32 Facts about Geoffrey Boycott: A Complex Individual

32 Facts about Geoffrey Boycott: A Complex Individual: If ever there was a perfect defence which looked almost impenetrable it has to be of Geoffrey Boycott. He was known for his defensive, steady style. The legendary English Test opener was a figure of serenity and calmness on the field. Many called it boring batting, but it ensured that the rest of the batting order had a solid platform to build upon.

Many of the English batsmen owe Geoff their centuries as he was the one who removed the shine of the new cherry to make it easier for the batsmen to follow. To the current generation, he is known as a colorful commentator with a unique accent and no holds barred criticism. It’s time to look back at the successful yet often bitter career of the Yorkshire opener.

32 Facts about Geoffrey Boycott: A Complex Individual:

1. Birth

Geoffrey was born in Fitzwilliam, near Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1940.

2. County Career

In 1962, he made his debut for Yorkshire County Club and went on to be one of their most capped players. In an illustrious playing career, he scored 32,000 runs at an average of 57.85

3. First class numbers

He scored more than 48,000 runs in first-class cricket between 1962 and 1986.

4. Amazing

Boycott’s longevity and performance could be judged from the fact that he had a total of 16 opening partners for England.

5. Impeccable defence

Some swear that Geoff Boycott was God’s gift to England, a batsman so correct that as he planted his foot out and defended the smallest fly could not get through his defence.

6. Divided opinion

To a few of his teammates he was a master technician, the man to admire and emulate. To most, he was incorrigibly aloof, dangerously self-centred — and never a safe man to negotiate with while running between the wickets.

7. The attributes

His most productive strokes, off the back foot through the covers (his speciality) and the on-drive, were majestic in their power and placement.

8. Integral member

How valuable he was to England is shown by the fact that only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat, mainly when he failed.

9. Not many friends

He was short of friends inside the game; indeed there were many who heartily disliked him because of his self-centeredness.

10. Well said

Dennis Lille, the menacing pacer once said about Boycott – “Geoff fell in love with himself at an early age and remained faithful.”

11. Rare

Few batsmen have been dropped after scoring 246 – but that innings against India at Headingley, in 1967, led Ian Woolridge to write in the Daily Mail, “(He) could not be excused by his nearest and dearest relations.” Captain Brian Close did his best, but Boycott was dropped from the side for slow scoring.

12. Scored even away

In 1969, he made 270 in three matches in West Indies during a victorious campaign for England.

13. Best series

He followed the West Indies tour of 1969 by scoring 657 in 5 Tests at 93.85 in Australia during the 1970 Ashes and was a principal architect of England’s win.

14. Inexplicable

By 1974, he had been around for almost a decade, having played 63 Tests, amassing 4579 runs with 12 centuries. And this was when he suddenly went on a self-imposed exile.

15. Probably

In certain quarters, it was rumoured that his decision was because of being overlooked for captaincy. Boycott’s craving for the hot seat was well-known, and when the selectors preferred Mike Denness for the West Indies tour of 1973-74, it irked him to the core.

16. What a knock

With England down 0-1 on that tour going into the fifth and final Test at Trinidad, and Denness on the verge of losing his job, Boycott played out of his skin to score 99 and 112 enabling his side to square the series. This ensured that Denness would continue as captain.

17. Controversies followed him

After one solitary match against India in the 1974 season, he went away from the Test scenario. He concentrated on First-class cricket, leading Yorkshire and there too ended up clashing with the county authorities, significantly his old captain Brian Close.

18. Comeback

He returned triumphantly in 1977, scoring a century in his comeback Test and another – his 100th in first-class cricket – in front of his adoring home crowd at Headingley.

19. Captaincy Appointment

His brush with captaincy came in 1978, when Mike Brearley was injured. He was heavily criticized after loosing the first Test of the New Zealand tour in Wellington for his defensive tactics. The captaincy soon went back to Brearley.

20. You read it correct

In pursue of the world record for the highest aggregate of Test runs, 8,032 by Garry Sobers, his circumspection while batting reached illogical levels. At one stage, across 6 innings, he faced 569 balls without hitting a single boundary.

21. Point to note

One should remember that this does not only demonstrate caution, it also speaks volumes about the correctness and technical perfection which prevented even an edged boundary during this entire period.

22. The moment

Boycott finally overhauled Sobers’s record of highest Test runs at that time during the colossally boring and personally disastrous tour of India under Keith Fletcher in 1981-82.

23. Clever

During the Calcutta Test match, on the tour to India in 1981 Boycott did not field because of a stomach bug, and it was later discovered that he had spent the afternoon playing golf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club!

24. Test career in numbers

His final tally of 8,114 runs in 108 Tests at 47.72 with 22 centuries make for impressive reading.

25. One to savour

His 146 against Surrey in the 1965 Gillette Cup Final remains one of the most attractive, stroke studded innings seen in the competition.

26. Post retirement venture

Since his retirement, he has worked as a commentator for BBC.

27. Great commentator

His insights on the game, its players and those who write and talk about it are never less than frank, revealing, entertaining and very honest.

28. True

In 1998, he was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend Margaret Moore; he was given a suspended sentence and fined

29. Cancer

In 2002, after being diagnosed with throat cancer, he underwent successful radiation treatment, and went into remission.

30. Yes!!

Geoffrey and Sunil Gavaskar weren’t exactly friend on the field but shared a great conduct off it. In 2014 he expressed his desire to host the Indian great in his 38 room mansion in Leeds.

31. Fabulous Writer

His autobiography is named ‘The Corridor of certainty – My life beyond cricket’.

32. Did you know

Boycott was the first batsman to be dismissed in what was the first ever ODI game.