A legendary cricketer and commentator Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott is a very interesting character; a very well respected cricketer of his time and one of the finest opening batsmen that England has ever produced who later became a highly sought after commentator and expert on the game. He was not short of controversy as well during his life along with surviving a throat cancer. During his playing days, Boycott did not get along with his peers and had a number of altercations with many of them. After retiring from cricket, he went on to forge an illustrious career in commentating and is still working till date. He is known for his witty statements and his ‘telling it straight’ way of expressing his views.
Boycott made his debut for his county at the age of 22 in 1962. Two years later, he started his test career playing in a test match against Australia. Over his superb 18 year test career, boycott managed to score 8114 runs in 108 test matches. He was the first English cricketer to reach 8000 runs and is still the fourth highest run scorer in English cricket. In 1977, Boycott became the first England player to score his hundredth test century and cemented his place in the history books. He was a phenomenal player and his presence in the England team made sure that they won every match that they played in. He also had a legendary ability to stay at the crease for days on end and is one of the only England batsmen to bat for an entire five day stretch and did not get out. Everything was not always rosy for the great cricketer though.
During his playing days, he was not always liked by his team mates. A lot of them thought he was self centred and he made a few controversial moves which alienated him in the England camp. He once deliberately ran out Derek Randall in front of Randall’s home crowd in order to save his own wicket. This selfishness of his did not go down too well with the rest of the team. So many problems happened before this incident that Boycott actually went on a self imposed exile. What is interesting about this is the fact that the test match in which he deliberately ran out Randall was his comeback test match after his self imposed exile. He went on to score a century in that match but it was not the best way to make his comeback into the England side.
After retiring from cricket with a fantastic batting average and being one of the best test cricketers England had ever produced, he went on to be hired as a commentator. He started to make a name for himself with his clever wit and ability to say exactly what he meant and be straight to the point about everything. The controversies did not end there for the cricketer turned commentator. In 1996, he was accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel in France. The woman had demanded a settlement of £1 million in what was effectively a blackmail case in order to try and extort money out of Boycott. He refused and a court date was set in which the woman got a sum of £1 million and Boycott got a suspended sentence and a fine. It turned out that the woman and her company had gone bankrupt and owed sums amounting to a million and a half pounds. Boycott has protested his innocence to this day. After the controversy, Boycott was dropped from The Sun and BBC Radio but was finally hired by Talk Sport Radio under ESPN and continues to work for ESPN till date.
In 2002, as Boycott was happily settled into his life as a commentator and sports broadcaster, he was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer was caught early and he went into remission after successfully battling the disease. While taking 15 months off to fight the disease, Boycott reassessed his life and after being told of his remission, he went onto marry Rachael Swinglehurst, his long time sweetheart and the mother of his daughter. In 2008, after being in remission from cancer for five years, he was given the all clear by his doctor.
This amazing cricketer, who has over the years been a controversial figure in the world of cricket, has also managed to mesmerise the fans of the sport; first with his playing abilities and then with his witty commentary and broadcasting skills. Having defeated cancer, is there anything left for him to achieve in his life?
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