The great cricketer, the unfortunate end of his parents

by A. C. de Silva

Geoffrey Boycott was the first son of the Boycott family and was born on October 21, 1940. He lived in Ackworth in his early years and then made it his home for about 40 years.

He had many great knocks and he made his 100th hundred in a Test match. He made 5 centuries against the West Indies.

He was brought up by his mother Jane Boycott as his Dad was a simple, easy going man who spent most of his energies just earning a decent living. Geoff was the last son at home and after his Dad died, he felt a strong sense of responsibility and he grew closer to the mother as the years went by.

Unfortunate accident

He was not quite eight when he met with an unfortunate accident at home and was fortunate that he did not come with his end. However, his Daddy had a nasty accident and it took his Dad around two years to recover.

Geoffrey's Dad had never been on a big wage bracket. But his mother carried the work boldly and brought up the family. The senior Mr. Boycott died in 1967 - the official diagnosis was heart trouble, but according to well informed sources, the death was due to an accident that happened 17 years earlier that really killed him.

Geoffrey was a great lover of cricket and his Test batting figures: 193 innings, 23 not outs, 8,114 runs, 246 not out - the highest, 22 hundreds, Avg: 47.72.

Geoffrey Boycott passed the cricket test with flying colours in 1963, when he was awarded with the County Cap. Fred Trueman and Ray Illingworth were at the heights of their powers and they noted this studios-looking lad from the mining town of Fitzwillians was what Yorkshire was all about.

Cut out fancy shots

The young Boycott came up in batting and he cut out his fancy shots early in his career around the off stump. As a fielder he needed polishing-up. Like all celebral batsmen he'd taught himself technical perfection. With sheer application he became the one England batsman who world score on any type of wicket against any opposition. (He's one of the handful of batsmen to score centuries against six countries including South Africa.)

But at times, he appeared a frozen jelly when not in good `nick.'

The Headingley Test against India in June 1967, for instance. Batting for nearly two days, Boycott had got to 246 without being dismissed. The selectors dropped him like a hot potato. They accused him of being `self-centred,' a chap who only cured for personal glory and silly milestones.

Great batting

The world over Geoffrey Boycott became the prime target of fast bowlers, especially the Australians.

It reached a ridiculous level during the tour of 1980-81. A Queensland firm offered 750 pounds for any Australian bowler who could dismiss Boycott under 20 in both innings. Boycott faced a barrage of bouncers sometimes five an over.

Boycott has never had it easy ever since he became England's No. 1 batsman.

However, Boycott rang into many problems and he was sacked by the Yorkshire Cricket Committee. However, things were "patched-up" and Boycott finally came back to Yorkshire again.