A startling performance by Boycott

Yorkshire 317 for 4 (Boycott 146, Close 79) beat Surrey 142 (Tindall 57, Illingworth 5-29) by 175 runs
Scorecard

Geoff Boycott lofts a boundary on his way to 146 © The Cricketer

Yorkshire produced their most convincing form of the season when beating Surrey by 175 runs in the final of the Gillette Cup. After being put in to bat by Stewart, Yorkshire made 317 for 4; Surrey, when their turn came, lost three wickets in one of Trueman's early overs, and they were left, at the end, without a trick to their name.

On the Friday evening there seemed little chance of any cricket. Thanks to the new drains at Lord's, which have been a great success in their first season, play began at 12.15 on the Saturday - in front of one of the biggest crowds of the year. Following ten speculative overs, Yorkshire took the initiative in a way which must have surprised them as much as it startled Surrey. On a dead slow pitch, and across a slow outfield, Yorkshire's total was the highest ever made in the competition.

To anyone who deplores the predominance of seam bowling in this country, and the spinners' consequent exile, it was splendid to see Surrey's medium-paced attack being thrashed to all parts of the ground. Instead of the usual submission to length, Yorkshire used the bat for the purposes of attack. As England had, on the last day of the last Test match against South Africa at the Oval, they cast inhibition aside. They played as counties so often do on the third day of a championship match - with the result that all sorts of conventions went by the board.

At Scarborough, soon after the Knock-out Final, I congratulated Brian Close on his side's fine victory. His reply implied that there was nothing to it, and that if Yorkshire had had any luck with the weather they would have doddled the championship as well. Truer to say, I think, that if they had tried always to play the type of cricket they played at Lord's they might now be champions.

As startling as anything about Yorkshire's performance was that it was Boycott who led the way. He and Close added 192 for the second wicket, and long before they were finished Surrey must have known that this was not to be their day. When Close was out, Trueman came in and made some cleaving blows; and in one over Hampshire hit two fours and a glorious six. By driving Surrey before them in such magnificent style Yorkshire made the day-to-day approach seem careworn and unnecessary.

Brian Close pulls Geoff Arnold for four - his innings was finely judged and commanding in its strokeplay© The Cricketer

I only hope that the Boycott who fastens his seat-belt at London Airport next week is the same man who made 146 against Surrey and who won the award as Man of the Match. It is quite likely that Boycott will open England's innings for a decade to come. The prospect of his doing so in his ascetic mood is hard to entertain.

If prepared, as at Lord's, to chance his arm, he would give far greater pleasure to others as well as himself. Boycott used his feet to the quicker bowlers and made many fine straight hits. As usual, too, he forced anything short past cover point with the utmost relish. This, I gather, was how he used to play until he was affected by the awful seriousness of first-class cricket.

Close, as Boycott's partner, played an innings that was finely judged and commanding in its strokeplay. Seen in this form Close is too good a cricketer not to be playing regularly for England.

In the field Surrey lost one chance that might have made it a much closer match. Close, when he was three, snicked Gibson between first and second slip. At half-way Yorkshire were 109 for 1, and over their last 30 overs they scored at something more than a run a ball. Surrey's seamers and their second-line spinners (Harman and Pocock were omitted) were incapable of closing the flood gates. Simply for encouraging such cricket as this the sponsors could feel their money to have been well spent.

In the over in which he clinched the result, Trueman removed Edrich, Smith and Barrington. Close, by the way, was also saying at Scarborough that for the last two or three months of the season Trueman bowled magnificently. Cleaning up the various pockets of resistance after Trueman's burst came Illingworth, whose 5 for 29 in 11.4 overs was the best return of the match.

For Surrey. only Tindall made strokes approaching those of Yorkshire's batsmen. He and Long added 54 together for the eighth wicket, thereby extending the entertainment into the evening and delaying the presentation of the cup.

For the second year running the final had been one-sided; yet for the third year of its existence the competition had provided an excellent diversion from the uniformity and routine of three-day county cricket.