Running with Boycott

My body is still feeling a little delicate today from a very jolly shindig last night that was organised by the Lord's Taverners charity. It was a dinner to commemorate the 25 men who have scored 100 first-class centuries, Mark Ramprakash being the most recent, and nine of the ten living members of the 100 Club were there (Viv Richards was kept in the Caribbean by Hurricane Gustav).

Here they are last night (from back row left to right): Geoff Boycott, Zaheer Abbas, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash, Glenn Turner, Dennis Amiss, Tom Graveney and John Edrich. Graham Gooch arrived late.

The dinner was also a fund-raiser for the charity and among the generous bids in an auction was one of £10,500 for a gentleman to have a photo taken of him with the cricketers and one of £5,600 for the very bat with which Glenn Turner, the great New Zealand opener, made his 100th hundred (the trifling matter of 311 against Warwickshire). I emphasise to my bosses that they won't be receiving a shock when they get next month's expenses form...

As ever at these things, you hear some great anecdotes from the players and I thought the following were worth sharing. Ramprakash, you will recall, took three months to advance from 99 hundreds and Boycott was in his usual rumbunctious form, remarking as soon as he arrived: "Bloody hell Ramps, I'd have lent you one of mine if you wanted. I've got plenty."

Boycott does indeed have 151 first-class centuries, but for much of the evening he was complaining that other members of the 100 Club had held him back. Speaking to Chris Cowdrey, the former Kent and England captain who is growing to resemble his father more and more as he puts on weight, Boycott said: "When your father got one of his Test hundreds, he pulled a muscle early in his innings and they asked me to run for him. I reckon that hundred should have been given to me as I'd had to do all the work for the runs."

Edrich, the former Surrey and England opener, then revealed that Boycott had also tried to claim his biggest Test hundred, 310 at Headingley against New Zealand, as his own. "I only played because Boycott had a bad back," Edrich said. "When I'd got to 170-odd I saw Boycott on the boundary and he said 'you're getting all my runs'."

The words Boycott and running don't always go well together. As the great man said: "My Uncle Algy told me when I were nine years old that whenever you get involved in a run-out, one of the buggers will be unhappy. Make sure it isn't you. And I followed that advice."

Gooch said that when he first came into the England team in the mid-1970s, the words he most often heard when batting with Boycott were: "Sacrifice, Graham."

As for Boycott's own 100th hundred, scored in a Test against Australia at (where else?) Headingley in 1977, this is his version of events: "I'd only had four hours sleep and arrived at the ground late for a change, just as they were taking the nets down. I managed to get a ten-minite net and hoped we'd lose the toss. Instead Mike Brearley won and he batted. Then he was out first ball [actually, it was third ball, PK]. Well that woke me up. I always told Mike that it would have been better if I batted for both of us so he could get on with captaining."

Among the non-Boycott stories on the night, Mark Nicholas revealed that he had convinced Graveney to play in a charity competition for his side in 1990 and the team had needed ten off the last two balls, with the 63-year-old Graveney facing, to win. "Unbelievably, the other side's keeper started giving Graveney some abuse," Nicholas said. "So he hit the first ball over square leg for six and backed away to late cut the second for four. And then he turned to the keeper, touched the peak of his cap and walked off."

Wise words of the night (1) came from Sir Alec Bedser, 90, who was asked by Nicholas "What attributes did Don Bradman have that made him so great?" Bedser's reply: "Well... he could play very well..."

Wise words (2) from Nicholas, on the new Lord's Taverners Centurions Award, a certificate that will be given to schoolchildren who score their debut hundred. "It will be available worldwide," said Nicholas. "Actually, bugger that, we don't need to give it to any Australians."

Comments

[Bob-B]

A lovely story about Tom Graveney. A fabulous batsman.

[bernard uttley]

It is easy to criticise journalists and sportsmen like Geoff! However, many do so without personal knowledge or even understanding of what qualities these people have. Geoff was a genuinely good batsman, those who saw him live will testify to that!
Seeing him up against those great West Indian bowlers was a treat, whether at Scarborough, Headingley or even Harrogate!
His humour is tongue in the cheek, he is a Yorkshireman! After watching him play many times (live, never on TV) and having had tea with him at charity cricket matches in York I can truthfully say he is a great character, similar to Fred Trueman, they espouse those cricket virtues of playing to win (with talent) - and why should an opening bat give his wicket away?

[Bill]

Boycott is great. Always prepared to back up his statements and say it how he sees it. His 20 mins slots on TMS are always the best, especially when paired with Aggers. He may sound arrogant, but he is normally right!

While on the subject of TMS...I was pleasantly surprised by Tuffers this summer... very entertaining and more insightful than I expected.

[neil goodes]

it's not difficult to like Boycott.
i still remember meeting him forty years ago when along with other boys from my school I provided support to the players at a kent versus yorkshire county game. Whilst many of the other players were too busy to give us the time of day, Boycott couldnt do enough. Giving advice, signing autographs and all conducted with perfect manners.

[Brenda Mathews]

Well I think Geoff Boycott is great. I collect commemorative handkerchiefs and was delighted to find one produced in 1896 when WG Grace scored his 100th Test Century. I heard that in 1977 a similar hanky came out when Geoff Boycott scored his 100th so I wrote to him in 1996 enquiring if he had a spare one. He hadn’t but what he did do was send me a new white hanky which he’d got signed by all the members of the Indian Cricket Touring Team. Howszat!

[Pete Minns]

the tiresome "scared of fast bowling" tag evaporates when one remembers that boycott played against the fearsome 80's west indian attack and his 77 & 142 n.o. against the aussies in 70/71 at sydney, when no other batsman scored more than 60-odd. in lillee's debut test during the same series boycott scored 58 & 119 n.o. whether he is likeable or not, is irrelevant. england hardly ever lost when he played.

[david glowacki]

When GB is dead and gone,people will realise the vacuum cannot be filled.He's original and colourful.Check out the new TMS all are bland.As in 1970s tennis/snooker and football we bemoan the lack of personalities,and so Boycott will one day be viewed in the same way.Time will tell the true value of Boycott

[tommo]

Hang on a sec - Boycott's commentary is fantastic - He doesn't make any statement without being able to back it up, scored over 40,000 first class runs and was the prize England wicket for the opposition for nearly 20 years. Listening to him and Aggers verbally jesting with each other is priceless radio.

[baz]

Is it coincidence that 3 of these illustrious batsmen played for Worcestershire? Hick, Turner, Graveney.

So which would be the best? My dad thought Hick was the best batsman he had ever seen, and he had seen Bradman. I thought the best batsman I had ever seen was Turner. Decisions, decisions!

[Harry harinordiquy]

Boycott is as tedious and self-obsessed as a commentator as he was self-serving as a batsman. Please get him off the airwaves.

[Darren]

A guy who worked with me as a writer for one of our mags used to work for the BBC in Notts, and while reporting on NCCC, became friends with Derek Randall. Randall told him of the time that, during a run chase, England had Boycs defending stoutly and not cracking on. A wicket fell, and Randall was sent out with the express orders to hurry him up or run him out. He took the second option. Randall went on to score a 100, and Boycs sat brooding in the dressing room muttering 'Them's my f***ing runs' every time Randall scored.

Legend.

[mark edwards]

Yes it is very difficult to like Boycott.Where did he go to on the Ausralian tour in the '70s when he made homself "unavailable".Was it at the height of Australian fast bowling?
The only man to be dropped by England for boring slow play --Says everything! On TMS he continually talks himself up.Please rid us of this
re--born wonder batsman

[Terry]

Glenn Turner, Patrick? My absolute hero. I looked out for him when I went to the recent NZ series out there, but not a even a glimpse of the great man. Lucky you mate.

[Robbie]

It must be very difficult to like Geoff Boycott.