If ever a defence appeared to be impenetrable it was that of Yorkshireman Geoff Boycott when his mind was set on staying in. The features of his forward stroke were the distance he thrust forward behind a big left pad, how low his head was as he searched for signs of movement from the ball, and its balance and compactness. Add a sharp-edged thigh-pad protecting the top of his leg and there wasn't a chink of daylight to be seen. If he hadn't made himself unavailable for 30 Tests in his prime - because, it was thought he felt that he, rather than Mike Denness, should have succeeded Ray Illingworth as captain - he would surely have become the first Englishman to make 10,000 Test runs. He returned triumphantly in 1977, scoring a century in his comeback Test and another - his 100th in first-class cricket - in front of his adoring home crowd at Headingley. As opener he saw his first task as scoring heavily enough to protect his teams against defeat, and in Test cricket and the County Championship - the matches that counted in the first-class averages - he was as sparing with the attacking strokes as, in retirement, he is strident in his opinions on the game. How valuable he was to England is shown by the fact that only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat, mainly when he failed. His most productive strokes, off the back foot through the covers (his speciality) and the on-drive, were majestic in their power and placement. But he was not the man to press home an advantage. A loner, and an insatiable net-player, he was short of friends inside the game; indeed there were many who heartily disliked him because of his self-centredness. But he had charm, and responded warmly to those who offered friendship. After his retirement he became a trenchant commentator and was, somewhat controversially, knighted in Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation honours in September 2019.
John Thicknesse