Geoffrey Boycott on Cricket

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Geoff Boycott

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Pages: 256 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0091853761

Pub: Ebury Press

Pub date: 1999-06

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 460641

Editorial Review:

Love or loathe Geoffrey Boycott, the man at least never fails to make an impression. His new book, Geoffrey Boycott on Cricket, chronicles his side of the scrapes resulting from his uncompromising manner. Fred Trueman? "He saved his energies for anti-Boycott outbursts. He must have been jealous of my popularity." Ray Illingworth--"As Yorkshire manager his interest was purely in operating as a dictator." Brian Close--"He made lots of wrong assumptions about me. There was an underlying threat of violence." He refers to THAT woman Margaret Moore early on in the book, but only in the contest of criticising Sir Len Hutton's son for airing his views on the French court case in a cricket editorial. He fell out with Henry Blofeld--it's a wonder they ever got along--for refusing to give an affidavit in Boycott's defence after saying he would do. Ian Botham, the International Cricket Council, even the mighty Sun newspaper: none is too great to be spared Boycott's wrath. The one inconsistency was his opposition to the mercenary Packer rebels in 1977, set against his own willingness to tour South Africa for "purely financial reasons" five years later. But you only had to listen to Boycott the pundit and commentator to know he speaks sense when it comes to cricket and his love of the game shines through. "I would exchange the rest of my life for five more years of playing for Yorkshire and England." If only the current crop shared his hunger.

Reader Reviews:

Comprehensive and intelligent essay about the game (1/1 people found this helpful)

It may come as a surprise to those who only know him from TV, but Boycott writes very well indeed. Unlike most former players turned authors, he doesn't need a ghost author because his written English is of a really high standard, very readable and clear but intelligent ansd thoughtful but still retaining a flavour of the author. Also, once you get into Boycott's character you'll realise that 'hiding behind' a ghost writer is not what Geoffrey is about - he'd want you to hear what he has to say from his own pen. The book is basically a series of essays on his own controversial public persona and the state of the game - as a result it is quite academic and dry to read, not least because it's basically negative in tone: Geoffrey is highlighting the faults with the management of the game domestically and internationally.

The usual anti-Boycott brigade will have already dismissed this book after that opening paragraph as just another forum for the self justification and narrow minded views of cricket's greatest bighead. But Geoffrey does an excellent and even handed job of deconstructing every prejudice and inaccurate caricature of him. In the end those who like to write Geoffrey off based on lazy, tabloidy, apocryphal stories about him simply can't refute the logical and utterly honest defence he puts forward. Popular notions that he was selfish, afraid of fast bowling, greedy and conniving are all very comprehensively disproved with clinical argument and factual evidence. Boycott would make a great barrister. If you don't want to take Boycott's own word for it, then I suggest you read the autobiographies of the previous four England captains: Gooch, Atherton, Stewart and Hussain...without exception Boycott is the single man they all write about in their respective books as being a major figure in their development, citing his superb one-to-one coaching skills, knowledge and generocity with his time.

Boycott has no side to him, no agenda. His thoughts on the role of TV and radio commentators is superbly illustrated with his own experiences - good and bad. His pronouncements on the shambles that was English cricket organisation, on the future of the county game and everything is dissected with great detail and some very intelligent and thoughtful solutions are suggested. Geoffrey's memory for detail is absolutely staggering, and he presents his arguments with superb evidence and completeness. He has a great talent for getting the reader to the very nub of each issue and weighing all of the facts and their implications simultaneously.

For those who assume him to be the stereotypical ignorant, dour, 'in my day' anachronsism there is another surprise. Boycott must be one of the most progressive, open minded and imaginitive people in the game today. His interests go beyond cricket and he is not afraid to take a lead from other sports: his introduction of the 'telestrator' (the white pen to illustrate field placings etc. on the screen) was a direct result of his friendship with American Football's doyen John Madden. He sees much commendable in baseball in terms of structure and organisation, but he also includes in his solutions to cricket's woes, attention to such detail as commercial possibilities of merchandising.

The whole book is thought provoking and impressively presented - Boycott encourages the media image of him with his catchphrases of 'my mother could hit that', 'roobish' and 'stick of rhubarb' etc. but behind the abrasive exterior is a very intelligent man who genuinely wants the best for cricket, even at the expense of his own popularity and public image.

Geoffrey Boycott on Cricket

Geoff Boycott

Editorial Review:

Reader Reviews:

Comprehensive and intelligent essay about the game (1/1 people found this helpful)

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