Cricket
Carrying on
Alan Gibson
Nobody has been quite certain how to celebrate Geoffrey Boycott's latest statistical triumphs. Partly this is because all the proper things were said after his hun- dredth century, made in memorable cir- cumstances against the Australians at Leeds in 1977. Since then, there has not really been very much to add: he has simply ear- ned on. Partly it is, I think, that even the cncketing public is getting a little tired of being bombarded with records. When wia.cartney scored 345 against Nottingham- shire in 1921, a Nottinghamshire miner rePortedly said that it was 'bloody Monotonous'. As Macartney had scored his runs in under four hours, this was an ungenerous criticism, but I often feel the same when confronted with the latest relentless budgets of all records great and small from that assiduous body of men, the statisticians. You may recall the old rhyme about the Uppingham Rover, who bowled seven wides in one over, which had never 7 en done by an Archdeacon's son on a Fri- ay in August at Dover. Rut partly, also, the cheering for Boycott uas been muted because an ambivalent character produces an ambivalent response. i saw a short interview on television, in which he spoke thoughtfully and modestly; glad to have made all those runs, but disclaiming equality with such as Sobers, and Bradman, and Vivian Richards. No c,()nquering hero could have worn his 'Tnours more gracefully. But we know, though this is not the time to dwell upon
that there are other aspects of
Ycott, as we were reminded by his early ueDarture from India. „,i_When paying tributes to great batsmen "40 have excelled in defence it is customary t° add something like, 'he had all the strokes when he chose to use them'. This has been duly said of Boycott, though I tiNeed that to illustrate the point several correspondents resorted to his 146 against milted-over in 1965, which was played in a ruted-over match, the final of the Gillette pup. There are not so many other innings torn which to choose. Among his English plitemporaries, he has often been corn- l'ared with Barrington, almost as prolific a scorer, and also a man who sometimes seemed more interested in the state of his °wlli score than the state of the game. I do not Put this down to selfishness, in either case; more to intense concentration, a too strict interpretation of the adage attributed t° .‘Y• G. Grace that in cricket there is no c
risis, but only the next ball.
Bradman said that concentration was the greater Part of batting, but at least after his rsl few seasons never allowed his concen- tirallon on the next ball to affect his con- seltrklsness of the course of the match. But Bradman was apart, sui generis. He did not become introspective, as Boycott and Bar- rington and even such a natural stroke- player as Cowdrey were inclined to do. Boycott's best stroke is a square drive on the off side off the back foot, which whistles through, but inevitably over the years fewer bowlers give him the chance to play it. For the others, especially on state occasions, you have to keep a sharp look- out. He reminds me a little of Old Judd in Oklahoma, who as I remember loved everything, the birds, the flowers, the trees, all human nature — 'only he never let on, so nobody ever knowed it'.
Of cricketers before his own time, those with whom Boycott has been most fre- quently compared have been Sutcliffe and Hutton, the only other two Yorkshiremen to have scored a hundred centuries. It was pleasing that they were all at Leeds, and photographed together, when Boycott scored his hundredth. Hutton was un- doubtedly the best and most beautiful batsman of the three. In 1939, the year after he had made himself secure with his record 364 against Australia, he played, according to every account, with a dash and control such as had never been seen since the young Hobbs. He was weighed down after the war by an injury which shortened his left arm, and later by the heavy responsibilities of becoming England's first professional cap- tain of modern times. But he always retain- ed a classical beauty: you could not watch him bat for five minutes, whether he was scoring or not, without being conscious of it.
Sutcliffe, who would have made an ad- mirable captain of England had profes- sionalism not been a bar in his time, had the best record of all three in matches against Australia, then the supreme test. He scored most of his runs with a stroke similar to Boycott's favourite, on the off between point and cover; and also with the hook, which he must have played as well as any batsman who has lived. He liked fast bowl- ing. But he was not an all-round stroke player, and was sometimes in trouble against a good leg-spinner. He had the best temperament of the three.
I should place Boycott, so far as it is possible to judge these things, below Hut- ton but slightly above Sutcliffe. Boycott can play the fast bowlers as well as the spin- ners. The idea that he left the England side for three years because he was scared of the fast men is absurd. He left it (not that this is a good reason) because he did not like the way it was run, and particularly because he
was not made captain. His weakness has been his strength. He cared so passionately about cricket that he cared for nothing else. He would never miss an opportunity of a net, never go out to bat except immacul- ately, down to the measured buckles of his pads. This approach, as he has demonstrated, gets a good batsman a lot of runs; but means that the highest honours elude him. I do not speak just of captain- cies. Boycott's name will always be remembered with respect, indeed awe, in the history of cricket. But it will not bring the glint to the eye that is brought by the name of — to take an instance in which no statistical comparison arises — Jessop; or, to take another, whose statistics were useful, Hammond.
His sudden return home roused all the old mistrust among those who dislike him, and anxieties even among his friends. If it should prove to be the end of his Test career it was not the noblest way to leave it. But I doubt if it is the end. I think there are a lot more runs, and arguments, locked up yet in that talented and wayward man.
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