Sir Geoffrey Boycott OBE (born 21 October 1940) is a retired cricketer who also used play cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen.[3] Since retiring as a player, he has pursued a successful career as a cricket commentator, despite his conviction in 1998 for assaulting his then girlfriend Margaret Moore.
Boycott made his international debut in a 1964 Test match against Australia.[4][5] 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.[6] He accumulated large scores – he is the equal fifth-highest accumulator of first-class centuries in history, eighth in career runs and the first English player to average over 100 in a season (1971 and 1979) – but often encountered friction with his teammates.[4][7][8]
Never the most popular of players among his peers, journalist Ian Wooldridge commented that "Boycott, in short, walks alone",[9] while cricket writer John Arlott wrote that Boycott had a "lonely" career.[10] Others, however, have stated that the extent of his introverted and anti-social nature has been exaggerated, and that while he was "obsessed with his own success" he was not by nature a selfish player.[11] After 108 Test match appearances for England, Boycott's international career ended in 1982 when he was the leading Test run scorer with over 8,000 Test match runs,[12] earning him an OBE for services to cricket.[4][13] When dropped from the Yorkshire team in 1986 he was the leading run scorer in first-class cricket. In 1965, while still a young player, he had been named as one of five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, and he was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame in 2009.[14]
After his playing career ended, Boycott became an often outspoken and controversial cricket commentator on both radio and television, never slow to criticise modern players' techniques. In 1998, he was convicted in France of assaulting his former girlfriend Margaret Moore; he was fined and given a suspended sentence. He always maintained his innocence. 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 Test Match Special commentary team. Boycott was President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club between March 2012 and March 2014.
Early life
Boycott was born in the mining village of Fitzwilliam, near Wakefield and Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[15] He was the eldest of three sons of Jane (née Speight) and Thomas Wilfred Boycott, a colliery worker from Little Dawley in the midwestern county of Shropshire.[3]
When Boycott was eight years old, he was impaled through his chest by the handle of a 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.[16] In March 1950,[17] Boycott's father had a serious accident while working as a coalminer, suffering severe damage to his spine after he was hit by empty coal carts:[18] he never fully recovered, and died in 1967.[19]
Boycott attended Fitzwilliam Primary School,[17] at which he won a Len Hutton batting award for scoring 45 runs and capturing six wickets for 10 runs in a school match.[15] At age 10, he joined Ackworth Cricket Club, demonstrating "outstanding ability."[8] At the age of 11, he failed the examinations that would have taken him to grammar school, so instead went to the local Kinsley Secondary Modern School.[18] A year later, however, he passed his late-entry exams, and transferred to Hemsworth Grammar School. His cricket prowess was such that he captained the school's cricket First XI at the age of 15. During winters he attended an indoor cricket school, where he was coached by former county professional Johnny Lawrence.[15]
While studying for his O-levels, he began to have difficulty reading the blackboard and was initially devastated when told he would need glasses. At first, his cricket playing suffered, encumbered by the fragile spectacles. However, matters improved when a more robust pair, similar to those glasses worn by cricketer Roy Marshall, were fashioned for him at the behest of his maternal uncle, Albert Speight. Albert would go on to be a strong influence on Boycott's early cricketing game[20][21] while playing for Brierley Juniors Football Club. In 1958, Boycott left school with seven O-level passes and the school's Individual Cricket Cup.[22] That 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 continued to play nets with uncle Lawrence.[23]
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.[23] 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. Boycott captained the South Elmsall district team and achieved a batting average of 70.[24] 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.[24][25]
County career
Boycott began playing for his home county in 1962 after topping the averages for Leeds, Yorkshire Colts and Yorkshire Second XI.[8][26] In 414 matches for Yorkshire he scored 32,570 runs at an average of 57.85, with a highest score of 260 not out 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,[27] Mark Ramprakash was the other. Boycott was appointed captain of Yorkshire in 1971, but was sacked in 1978 after failing to win a trophy while in charge.[28] 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.[5]
First years
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 that year alongside Dickie Bird and Michael Parkinson.[29] In one match against Scarborough, Boycott faced a delivery from Bill 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."[30] Although 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."[31] He made his Yorkshire Second XI debut on 6 July 1959 against Cumberland at Penrith, scoring five and 15.[32]
Boycott made his Yorkshire first-team debut on 16 June 1962 against the Pakistan touring team.[8] 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.[33][34] He 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*.[35]
Early in his career, Boycott continued to play in his spectacles,[36] and later switched to contact lenses. He feared his career would have ended had he not used such aids as his eyesight was poor.[37] 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,[38] Boycott scored 145 against Lancashire.[39] His century was also part of a 249-run fourth wicket partnership which became a Yorkshire record.[40] 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.[41] Boycott handed in his notice to the Ministry of Pensions that same year.[42] After a brief loss of form he kept his place with scores of 62, 28 and 113 in the following matches.[43] 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.[44]
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.[45] He was awarded his county cap on 2 October.[46] 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 Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against the Australian touring side at Lord's, where he scored 63.[47] On 16 May he completed a third consecutive century,[48] and on 31 May he was called up for the First Test against Australia at Trent Bridge.[8] By the end of the 1964 season, Boycott had topped the country's domestic averages with 59.45.[49]
Although he later became renowned for his ability to occupy the crease for hours of defensive play, he was capable of playing attacking cricket.[5] His highest one day score, a match-winning 146, came in the 1965 Gillette Cup final against Surrey.[50] In his previous Gillette Cup match, the quarter-final against Somerset, Boycott took 32 overs to accumulate 23 runs.[51]
According to the captain, Close, at Lord's after Yorkshire had slowly reached 22/1, 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.[36]
Boycott subsequently hit 15 fours and three sixes,[36] 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 teammates 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.[36] Cricket writer John Woodcock wrote in The Times that "his magnificent innings contained every stroke in the book. "[36]
In the 1966 season Boycott scored two centuries in one match for the first time, against Nottinghamshire on 18 July.[52] 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.[53] On 27 July 1970 he scored 260*, his highest first-class score in England, against Essex.[54] 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.[55]
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.[57] To captain Yorkshire had been one of Boycott's aims since he started county cricket in 1962.[58] Yorkshire's scorer Ted Lester 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."[59] Some members of the committee wanted to remove him almost immediately.[56] He also caused strife between his fellow players, including a reciprocated dislike for Richard Hutton,[60] with many players leaving the club citing personal differences with Boycott as the reason for their departure.[61]
After his first season as captain he spent the winter of 1971 playing in South Africa for Northern Transvaal.[2] He played only one match, however, scoring 107 and 41.[62]
Boycott's eight seasons of captaincy were among Yorkshire's least successful. The club failed to win any competitions and ranked low in the Championship table, in contrast to their one-time dominance of English cricket.[59] 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.[63] Boycott himself did not suffer a loss of form to mirror that of his county; in his first year as captain, he scored 2,503 runs at an average of 100.12, included a century in his first match as captain.[64] His success was cited by Trueman as evidence that his selfish nature was harming Yorkshire.[65]
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 any of the 8 championship games with Boycott in charge, and Wisden called the season "disturbingly unsuccessful". It 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.[66][67] "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.[69] 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.[70] 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.[71] On 27 September 1978 Boycott's mother, to whom he was very close, died of cancer, placing further pressure on him. She was buried on 2 October.[72] 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.[73] 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.[56][74]
Later years
Boycott, after much thought, continued as a player at Yorkshire, scoring 1,941 runs at 61.70 in 1979, hitting six hundreds to pass Len Hutton's record of 129 first-class centuries.[75] In 1980 he scored his ninth Roses century, equalling Herbert Sutcliffe's record.[76] He also finished the season with an average of over 50.00 for a record eleventh consecutive year, surpassing the achievement of Jack Hobbs.[77] 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.[78]
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 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.[79] Their leader, Peter Briggs, stated "Geoffrey Boycott is a giant playing among pygmies."[80]
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.[81] 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;[82] 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.[83] 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.[84]
His success on the field resumed in 1985, where he scored 1,657 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.[85] 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.[86] 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.[87] Boycott was offered contracts by other counties, including Derbyshire and Glamorgan, but he never took these offers up, nor played professional cricket again.[88] At the time of his retirement he had scored more first-class runs than any other active player.[89]
Test match career
Over Boycott's 18-year career he scored 8,114 runs in 108 Test matches for England. He was the first England cricketer to pass 8,000 Test runs and, as of 2015, is sixth on England's all-time run scoring list (behind Alastair Cook, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, David Gower and Kevin Pietersen). His average of 47.72 runs over 193 innings is the highest completed career average by an England player since 1970. His Test career included 22 centuries, third in England's records, held jointly with Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey, and Ian Bell and surpassed only by Pietersen (23) and Cook (33). England did not lose a Test match in which he scored a century and only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat.[12] 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.
Boycott began his Test career on 4 June 1964, only two years after his first-class debut, in the first Test against Australia. He top scored with 48 runs from 118 deliveries before he was bowled by Grahame Corling. The match ended as a rain-affected draw, and Boycott did not bat in the second innings as he had suffered a cracked finger.[91][92] He made 58 at Old Trafford, and then hit 113 at The Oval, his maiden Test century. He finished his first Test series with 291 runs at 48.50.[49]
In the winter of 1964, Boycott was selected for the England team to tour South Africa. After a series of low scores during the warm-up matches, he was more successful in the Test series. His innings included scores of 73 in the opening Test, 76 in the fourth, and 117 in the fifth and final match. He averaged 49.66 in all first-class cricket during the tour, and took five wickets with the ball as England won the Test series 1–0.[93] He made a mixed impression on the other England players, who were impressed by his talent but perplexed by his introverted attitude each time he was dismissed.[94]
Early career
England hosted New Zealand and South Africa in 1965. Against New Zealand, Boycott scored 23 and 44 not out in the first Test at Edgbaston and 76 in the second at Lord's, but missed the third Test owing to injury. He returned against South Africa at Lord's, but after scores of 31 and a slow 28 in 105 minutes,[95] the press began to speculate that he may lose his place in the team. In the second Test, Boycott made a duck in the first innings and later took 140 minutes to score 16 runs when England needed to score quickly; Wisden described the latter innings as a "dreadful effort when courage was needed".[96] Subsequently, Boycott was dropped and replaced by Eric Russell.[96] Boycott returned to the team at the end of the season for the tour to Australia. In the 1965-66 Ashes series, illness dogged his performance initially.[97] 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 shared an opening partnership of 234 in four hours; Boycott hit 84, his highest score of the series. 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.[98]
In 1966, England faced the West Indies. Boycott was omitted from the first Test, but shared a partnership of 115 with Tom Graveney. However, he struggled during the series and managed an average of 26.57.[99] It was a disappointing year for Boycott both for England and Yorkshire, and his average for the former fell to 36.60.[100] Furthermore, he had only passed 50 twice in his last 12 first-class innings.[101] The following summer, he rediscovered his form. On 8 and 9 June 1967, he made his highest Test score of 246 not out against India on his home ground of Headingley. Batting for 573 minutes,[102] Boycott struck thirty fours and a six at a strike rate of 44.32.[102] He began his innings slowly, taking six hours over his first 106 runs; he scored 17 in the first hour and 8 in the second. This particularly frustrated the England selectors as the pitch was excellent for batting, and the Indian attack was weakened by injury.[103] Their frustration was exacerbated when Boycott added 140 runs in four hours on the second day.[104] Ian Wooldridge wrote in the Daily Mail that Boycott "could not be excused by his nearest and dearest relations."[103] He did not bat in the second innings and England won by six wickets.[102]
Boycott's slow scoring led to increasing media pressure, and owing to his perceived selfish attitude, he was dropped from the team after the match.[101] He remembered 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 and painfully to this day."[105] A combination of low confidence and a throat infection limited Boycott to two further Test appearances, playing once more against India and once against Pakistan, for the rest of the year. He nevertheless again topped the domestic averages with 1260 at 48.46.[106] In 1967, Boycott toured the West Indies with England, where he hit a rich seam of form. He scored 463 runs at 66.14 in a series England won 1–0
