He was Geoff ‘Borecott’ at the batting crease!

If ever there was a poll among cricket fans for the top 10 boring batsmen in cricket history, Geoff Boycott would rank very highly in that. The Yorkshireman was not only dull, drab but also very selfish. It was always self before team. He was once deliberately run-out by Ian Botham and much earlier in his career was dropped after scoring a Test double hundred because it went against the interests of the team.

There are plenty of anecdotes about the dislike Boycott generated in cricketing circles. One such is narrated by Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, a Hampshire cricketer who played First-Class cricket between 1951-1965, in The Wit of Cricket.

Mackenzie was hosting the legendary Denis Compton to a lunch at Lord’s during a Test and was subsequently took a stroll around the ground when they noticed Boycott in a discussion with David Gower.  Their topic of discussion was the number of hundreds each had scored in First-Class cricket. At one point Boycott told Gower, “I told you I have made more than you!”

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Not to let go the opportunity, Compton said: “Thank God I have seen only three of those!”