. He was awarded his county cap on 2 October. At the start of the 1964 season Boycott hit 151 against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
, followed by another hundred against Lancashire in May, and then played for the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
against the Australian touring side at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, where he scored 63. On 16 May he completed a third consecutive century, and on 31 May he was called up for the First Test against Australia at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
.
Although he later became renowned for his ability to occupy the crease for hours of defensive play, he was capable of playing attacking cricket. His highest one day score, a match-winning 146, came in the 1965 Gillette Cup final against Surrey. In his previous Gillette Cup match, the quarter-final against Somerset, Boycott took 32 overs to accumulate 23 runs. According to captain, Close, at Lord's after Yorkshire had slowly reached 22/1, he Close promoted himself to number three in the batting order so that he could urge Boycott into action. "I joined Geoffrey in the middle and said to him: "Listen, if I call, you bloody well run." Boycott later claimed this plan had been agreed on a fortnight previously, and denied such an incident ever occurring. Boycott subsequently hit 15 fours and three sixes, even though the modern-day fielding restrictions, which facilitate rapid scoring, did not exist in 1965. One shot, a lofted straight drive off England paceman Geoff Arnold
Geoff Arnold
Geoff Arnold is an English cricketer who played 34 Tests and 14 One Day Internationals for England. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average...
was nearly caught by Boycott's team mates on the players' balcony in the pavilion. Close and Boycott added 192 runs for the second wicket, as Yorkshire posted a then record total of 317. Cricket writer John Woodcock
John Woodcock (cricket writer)
John Charles Woodcock OBE is an English cricket writer and journalist.He was born at Longparish, Hampshire, where he still lives, and was dubbed "the Sage of Longparish" by Alan Gibson. He is a co-author of the Longparish Village Handbook. Woodcock attended Trinity College, Oxford, and won hockey...
wrote in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
that "his magnificent innings contained every stroke in the book. " In the 1966 season Boycott scored two centuries in one match for the first time, against Nottinghamshire on 18 July. Against Leicestershire on 15 June 1968 he carried his bat through an entire Yorkshire innings of 297 all out, remaining unbeaten on 114*. It was the first time he had been unbeaten at the end of an innings. He ended the season top of the national averages for the first time. On 27 July 1970 he scored 260*, his highest first-class score in England, against Essex. At the end of the season, Close was sacked by the club committee in what Boycott called in 1987 "one of the cruellest incidents in the history of sport." Boycott, on tour in Australia, was awarded the captaincy.
Captaincy
Boycott captained Yorkshire for eight seasons from 1971 to 1978, having been appointed following the sacking of Brian Close in 1970. Despite well publicised conflict between the two players, Boycott recorded in 1987 that he regretted Close's removal from the club, and wrote him a letter in admiration for his contributions to Yorkshire. To captain Yorkshire had been one of Boycott's aims since he started county cricket in 1962. Yorkshire's scorer Ted LesterTed Lester
Edward Ibson Lester is an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club....
commented later that Boycott "never got the support he deserved from the committee. After the captaincy was decided on a casting vote, the half that didn't want him never wanted him. " Some members of the committee strove to have him removed almost immediately. He also caused strife between his fellow players, including a reciprocated dislike for Richard Hutton, with many players leaving the club citing personal differences with Boycott as the reason for their departure. After his first season as captain he spent the winter of 1971 playing in South Africa for Northern Transvaal
Transvaal cricket team
Gauteng cricket team is the first-class cricket team of the province of Gauteng in South Africa....
. He played only one match, however, scoring 107 and 41.
Boycott's eight seasons of captaincy were among Yorkshire's least successful, with the club failing to win any competitions and ranking low in the Championship table, in contrast to their one-time dominance of English cricket. The beginning of the end of his captaincy came after BBC Radio Leeds interviews in which two Yorkshire committee members and former players, Don Brennan and Mel Ryan, said that a change in leadership was needed. Boycott himself did not suffer a loss of form to mirror that of his county's; in his first year as captain, he scored 2503 runs at an average of 100.12, included a century in hist first match as captain. His success was cited by Trueman as evidence that his selfish nature was harming Yorkshire. Boycott headed the national batting averages in 1972 with 72.35, and was second in 1973 with 63.62. In 1973, however, Yorkshire failed to win a single championship game, which Wisden called "disturbingly unsuccessful" and which led to further calls for Boycott to be stripped of the captaincy. He was also coming into increased conflict with Richard Hutton, Close, and several members of the committee and senior players. "Looking back," Boycott wrote in 1987 "I wish I had given up the Yorkshire captaincy at the end of that year."
In 1974 Boycott's form dipped, when he scored only 75 runs in the first innings of the season, other than a non-championship century against Cambridge University. He did, however, score 152* against Worcestershire on 15 May to complete his tour of centuries against every first-class county. Both he and Yorkshire suffered through 1975 and 1976, as did his international career, since he refused to play for England from 1974 until 1977. During the summer of 1978 Boycott broke a finger, so John Hampshire
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire (born 10 February 1941, Thurnscoe (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) better known as Jack Hampshire, is a former English cricketer, who played eight Tests and three ODIs for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class cricket for...
temporarily took over as captain. Boycott returned later in the season, scoring 968 runs at 50.94, but this was second to Hampshire's 1,463 at 54.18. A poll of the dressing room showed that 95% of the players wanted a permanent change in the captaincy. On 15 September 1978 Boycott's mother, to whom he was very close, died of cancer, placing further pressure on him. On 29 September, the Yorkshire club committee met with Boycott to discuss terminating his captaincy. A statement by the club outlined Yorkshire's intention to retain Boycott as a player while giving the captaincy to Hampshire. Boycott, in response, attacked the Yorkshire club and its decision in an appearance on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's flagship chatshow Parkinson
Parkinson (TV series)
Parkinson is a British television talk show that was presented by Sir Michael Parkinson. It was first shown on the BBC from 1971 to 2004, and on ITV from 2004 to 2007.-Background:...
on 7 October, prompting both strong criticism from the club and strong public support for his own position.
Later years
Boycott, after much thought, continued as a player at Yorkshire, scoring 1941 runs at 61.70 in 1979. This season saw him hit six hundreds, which took him past Len HuttonLen Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
's record of 129 first-class centuries. In 1980 he scored his ninth Roses century, equalling Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
's record. He also finished the season with an average of over 50.00 for the eleventh consecutive year, exceeding the record previously held by Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
. He would experience growing friction with Hutton's son, Yorkshire's Richard, as well as with later Yorkshire captain John Hampshire
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire (born 10 February 1941, Thurnscoe (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) better known as Jack Hampshire, is a former English cricketer, who played eight Tests and three ODIs for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class cricket for...
. In the early 1980s Boycott continued his run of form, although a slow 347-ball knock of 140* incensed captain, Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
, and created friction between Boycott and the rest of the Yorkshire Committee. In 1982 Boycott and Graham Stevenson
Graham Stevenson
Graham Barry Stevenson is an English former cricketer, who played in two Tests and four One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1981....
added a record 149 runs for Yorkshire's tenth wicket against Warwickshire, Stevenson scoring 115 of these runs.
On 3 October 1983 the friction between Boycott and the committee culminated in a unanimous decision not to offer Boycott a contract for the next season. This generated much protest from Boycott supporters, who rallied, calling for his reinstatement at a meeting on 9 October in Ossett, Yorkshire. Bill Athey
Bill Athey
Charles William Jeffrey Athey was an English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcestershire. His bulldog spirit was exemplified by the Union Jack tattooed on his arm...
also left the club at this time, and while Boycott in his biography maintained that he had no reason to believe that his actions had caused Athey's departure, Athey later stated to biographer Leo McKinstry that "Boycott's attitude and the atmosphere he created had everything to do with my decision to leave Yorkshire." The "Members 84 Group", consisting of strong supporters of Boycott, met regularly to clamour for the batsman's reinstatement. Their leader, Peter Briggs, stated "Geoffrey Boycott is a giant playing among pygmies."
On 21 January 1984 the Yorkshire Club committee, in the face of this rising pressure, agreed to offer Boycott a contract for 1984. Several members of the committee, including Trueman, Billy Sutcliffe
Billy Sutcliffe
William "Billy" Herbert Hobbs Sutcliffe was an English amateur first-class cricketer, and the son of Herbert Sutcliffe; his middle name was in honour of Jack Hobbs....
and Ronnie Burnet
Ronnie Burnet
Ronnie Burnet was an English cricketer and the last amateur captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club...
, resigned. Of the replacement members, 17 were from the Members 84 Group, and Boycott himself was elected, leaving him with both a position on the team and on the Yorkshire Club committee. The 1984 season was, however, not the most prolific for Boycott. McKinstry records that he scored slowly in several matches: 60 in 52 overs against Somerset; 53 in 51 overs against Hampshire; 17 in 26 overs against Leicestershire; 77 in 67 overs against Sussex. This was coupled with continued friction between himself and both players and club members. In particular, Boycott's place on both the team and the committee led to feelings of distrust from both – though Boycott denies this – which led to the loss of support from long-term ally Sid Fielden.
His success on the field resumed in 1985, where he scored 1657 runs at 75.31, second only to Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
in the national averages. He also shared a record opening partnership of 351 with Martyn Moxon
Martyn Moxon
Martyn Douglas Moxon is a former English cricketer, who played ten Tests and eight One Day Internationals for England and appeared for Yorkshire for 17 seasons from 1981 to 1997...
. In contrast to the poor relations between Boycott and the senior players, many junior members of the team remember 1985 and 1986 as pleasant times to be around Boycott, who often coached them on their technique. 1986 saw Boycott score 890 runs at 52.35, his season cut short by injuries which were becoming more frequent as he passed the age of 45. This season was the first since 1962 that he had not hit an overall total of 1,000 runs; he finished eight short in his final match, when he was run out for 61. He advised the then captain to enforce the follow-on, and did not bat again. Since 1984, support for Boycott had waned in light of his slow scoring, multiple injuries and the general atmosphere around him. Both Brian Close and Ray Illingworth increasingly advocated his removal to Yorkshire's committee, and on 23 September 1986 it was confirmed that he would not be offered a contract for the following year. A few months later, captain David Bairstow
David Bairstow
David Leslie Bairstow was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England as a wicket-keeper. He also played football for his hometown club Bradford City.-Early life and education:...
, a long term ally of Boycott whose leadership had Boycott's support, was ruled out of the running for captaincy for the following season, which was instead given to Phil Carrick
Phil Carrick
Phillip Carrick was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1970 and 1993.Carrick was born in Armley, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and began his first-class career in 1970...
, of whom Boycott disapproved. Boycott paid tribute to the Reform Group in 1987, describing them as "dedicated Yorkshire members with a heartfelt stake in their club." He suggests that Close and Illingworth feared his popularity. Boycott was offered contracts by other counties, including Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
and Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
, but he never took these offers up, nor played professional cricket again. At the time of his retirement he had scored more first-class runs than any other player.
Test Match career
Over Boycott's 18 year career he scored 8,114 runs in 108 Test matchesTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for England. He was the first England cricketer to pass 8,000 Test runs and is still fourth on England's all-time run scoring list (behind Graham Gooch
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
, Alec Stewart
Alec Stewart
Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...
and David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
). His average of 47.72 runs over 193 innings is the highest completed career average among England players since 1970. His Test career included 22 centuries (an England record that he holds jointly with Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
and Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...
). England did not lose a Test match in which he scored a century and only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat. John Arlott wrote in 1979 that "any expectation of an English win, except in freak bowling conditions, is based on a major innings from Boycott. "
Debut
Boycott began his Test career only two years after his first-class debut, in the first Test of the summer against AustraliaAustralian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in 1964. He top scored on debut, making 48 runs from 118 deliveries before he was bowled by Grahame Corling
Grahame Corling
Grahame Edward Corling is a former Australian cricketer who played in 5 Tests in 1964. He took 12 wickets, including that of Geoffrey Boycott on his debut innings.-Notes:...
, as England declared at 216 for eight wickets. The match ended as a rain-plagued draw, and Boycott did not bat in the second innings as he had suffered a cracked finger. He made 58 at Old Trafford, and then hit his maiden century, 113, at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
. He finished his first Test series with 291 runs at 48.50. In the same year he topped the country's domestic averages with 59.45. In the winter of 1964, Boycott was selected for the England team touring South Africa. After a low scoring series of warm up matches, he hit 73 in the opening Test, and another 76 in the fourth, followed by 117 in the fifth and final match. He averaged 49.66 overall, and took five wickets with the ball as England won the Test series 1–0. He had a mixed impact on the other England players, who were impressed by his talent but perplexed by his introverted attitude each time he was dismissed.
Early career
England hosted New Zealand and South Africa in 1965. Performing moderately against the former, hitting 23 and 44 not out in the first Test at Edgbaston and 76 in the second at Lord's, Boycott missed out on the third Test due to injury. He returned for another Lord's match, this time against South Africa, however scored 31 and a slow 28 in 105 minutes. Speculation arose over his place, and after a duckDuck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
and a two hour and twenty minute long 16, when England needed to mount a large total quickly, and which Wisden described as a "dreadful effort when courage was needed" he was dropped and replaced by Eric Russell. Boycott was brought back into the team following the summer and toured Australia in the 1965-66 Ashes series, but illness dogged his performance initially. He then hit a form of "brighter cricket" during the First and Second Tests. Uncharacteristically, he hit a four from his very first delivery at Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, and put on 98 in 16 overs with Bob Barber
Bob Barber
Robert William Barber is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Lancashire and Warwickshire from 1954 to 1969. He also played 28 Test matches for England...
in the Second Test. In the Third Test, Boycott and Barber put on an opening partnership of 234 in four hours, Boycott hitting 84, his highest score of a series where he also took two wickets with the ball. But in the Fifth Test he monopolised the strike, ran out Bob Barber and took 75 minutes to make 17 runs. His form deserted him again when the MCC went on to tour New Zealand.
In 1966, England faced the West Indies, and Boycott struggled with a series average of 26.57, although few English batsmen impressed. He was left out for the first Test, however in the second did partake in a partnership of 115 with Tom Graveney
Tom Graveney
Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...
. Nevertheless, it was a disappointing year for Boycott both for England and Yorkshire, and his average for the former fell to 36.60. Furthermore, he had only passed 50 twice in his last 12 first-class innings. He rediscovered his form the following summer, however. Boycott's highest Test score of 246* came against India on 8–9 June 1967 on his home ground of Headingley. Batting for 573 minutes (slightly under ten hours), Boycott struck thirty fours and a six at a strike rate of 44.32. He began his innings slowly, scoring 106 runs in six hours, with 17 of those in the first and eight in the second. This particularly frustrated the England selectors as the pitch was excellent for batting, and the Indian attack had been weakened by injury. Such frustration was exacerbated by Boycott's adding of 140 runs in four hours on the second day. Ian Wooldridge
Ian Wooldridge
Ian Wooldridge, OBE was a British sports journalist. He was with the Daily Mail for nearly 50 years. He died from cancer...
recording in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
that Boycott "could not be excused by his nearest and dearest relations. " He did not bat in the second innings as England won by six wickets.
This slow scoring led to increasing media pressure, and what was perceived as a selfish attitude led to Boycott being dropped from the team after the match. He recorded in 1987 that "the decision stunned me at the time, though looking back now I see that it had become inevitable. I was mortified with embarrassment and filled with an angry, burning sense of injustice which I can remember clearly an painfully to this day." A combination of low confidence and a throat infection limited Boycott to two other Test appearances, against India and Pakistan respectively, for the rest of the year. He nevertheless again topped the domestic averages with 1260 at 48.46. 1967 took England to the West Indies, where Boycott hit a rich seam of form, scoring 463 runs at 66.14 and seeing England home safely with a series victory of 1–0.
Spleen
The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...
and with adjusting to his new contact lenses. He was back in the team by the summer of 1969, scoring 128 against the West Indies at Old Trafford, and another century at Lord's, however his form slipped and he scored 12 and zero in the next match. Boycott then suffered at the hands of New Zealand, averaging only 20.20 with two ducks, and then succumbed to an injury towards the end of the domestic season.
His form returned by 1970. While he was left out of the first three Tests against the World XI, he played in the fourth and scored 15 and 64, and in the final Test of the summer scored 157. He won the Walter Lawrence Trophy
Walter Lawrence Trophy
The Walter Lawrence Trophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in terms of balls received...
for this century. Over the winter of 1970–71 Boycott toured Australia, and averaged 95.93 over all first-class matches. He scored 173 in the first warm up match, followed by 124 against Queensland
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
. In the third Test match, having hit good partnerships in the first two, Boycott made 77 and 142*. During the second match, Boycott allegedly told Basil D'Oliveira
Basil D'Oliveira
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...
, the latter having just announced that he had worked out the action of Australian spinner Johnny Gleeson, that he had "sorted that out a fortnight ago." This incident was used as evidence for Boycott's selfish attitude for many years after. His highest score was 142 not out in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, 23 more runs than Australia who were dismissed for 119 in a crushing 299 run victory. The Fifth Test was drawn, Boycott making 12 and 76*, and in the Sixth Test he was run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
for 58. Boycott initially refused to leave the ground in disbelief, and eventually walked off to boos from the crowd. He made 119 in the second innings, however. Boycott then injured his arm against fast bowler Garth McKenzie in a following one day match and missed the final Test, where England retained the Ashes. He later maintained that the injury permanently affected his wrist, and that he carried a squash ball in a sock in his pocket, which he could squeeze to keep his wrist strong. He nevertheless ended the series with 657 Test runs at 93.85.
In 1971, Boycott made his One Day International debut against Australia, the press by then touting him as the best batsman in the world. He was the first batsman to receive a ball in a one day international and his was the first wicket to fall, scoring eight from 37 balls. In the summer of 1971 he enjoyed an average of over 100 in domestic cricket, and scored 121* against Pakistan at Lord's. He played only two Tests in 1972 during a spate of injuries, but rejoined the team in the West Indies under Denness' captaincy. Boycott was dismissed for 99 in the first innings against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1973–74 and scored 112 in the second, followed by a career-best 261 not out against a West Indies Board President's XI. The two personalities of Boycott and Denness did not get on well together, and at the end of the tour they clashed over Boycott's preference for a one day match over a three day game against Bermuda. Boycott recalled in his autobiography that when Denness confronted him on the issue he replied "Get out of here before I do something I'll regret." It was the end of any relationship between the two players. He had "no confidence in Denness's professional ability and no respect for him as a man and another tour like the previous one to the West Indies was the last thing I wanted."
Exile and controversy
Boycott spent 1974 to 1977 in self-imposed exile from the England team. He claimed in 2006 that he had simply lost his appetite for Test cricket and the stress got too much for him, but biographer McKinstry speculates that move may also have been linked to the appointments of Mike DennessMike Denness
Mike Denness is a former Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Essex and Kent. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play for England at Test and ODI level. Denness became the first Scotsman to captain England...
and then Tony Greig
Tony Greig
Anthony "Tony" William Greig is a former English Test cricketer and currently a commentator.Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. He became captain of the...
as England Captain in preference to him. Boycott was very critical of Denness's captaincy and his standard of batting in his autobiography in 1987, citing it then as a factor in his decision along with the pressures at Yorkshire. His weak immune system was a recurring motivation for not touring the Indian subcontinent. This period of "exile" also enabled him to avoid fast-bowlers Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
, Jeff Thomson
Jeff Thomson
Jeffrey Robert Thomson is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he was one of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket and was the opening partner of fellow fast bowler Dennis Lillee; their combination was one of the most fearsome in Test cricket history...
, Andy Roberts, and Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
at their peaks, although he came back to face the West Indies pace battery at its most fearsome in the late 70s and early 80s.
In his autobiography and an interview, Boycott has responded to these accusations by pointing out that Lillee had been out of cricket for 21 months suffering from a serious back complaint and that Thomson had not played in Tests for 23 months prior to the 1974–5 Ashes series, since an unsuccessful debut Test against Pakistan (Thomson's match figures were 0–110). Furthermore, he was dismissed for 99 in the first innings against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1973–74 and scored 112 in the second, followed by a career-best 261 not out against a West Indies Board President's XI. All of these teams included Roberts, with a young Holding representing the Board XI.
Comeback Tests
In his "comeback" Test against Australia at Trent BridgeTrent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
in 1977 he ran out Derek Randall
Derek Randall
Derek William Randall is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
in front of his home crowd before going on to make a century. In this match, in which Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
made his England debut, he batted on each of the five days of the match: his first innings 107 started at the end of the first day, he batted throughout the second day and was dismissed on the third day; he started his second innings at the end of day four and batted throughout England's successful run chase scoring 80 not out, scoring the winning runs in partnership with Randall. Among England batsmen, only Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb
Allan Joseph Lamb is a former England cricketer and captain who played for the first class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire, the latter as an Overseas player...
and Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
have emulated this feat of batting on all five days, and both subsequent to Boycott. He also enjoyed a 215-run partnership with Alan Knott
Alan Knott
Alan Philip Eric Knott is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman....
. Botham later remarked that "The Aussies, shell-shocked at having to bowl at Boycott for twenty-two and a half hours, capitulated without much of a fight. "
On 12 August 1977 he scored 191 against Australia in the fourth Test in front of a full house at his home ground of Leeds
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, becoming the first cricketer to score his one hundredth first-class century in a Test match and the fourth English player to be on the field for the entire duration of a Test Match. Boycott reached the milestone with an on drive from the bowling of Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
through mid-on for four. Boycott ended the series 442 runs at an average of 147.33.
Appointed vice-captain for the ensuing tour of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and New Zealand that winter, Boycott took over as captain in 1978 for two Tests when Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
was injured, and brought with him his successful summer form. However, he was replaced upon Brearley's return. While the rest of the England team took part in warm-up matches, Boycott remained in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and organised a special warm up match where the team would play itself. However he went on to occupy the crease for a long period of time, limiting the amount of time other players had to practice. He later stated that, as the number one batsman, he should have the most time in the middle. In the second Test match, he scored 79 and 100*, increasing his statistics since his return to the England team to 684 runs at 136.80. It was between this match and the third Test that Brearley broke his arm, giving Boycott the captaincy. Boycott led England to a draw in the third match, his leadership meeting mixed reviews.
Following Pakistan, Boycott and the England team travelled to New Zealand. England were defeated in the opening Test for the first time in 48 years, Boycott taking seven hours and 22 minutes to score 77 runs, and England being bowled out for 64 when chasing 137 to win. In the second match, Botham's first Test century took England to a commanding 418, however by the end of the match England needed to score quickly to force a win. Boycott, however, told his team that he would play the way he always had, and proceeded to accumulate runs very slowly. Derek Randall
Derek Randall
Derek William Randall is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
was run out, and Botham came out to bat with his captain, informing the dressing room that "Boycs will be back in here before the end of the over." Botham then ran Boycott out, later claiming in his autobiography that he had done it deliberately. Indeed, some have suggested that this was a team order. Boycott disputes the suggestion that the run-out was deliberate in his autobiography, referring to Botham's account as "a story that gets bigger and more fanciful with every telling". The tale does nevertheless remain a renowned story. Boycott then delayed his declaration, much to the frustration of England bowler Bob Willis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...
. England did eventually declare, and Willis took 4/14. New Zealand were bowled out for 105 and England won by 174 runs. Boycott suffered a scratch on his cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
and missed the last two days of the final match, and by the start of the 1978 season, Brearley had taken the captaincy back from Boycott.
Ashes series, West Indies and India
1979 Cricket World Cup
The 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the tournament and was won by the West Indies. It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had remained unchanged from 1975. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4...
held in England, taking two wickets in the opening match against Australia, which England won. The hosts then went on to win their next two games and topped their table for the opening round. Reaching the final after a close victory against New Zealand in which Boycott scored only two, he hit 57 from 105 balls as England chased Viv Richards 138 not out-inspired 286 to win, falling 92 runs short at 194 all out. Boycott ended the competition with the sixth highest strike rate of 42.99 and an average of 23.00.
Following the World Cup, against Australia during a Test match at Perth in 1979–80, Boycott became the first man to be marooned on 99 not out in a Test when he ran out of partners. England then toured the West Indies. Here, Boycott again faced the West Indies' feared pace attack, but succeeded in scoring centuries off the likes of Holding, Roberts, Colin Croft
Colin Croft
Colin Everton Hunte Croft is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.-Cricket career:...
and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
, despite having passed the age of 40 the previous year. Other batsmen, such as David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
found the attack difficult to cope with, and the later England captain stated that Boycott often had no sympathy. Boycott was the third most successful batsman, behind Gooch and Gower, during a tour where England went down 2–0. He scored 70 in the opening match, the only England player to pass 50. In the third match, Boycott was to face what was later said to be Holding's greatest over. Boycott was hit on the gloves by the first delivery, played-and-missed the second outside off stump, was hit on the thigh by the third, fended the next two deliveries away with his bat, and was then bowled by the final delivery. Though in 1987 Boycott would claim a 1966 delivery by Gary Sobers to be the best he ever faced in cricket, he noted of Holding's over that "for the first time in my life I can look at a scoreboard with a duck against my name and not feel a profound sense of failure. " Boycott led an England fight back in the fourth Test. Having watched Holding's over several times on video, and worked in the nets on his game, Boycott came out and made 38 in the first innings and then hit his twentieth Test century. His career run total was now 7,410, gaining on Gary Sobers' record of 8,032.
Boycott was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
"for services to Cricket." He then played in the 1981 Ashes series, despite being aged 40. During the second Test at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
Boycott was dismissed 40 short of a hundred by Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
, and was "crushed" given that, as it was his hundredth Test match, he wished to score a century. Forever keen on the England captaincy, Boycott's hopes were cut short when Botham's 149 not out secured victory in Boycott's 101st Test match, and Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
's position as captain was made secure. During the series, Boycott became concerned with his form and that he may be dropped before he could chase Sobers' record in the upcoming tour of India. He had scored only 10 and 37 in the Fifth Test, however in the drawn Sixth Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
he scored 137, passing Colin Cowdrey's record of 7624 runs and becoming England's highest run-scorer. He ended the series behind only Botham, with 392 runs at 32.66.
"Bye bye Boycott"
By now, Boycott's fame and constant attention from the media had begun to affect his personal life. He was again refused the captaincy for the next Test series against India over the winter of 1981–82. Angered by this decision, he stated that "even the Yorkshire Ripper got a fair trial in the dock but I've not been given a single chance." He later battled Keith FletcherKeith Fletcher
Keith Fletcher is a former English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. He later became England's team manager. His nickname was "The Gnome of Essex", so christened by his Essex team-mate, Ray East, because Fletcher's winklepickers had begun to curl up at the toes due to wear...
over his slow scoring rate, playing Fletcher's comments to him during a press conference using a tape recorder. The series against India was to be his last. In his final ODI match during England's tour he scored 6 from 12 deliveries. During the following Test series he passed Sobers' career run record, hitting 60 in the first Test, 36 and 50 in the second to take him 81 runs short, and in the third Test he overtook the record with a flick off his pads for four. He thus became the leading Test run-scorer. In his last Test match, the fourth of the tour, taking place in January 1982, he scored 18 and six. During the tour, Boycott claimed that he was too ill to field in a Test Match, but it was later discovered that he was playing golf while his team mates were still out on the field.
This led to Boycott being dropped from the side and forced to return to England, despite apologising via note to the England dressing room. He claimed in his autobiography, however, that he went to the golf course following medical advice to get fresh air. Later in 1982 he was instrumental in organising, in defiance of a United Nations and a TCCB
Test and County Cricket Board
The Test and County Cricket Board was established in 1968 to provide Test and county cricket in England, replacing the functions of the Board of Control for Test Matches and the Advisory County Cricket Committee. In 1992 Scotland severed their ties with the TCCB and England...
ban, a so-called "rebel" tour of apartheid South Africa by 13 current and former England Test cricketers, who were almost all nearing the end of their careers. All the players were banned from international cricket for three years as a result. By the mid-1980s, with Boycott in good county form and physical shape, there was speculation that he might return to the England side. David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
, England captain of the time, however, stated that "Geoffrey's been a marvellous servant for England but we have to look to the future and, in view of his age, it wouldn't make an awful lot of sense to pick him again." This was confirmed by the return of Graham Gooch and Tim Robinson
Tim Robinson
Tim Robinson is an English former cricketer, and current cricket umpire, who played in 29 Tests and 26 ODIs for England from 1984 to 1989....
's 175 against Australia at Leeds, which prompted Botham, who had once remarked that Boycott was "totally, almost insanely, selfish", to sing "Bye bye Boycott" from the England balcony.
Commentating
Cricket commentator and statistician Simon Hughes states that Boycott is fastidious in the commentary box, always immaculately dressed, and never socialises with the other commentators or production staff. Bill Sinrich, an official of Trans World International, commented that Boycott "fulfilled all our hopes. He was animated, intelligent, informed, with opinions that got the attention of most people. " Boycott is noted as having invented the phrase "corridor of uncertaintyCorridor of uncertainty
The corridor of uncertainty is a phrase originating from the sport of cricket. It describes an area where a cricket ball can pitch during a delivery: a narrow line on and just outside a batsman's off stump...
" as a reference to the area outside the off stump where a batsman is unsure whether he should leave or hit the ball, and for using a key to measure the hardness of the pitch, that is until this was outlawed by the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
.
Boycott was offered a role by talkSPORT
TalkSPORT
Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
. He continued to commentate for the station, along with various satellite and Asian channels, until 2003, when his career was further threatened by throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
. Having successfully undergone treatment, Boycott enjoyed a renaissance in his career as he returned to high-profile commentating with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, which had meanwhile taken over from the BBC in televising England's home Test games. In November 2005, Boycott rejoined the BBC's Test Match Special
Test Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
to provide commentary for England's 2005 tour of Pakistan. In January 2006, Boycott joined Asian channel Ten Sports. He delivered the Colin Cowdrey Lecture in 2005, speaking about the need for cricket to adapt to changing circumstances and embrace innovations like Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
.
Boycott worked on Cricket on Five with Mark Nicholas
Mark Nicholas
Mark Charles Jefford Nicholas is a cricket commentator and former player. He played for Hampshire from 1978 to 1995, captaining them from 1985 to his retirement....
and Simon Hughes as co-commentators, and was a member of the BBC Cricket Team for commentary on the 2006/7 Ashes series. His role, as in his other commentary-related work, was to contribute to discussion of the main talking points. During England's 5–0 whitewash by Australia, Boycott stated that the team were undeserving of their MBEs and that he felt "so bad about mine I'm going to tie it round my cat. It doesn't mean anything any more. It's a joke". Boycott has been credited as having a high level of influence in the game, with Yorkshire's Chief Executive Stewart Regan crediting Boycott over the completion of a deal for Younis Khan
Younis Khan
Mohammad Younus Khan is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younus' name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as saying, "My name is Younus Khan...
to play county cricket for Yorkshire in the 2007 season. On a larger scale, Boycott has worked towards scrapping the rule at Yorkshire regarding the number of overseas players. He stated that he believed Brian Close and the other selectors to be living in past times, and that he wished to encourage a growth in the number of players from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, the West Indies or India.
His on air commentary has caused controversy. As a commentator, Boycott has renewed his 'pull-no-punches' style in contrast to most of his fellow commentators. In particular he is known for criticising players, often in a caustic and strident style. After witnessing a dropped catch, he said "I reckon my mum could have caught that in her pinny
Pinafore
A pinafore is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.Pinafores may be worn by girls as a decorative garment and by both girls and women as a protective apron. A related term is pinafore dress, which is British English for what in American English is known as a jumper dress, i.e...
", and in 2005 he mocked the Australian captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
for electing to bowl first on a batsman-friendly pitch, saying he was a "nice man" for being so generous to the England team. In 2006, he was initially receptive to the difficulties endured by Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...
during his periods of stress-related illness; however, he was not always as amiable. In March 2008, recently dropped Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
attacked Boycott in an article in the Mail on Sunday where he referred to Boycott as a "waste of space." This was in response to Boycott's statement a few days previously on 19 March 2008 that if Harmison "gets a central contract this summer then a lot of us will be screaming favouritism and a total waste of money. England should forget him".
Nevertheless, Boycott has enjoyed a successful commentating career, and his opinions are sought across a number of cricketing media. As well as newspaper columns, Boycott contributes to several online blogs, podcasts and question and answer sessions, notably on the BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
website and CricInfo
Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
. He is also popular among cricket pundits and biographers, being the subject of three significant biographies from 1982 to 2000, while his comments are reproduced across a number of published cricketing quotes collections.
Court case
Boycott's personal life has continued to enter the spotlight on occasion since his retirement from England and the beginning of his commentary career. In 1996, Boycott assaulted Margaret Moore, a former lover. Boycott denied the charges, claiming she had fallen over and injured herself. He pointed to the fact that Moore was in financial difficulties and said that he would never hit a woman. However, in the second trial beginning on 20 October 1998, Boycott, having missed the first trial in January where his conviction had been set, appeared before a French Magistrates court and was given a three-month suspended sentence, and his £5,300 fine was confirmed. He was criticised by the Magistrate for the way he conducted his case and for "rudely interrupting" Mrs Moore's barrister. According to Boycott, Moore had grown angry when he refused to marry her, stating that "he was not the marrying kind" and had fallen when throwing his clothing from the window, hitting her head on the carpet. However, when he again appealed against his conviction, Moore's version of events that Boycott had attacked her by punching her in the face, causing bruising, was upheld, in the light of photographs of her injuries shown to the court and the testimony of a doctor that the injuries could not have been caused in the way described by Boycott. Boycott nevertheless later married Margaret Rachel Swinglehurst on 26 February 2003 at Wakefield Register Office, and they have a daughter, born October 1988. They currently live in WoolleyWoolley Colliery
Woolley Colliery is a village on the edge of the Barnsley and Wakefield districts in Yorkshire, England. The village itself is in South Yorkshire whilst the former colliery is situated in West Yorkshire...
.
The conviction gravely jeopardised Boycott's commentating career. At the time of the conviction he was working for BSkyB and BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, commentating on England's tour of the West Indies. He was sacked from both roles. He was also sacked from his columnist's job in The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, which announced the dismissal in an article on the front page with the headline "Sun Sacks Boycott the Brute", although the Sun gave Boycott an undertaking in writing that they would continue to employ him regardless of the result of the court case, as did Talk Sport. A BBC television spokesman said "Geoffrey Boycott is not under contract with the BBC [television] and there are no plans to use him in the future."
Boycott's commentating career continued, however, as he was able to carry on working overseas, particularly in India. He hosted The Sunny and Boycs Show with Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...
and he hosted the touring Indian team at his home in August 2002. He also worked in South Africa and coached the Pakistan cricket team upon request. In 2001, as resentment towards him in the British media following the court case died down, he was reinstated as a writer for British newspapers, and there was speculation that he would lead Lancashire Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
following the departure of Bobby Simpson
Bobby Simpson
Roberta "Bobby" Marshall is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Nicolle Dickson. She was introduced in the pilot episode by executive producer Alan Bateman. Nearly four hundred actresses auditioned to play Bobby, with Dickson taking the role...
, though Mike Watkinson
Mike Watkinson
Mike Watkinson is a former English cricketer who played four Test matches and one One Day International in the mid-1990s...
eventually took the role.
Throat cancer
talkSPORT, as well as both Indian and South African television programs, continued to use Boycott as a commentator in 2002, during which he suffered a continual sore throat. Finding a lump while shaving, Boycott returned to England, and on 20 August 2002 was examined at Leeds General InfirmaryLeeds General Infirmary
Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI or, more correctly, The General Infirmary at Leeds, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust....
. By 3 September, he was informed that he had four cancerous tumours in his throat. Initially, surgeons recommended an eight-hour procedure to remove the tumours; however, their size and proximity to his voice box eventually persuaded them to recommend radiotherapy, of which Boycott had 35 sessions from 22 October. By December, scans revealed that the majority of the tumours had disappeared, and the final tumour's disappearance was confirmed in early 2003. Although initially reluctant to discuss his health with the public, he spoke privately with his daughter, Emma, and then released a statement publicly, which evoked a significant emotional response. On 16 August 2003, he was given his own standing ovation by the crowd at Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
as he and a number of other cricketers did a lap of the ground in vehicles to celebrate Trent Bridge's 50th Test match.
Return to commentary
Following this public support, Boycott resumed writing for the Daily Telegraph and commentating on Channel Four for the Cheltenham and Gloucester Championship Final and the following summer's cricket. Radio Five Live then hired Boycott in early 2004. His fellow commentators state that his illness has altered his voice and led to a more pleasant personality, but that he is still prone to unpleasant behaviour. Channel Four producer Gary Francis stated "I think Geoff is a lot more mellow now. He still has his moments, like when the taxi does not arrive and he is not happy, as he makes extremely clear. But overall he's great fun to work with." In September 2004, Boycott wrote for the Daily Telegraph a posthumous tribute to life-long friend Brian CloughBrian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
. In early 2008 there was speculation that Boycott would be awarded a role amongst the England coaching staff, pertaining in particular to the coaching of Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
back from injury.
On 8 May 2008, however, the ECB revealed that Boycott would not hold such a position. The two had been involved in the past, and while Flintoff is an admirer of Boycott, the ECB stressed any coaching relationship would only be informal. Boycott, however, used to give informal talks to younger cricket players during his career, and the media speculated that he might find a place coaching the England U19s. Boycott continued in his commentating career for TMS, criticising the England team's approach to the ODI matches under Pietersen in India in November 2008. Also in November, Daily Mail contributor Leo McKinstry published a new biography on Boycott. On 2 January 2009, Boycott, along with 54 others, was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He continued to be an active member of the cricket community, voicing his support in late April 2009 for Pakistan player Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal ; born 14 October 1977) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who also uses the Doosra to good effect.-Early life and domestic cricket:...
, and calling for the legalisation of the doosra
Doosra
A doosra is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in the sport of cricket, invented by Pakistani cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq. The term means " second ", or " other " in Urdu...
spin-bowling delivery.
Boycott continued to be vocal in matters cricket. He levelled criticism in July against Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
for his captaincy difficulties and in September against Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
for his apparent favour of club cricket over internationals. On 29 November 2009, he was commentating an ODI between England and South Africa when he was heard swearing on air following a catch taken by Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
dismissed Ryan McLaren
Ryan McLaren
Ryan McLaren is a South African cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler....
. The BBC released a statement on 30 November which read: "An off-air comment made by Geoffrey Boycott in a live broadcast was heard by some listeners which we apologised for as soon as we realised it had been audible." He nevertheless continued to be a part of the commentating team, scheduled to travel to Australia to broadcast on the 2010-11 Ashes series.
Playing style
Boycott's playing style revolved around intense concentration, solid defence and attention to detail, while avoiding heavy hitting or slogging. He was described in The Complete Encyclopaedia of Cricket as "one of the greatest opening batsman that the game has known. He dedicated his life to the art of batting, practising assiduously and eschewing any shot that might even hint at threatening the loss of his wicket." Through his Test career, he scored 15.4% of England's runs, and England won 32.41% of the Tests in which Boycott played. This compares with England's 34.76% victory rate over all Test cricket history. Richard Hutton, Yorkshire and England batsman and son of Len Hutton described Boycott as a "one-pace player", suggesting that he was unable to alter his playing pace as the match circumstances dictated. Nevertheless, Boycott maintained an "impeccable" defensive technique, and possessed a temperament ideally suited for five-day Test matches. Arlott wrote that "his technique is based on a defence organised as near flawlessness as may be." Boycott himself remarked, in 1981, that: "Given the choice between Racquel Welch and a hundred at Lord's, I'd take the hundred every time." His careful batting is reflected in his 22 centuries for England, of which only two had a strike rate of over 51.00. Former England bowler Frank TysonFrank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
wrote in 1987, in The Test Within, that "the greatness of Boycott the batsman and the gaffes of Boycott the man had common roots in an unceasing quest after perfection."
While this style facilitated his solid defensive play, it inhibited him as a stroke player and made him susceptible to hand and arm injuries. Such injuries would be common throughout his career. One such injury almost required the tip of a broken finger to be amputated. He was occasionally vulnerable to left-arm bowlers, either due to his inability to adjust his line of stroke or because during his career there were few fast left-hand bowlers for him to practice against in the nets. Boycott himself disputes this. In spite of that, he was never vulnerable to any one particular bowler. Pace bowler Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
was the most successful against him in Test matches, with seven dismissals. Gary Sobers also dismissed him seven times, but Lillee did so in fewer matches. Peter Lever
Peter Lever
Peter Lever is a former English cricketer, who played in seventeen Tests and ten ODIs for England from 1970 to 1975. He was a successful wicket taker, taking 41 victims from those seventeen Tests, and a handy batsman with a top score of 88 not out...
, a Test colleague, discussed with Boycott his vulnerability when playing the hook stroke, which was to get him out on more than one occasion. Overall in Test cricket, 54% of Boycott's dismissals were by being caught, with lbw, and bowled taking 14% and 16% respectively.
Boycott was also a very occasional medium-pace inswing bowler. He was never a genuine all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
, but took seven wickets at Test level at an average of 54.57, often bowling wearing his cap turned back-to-front to assist his vision. At the start of his career, Boycott was a below average fielder, having received no coaching on this from Yorkshire and with little inclination to rectify it when concentrating on his batting. A fellow Yorkshire batsman Ken Taylor
Ken Taylor (cricketer)
Ken Taylor is an English former cricketer, who played in three Tests for England from 1959 to 1964. He also played first-class cricket for Yorkshire...
worked with Boycott, who was "limited in [fielding] ability, " but had "tremendous determination". With further help from his two brothers Boycott's fielding improved. He became a safe pair of hands generally at cover point, though he continued to lack power and pace in the field, never taking more than two catches in a Test innings, and averaging 0.170 dismissals per innings with 33 career catches in all. He would remark in his autobiography that his usual fielding positions depended not on the tactical situation but on whether the captain was one of Boycott's critics, who would therefore banish him to a remote part of the field.
Written works
Throughout his career in international cricket and well into retirement, Boycott has written a number of works on cricket, including his own autobiography and a joint project on the biography of umpire Dickie Bird:- Geoff Boycott's Book for Young Cricketers, 1976.
- Put to the Test, 1979.
- Opening up, 1980.
- In The Fast Lane, 1981
- Sir Geoffrey. 21 Years of Yorkshire Cricket, 1984.
- Boycott: The Autobiography, 1987.
- Free as a Bird: Like and Times of Harold "Dickie" Bird with David Hopps, 1997.
- Boycott on Cricket, 1990.
- Geoffrey Boycott on Cricket, 1999.
- The Best XI, 2008
Records
- WisdenWisdenThe Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
, a Cricketer of the Year for 1965, when he played nine Test matches, scoring 617 runs with one century and four fifties at an average of 47.46. - Winner of the Walter Lawrence Trophy in 1970.
Test matches
Achievements and records:- Fourteenth quickest player to reach 8,000 runs, taking 190 innings.
- Most centuries for England, shared with Cowdrey and Hammond.
- First player to score 99 and then a century in a Test match.
- First player to score 99 not out.
- Most century partnerships, 48, by an England player.
- Test career of 17 years and 216 days.
- In 1977 against Australia, became the first England player to bat on all five days of a Test match.
- Topped the national averages for six seasons, the highest of any post-World War II player.
- Fourth highest career runs total for an England player, 8114, behind Graham GoochGraham GoochGraham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
, Alec StewartAlec StewartAlec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...
and David GowerDavid GowerDavid Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
. - Sixth most capped player for England in Tests.
- Longest time spent at the crease was 629 minutes for 191 runs in 1977.
Opening partners
Such was Boycott's longevity in the game that he had 16 opening partners for England.| Partner | Innings | Runs | Partnership average | Highest partnership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Amiss Dennis Amiss Dennis Leslie Amiss MBE was an English cricketer and cricket administrator.Amiss suffered a serious back injury whilst playing soccer in his teenage years, which entailed him starting each day of his sporting life undergoing stretching routines to loosen up.He played cricket for both Warwickshire... |
21 | 1090 | 57.36 | 209 |
| Bob Barber Bob Barber Robert William Barber is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Lancashire and Warwickshire from 1954 to 1969. He also played 28 Test matches for England... |
26 | 1171 | 46.84 | 234 |
| Ken Barrington Ken Barrington Kenneth Frank Barrington , better known as Ken Barrington, played for the English cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, well known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog... |
9 | 460 | 57.50 | 157 |
| Mike Brearley Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:... |
28 | 1015 | 36.25 | 185 |
| Alan Butcher Alan Butcher Alan Raymond Butcher is a former English cricketer who is part of a family known for its strong cricketing connections. Although only selected to play for England on one occasion, he was lauded for his skills in first-class cricket and was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991... |
2 | 88 | 44.00 | 45 |
| Colin Cowdrey Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976... |
11 | 428 | 42.80 | 172 |
| John Edrich John Edrich John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation... |
46 | 2082 | 49.57 | 172 |
| Graham Gooch Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs... |
56 | 2150 | 40.56 | 145 |
| Wayne Larkins Wayne Larkins Wayne Larkins is a former English cricketer, who represented Northamptonshire, Durham and Bedfordshire as an opening batsman throughout his career... |
6 | 496 | 35.33 | 95 |
| Brian Luckhurst Brian Luckhurst Brian William Luckhurst was an English cricketer, who played his entire county career for Kent County Cricket Club. He played for Kent from 1958 to 1976, usually opening the batting, then in 1985, in an emergency, played in one more match against the Australians. He was cricket manager from 1981... |
13 | 679 | 52.23 | 171 |
| Colin Milburn Colin Milburn Colin Milburn was an English cricketer, who played in nine Test matches for England, before an accident led to the loss of much of his sight and prompted his retirement.... |
8 | 286 | 35.75 | 132 |
| John Murray John Murray (cricketer) John Thomas Murray MBE is a former English cricketer. He played in twenty one Tests for England between 1961 and 1967.-Life and career:... |
2 | 45 | 22.50 | 28 |
| Derek Randall Derek Randall Derek William Randall is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s.... |
19 | 523 | 30.76 | 90 |
| Brian Rose Brian Rose (cricketer) Brian Charles Rose is an English former cricketer, who played in nine Tests and two ODIs for England from 1977 to 1981.-Life and career:... |
13 | 303 | 23.30 | 83 |
| Eric Russell | 4 | 85 | 21.25 | 39 |
| Fred Titmus Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus MBE was an English cricketer, whose first-class career spanned five decades. Although he was best known for his off spin , he was an accomplished lower-order batsman who deserved to be called an all-rounder, even opening the batting for England on six occasions... |
6 | 178 | 29.66 | 80 |
Career performance
| Batting | Bowling | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Matches | Runs | Average | High Score | 100 / 50 | Runs | Wickets | Average | Best |
| 38 | 2945 | 47.50 | 191 | 7/14 | 107 | 2 | 53.50 | 2/32 | |
| 13 | 1084 | 57.05 | 246* | 4/2 | 8 | 0 | – | – | |
| 15 | 916 | 38.16 | 131 | 2/6 | 30 | 0 | – | – | |
| 6 | 591 | 84.42 | 121* | 3/3 | 4 | 0 | – | – | |
| 7 | 373 | 37.30 | 117 | 1/2 | 217 | 5 | 43.40 | 3/47 | |
| 29 | 2205 | 45.93 | 128 | 5/15 | 16 | 0 | – | – | |
| Overall | 108 | 8114 | 47.72 | 246* | 22/42 | 382 | 7 | 54.57 | 3/47 |
Test centuries
| Geoffrey Boycott's 22 Test Centuries | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Number A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers.... | 1st Innings An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is... | 2nd Innings An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is... | Test | Opponents | Season | Venue | City | Country | Result | |
| 1 | 30 | 113 | Fifth Test | 1964 | Kennington Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... |
London |  Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | ||
| 2 | 117 | 7 | Fifth Test | 1964–65 | St George's Park | Port Elizabeth |  South Africa |
Match Drawn | ||
| 3 | 246* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
First Test | 1967 | Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie .... |
Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Kingdom of England |
won by 6 wickets | |||
| 4 | 116 | 30 | Fifth Test | 1967–68 | Bourda Bourda The Bourda is a cricket ground in Georgetown, Guyana, used by the Guyanese cricket team for matches with other nations in the Caribbean as well as some Test matches involving the West Indies. Located in Bourda in Georgetown, Guyana, between Regent Street and North Road, it is home to the Georgetown... |
Georgetown Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves... |
 Guyana |
Match Drawn | ||
| 5 | 128 | 1* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
First Test | 1969 | Old Trafford Cricket Ground | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
Kingdom of England |
won by 10 wickets | ||
| 6 | 23 | 106 | Second Test | 1969 | Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
London | Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | ||
| 7 | 77 | 142* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Fourth Test | 1970–71 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
Sydney |  Australia |
won by 299 runs | ||
| 8 | 58 | 119* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Sixth Test | 1970–71 | Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide... |
Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... |
Australia |
Match Drawn | ||
| 9 | 121* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Second Test | 1971 | Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
London | Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | |||
| 10 | 112 | 13 | Third Test | 1971 | Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie .... |
Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Kingdom of England |
won by 25 runs | ||
| 11 | 115 | Third Test | 1973 | Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie .... |
Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Kingdom of England |
won by an innings and 1 run | |||
| 12 | 99 | 112 | Fifth Test | 1973–74 | Queen's Park Oval Queen's Park Oval Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the... |
Port of Spain Port of Spain Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population... |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
won by 26 runs | ||
| 13 | 107 | 80* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Third Test | 1977 | Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of... |
Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... |
Kingdom of England |
won by 7 wickets | ||
| 14 | 191 | Fourth Test | 1977 | Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie .... |
Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... |
Kingdom of England |
won by an innings and 85 runs | |||
| 15 | 79 | 100* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Second Test | 1977–78 | Niaz Stadium Niaz Stadium The Niaz Stadium is a cricket ground in Hyderabad, Pakistan. The ground holds 7000 and hosted its first test match in 1973.The first ever One day cricket hat-trick took place at this stadium... |
Hyderabad Hyderabad, Sindh is the second largest city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the seventh largest city in the country. The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro upon the ruins of a Mauryan fishing village along the bank of the Indus known as Neroon Kot... |
 Pakistan |
Match Drawn | ||
| 16 | 131 | Second Test | 1978 | Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of... |
Nottingham Nottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... |
Kingdom of England |
won by an innings and 119 runs | |||
| 17 | 155 | First Test | 1979 | Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England... |
Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... |
Kingdom of England |
won by an innings and 83 runs | |||
| 18 | 35 | 125 | Fourth Test | 1979 | Kennington Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... |
London | Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | ||
| 19 | 62 | 128* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Centenary Test | 1980 | Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the... |
London | Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | ||
| 20 | 38 | 104* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Fourth Test | 1980–81 | Antigua Recreation Ground Antigua Recreation Ground Antigua Recreation Ground is the national stadium of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located in St. John's, on the island of Antigua. The ground has been used by the West Indies cricket team and Antigua and Barbuda national football team... |
St John's St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda St John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, a country located in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. St John's is located at... |
 Antigua and Barbuda |
Match Drawn | ||
| 21 | 137 | 0 | Sixth Test | 1981 | Kennington Oval The Oval The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval... |
London | Kingdom of England |
Match Drawn | ||
| 22 | 105 | 34* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
Third Test | 1981–82 | Feroz Shah Kotla Feroz Shah Kotla The Feroz Shah Kotla or Kotla was originally a fortress built by Sultan Ferozshah Tughlaq to house his version of Delhi city called Ferozabad. A pristine polished sandstone pillar from the 3rd century B.C... |
Delhi Delhi Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census... |
 India |
Match Drawn | ||
One Day Internationals
Records- Faced the first One Day International ball and was the first batsman to be dismissed in an ODI.
Career performance:
| Batting | Bowling | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Matches | Runs | Average | High Score | 100 / 50 | Runs | Wickets | Average | Best |
| 17 | 686 | 52.76 | 105 | 1/5 | 42 | 2 | 13.00 | 2/15 | |
| 1 | 14 | – | 14* | 0/0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | |
| 2 | 11 | 5.50 | 6 | 0/0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 3 | 37 | 12.33 | 20 | 0/0 | 24 | 1 | 24.00 | 1/24 | |
| 4 | 27 | 9.00 | 18 | 0/0 | 14 | 2 | 7.00 | 2/14 | |
| 9 | 307 | 34.11 | 70 | 0/4 | 38 | 0 | – | – | |
| Overall | 36 | 1082 | 36.06 | 105 | 1/9 | 105 | 5 | 21.00 | 2/14 |