Geoffrey Boycott

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Template:Infobox Cricketer Geoffrey Boycott (born October 21 1940) is a former England cricketer. In a Test match career dating from 1964 to 1982, Boycott established himself amongst England's finest opening batsmen ever. A proud Yorkshireman, Boycott followed up his playing career by becoming a commentator.

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As player

Boycott was born in Fitzwilliam in Yorkshire and began playing county cricket for his home county in 1962. He began an illustrious Test career only two years later in the first Test of the summer against Australia. He went on to score 8,114 runs in an 18 year Test career spanning 108 Test matches. 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 47.73 runs over 193 innings is better than any other England player since 1970. His Test career included 22 centuries (an England record that he holds jointly with Wally Hammond and Colin Cowdrey). In 1977 he scored 191 against Australia in the fourth Test at Leeds, becoming the first cricketer to score his one hundredth first class century in a Test match.

Boycott was always a controversial figure and spent three years from 1974-77 in self-imposed exile from the England team. He claimed he had simply lost his appetite for Test cricket, but the move may also have been linked to the appointments of Mike Denness and then Tony Greig as England Captain in preference to himself. Critics claimed the period of exile enabled him to avoid fast-bowlers Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Andy Roberts, and Michael Holding at their peaks but he came back to face the West Indies pace battery at its most fearsome in the late 70s and early 80s.

His batting style in many ways reflected his personality, dour and dogged, and he was renowned for his ability to occupy the crease for hours, boring spectators with his defensive style of play. Once he stayed on the pitch after being given out by the umpire and played on. The umpire did not confront him about it. Boycott said "He was a very good lad" recently when he was commentating and was asked about this subject. In his "comeback" Test against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1977 he famously ran out Derek Randall in front of his home crowd before going to make a century. In this match, in which Ian Botham made his England debut, he batted on each of the first three days in the first innings, scoring 107. He then scored 80 not out in the second innings which spanned days four and five. He scored his hundredth first class hundred at Leeds later in that series.

Boycott was appointed vice-captain for the ensuing tour of Pakistan and New Zealand that winter, and took over as captain in 1978 when Mike Brearley was injured. But in one match, the rest of the team in the pavilion determined that Boycott was scoring so slowly that he was in danger of costing England the match. Botham went on to run Boycott out, later claiming in his biography that he had done it deliberately.

Boycott's ability to occupy the crease come what may is reflected by the fact that he was the first of only three England players, (and the second player ever) to bat in all five days of a Test match, the other Englishmen being Allan Lamb who emulated the feat against West Indies at Lord's in 1984, and Andrew Flintoff (vs India, 2nd Test at Mohali, 2006). He holds another less welcome achievement, becoming the first man to be marooned on 99 in a Test, against Australia at Perth in 1979-80.

His highest Test score was 246 not out in 1967, but he was dropped in the next match for having compiled the runs too slowly for the good of the side.

As well as a batsman, Boycott was also a medium-pace bowler, but was never regarded as a genuine all-rounder. He took seven wickets at Test level at an average of 54.57.

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As commentator

As a commentator Boycott has renewed his renown, with his 'pull-no-punches' style in contrast to the 'let's-try-not-to-offend' style of most of his fellow commentators. In particular he is known for criticizing players. Once, 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 flat track, saying he was a "nice man" for being so generous to the England team. He is also characterised by his pre-match pitch reports, where he would stick a key into the wicket and assess its qualities (moisture and hardness). However due to a change in the cricket laws, this is no longer permitted.

In 1996, Boycott was accused by Margaret Moore, a former lover, of assault. Boycott denied the charges, claiming she had fallen over and hit herself. He pointed to the fact that Moore was in financial difficulties and said that he would never hit a woman. However, in January 1998, Boycott was convicted before a French Magistrates court. According to Boycott, Moore had grown angry when he refused to marry her, stating that 'he was not the marrying kind'.

The conviction gravely jeopardized 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 columnists job in The Sun. 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 was offered a role by talkSPORT, who chose to back him in spite of his conviction (subsequently upheld on appeal). 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 chemotherapy, Boycott's career appears to be enjoying a renaissance as he returned to high-profile commentating with Channel 4, which had, in the interim period, taken over from the BBC in televising England's home Test games. As of winter 2005, Boycott has 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. His opinions, as ever, are strong and sometimes controversial. He delivered the Colin Cowdrey Lecture in 2005.

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