In the world of cricket, there are very few batsmen who have managed to score a century or more in first-class matches. The name of England’s great batsman Sir Geoffrey Boycott is also included. Today (October 21) Boycott turns 84. Boycott scored hundreds of goals and runs during his cricketing career. Bowlers often sweat while bowling out the boycott. However, he has also been criticized for playing too slowly.
Bowlers had a hard time breaking through Jeffrey Boycott’s defence. How valuable he was to England can be gauged from the fact that England suffered defeat in just 20 of the 108 Tests he played. As an opener, his first responsibility against England and Yorkshire was to save the team from defeat by scoring runs.
Geoffrey Boycott made his Test debut in June 1964 and had an outstanding record for England. Boycott scored 8114 runs in 108 Test matches at an average of 47.72. During this period, 22 centuries and 42 half-centuries came from his bat. Boycott also played 36 ODIs for England, in which he scored 1082 runs at an average of 36.06. In One-Day Internationals, nine half-centuries are separated from a century by a boycott.
151 centuries scored in first-class cricket
The right-handed opening batsman’s first-class record is quite surprising. Boycott scored 48,426 points in 609 Division I games, averaging 56.83 points. During this period, 151 centuries and 238 half-centuries came with his bat. Boycott’s best score in first-class cricket was 261 runs. Boycott also played in 313 Class A games, scoring 10,095 points with an average of 39.12. Boycott scored 8 centuries and 74 half-centuries in A-grade cricket.
Boycotting is fighting cancer
Geoffrey Boycott also captained England for four Test matches in 1978 due to Mike Brearley’s injury. After retiring from cricket, Boycott found success as a commentator. In 2019, Boycott was knighted. In this case, “Mr.” was added to his name. Boycott is currently battling throat cancer. In July this year, he shared the sad news with fans. If we look at it, Boycott also suffered from throat cancer in 2022, although he had already beaten the disease at that time.
Most centuries in first-class cricket
Jack Hobbs (England) – 834 games, 61,760 runs, 199 centuries and 273 fifties
Henry Hendren (England) – 833 games, 57,611 runs, 170 centuries and 272 fifties
Wally Hammond (England) – 634 games, 50,551 runs, 167 centuries and 185 fifties
Phil Midd (England) – 814 games, 55,061 runs, 153 centuries and 258 fifties
Jeff Boycott (England) – 609 games, 48,426 runs, 151 centuries and 238 fifties
Herbert Sutcliffe (England) – 754 games, 50,670 runs, 151 centuries and 230 fifties.
