Geoffrey Boycott Popular Books

Geoffrey Boycott Biography & Facts

Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played 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. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup. Boycott made his international debut in a 1964 test match against Australia. He was known 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 appearances. 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. Never highly popular among his peers, journalist Ian Wooldridge commented of him that "Boycott, in short, walks alone", while cricket writer John Arlott wrote that Boycott had a "lonely" career. Others have said that the extent of his introverted nature has been exaggerated, and that while he was obsessed with his own success he was not by nature a selfish player. 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, earning him an OBE for services to cricket. 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. After his playing career ended, Boycott became an often outspoken and controversial cricket commentator on 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. In 2002, after being diagnosed with throat cancer, he underwent successful radiation treatment, and went into remission. He revived his commentating career in 2003, attracting both criticism and praise. He is a former member of BBC Radio 4 Test Match Special commentary team and retired in 2020. Early life Boycott was born in the mining village of Fitzwilliam, near Wakefield and Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the eldest of three sons of Jane (née Speight) and Thomas Wilfred Boycott, a colliery worker from Little Dawley, Shropshire. 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. In March 1950, 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: he never fully recovered, and died in 1967. Boycott began to play cricket at an early age in Fitzwilliam's terraced streets, using a manhole for the wicket. He later claimed that it was at this time that he developed his favourite shots: the square cut, the clip to leg and the straight drive, "because it you hit it straight past the bowler it went right to the bottom of the street, and you could run as many runs as you could get." He attended Fitzwilliam Primary School, at which he won a Len Hutton batting award for scoring 45 runs and capturing six wickets for 10 runs in a school 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, so 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 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. 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 while playing for Brierley Juniors Football Club. In 1958, Boycott left school with seven O-level passes and the school's Individual Cricket Cup. 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. 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. Boycott 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 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, 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. 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. 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 almig.... Discover the Geoffrey Boycott popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Geoffrey Boycott books.