New Zealand celebrate Test that saw Geoff Boycott ‘at his very worst’
On Wednesday England’s Test players, or at least those not in the limited-overs squad, fly to Auckland for the two-match series against New Zealand, the second of which will be watched by a group of nostalgic Kiwis toasting the 40th anniversary of one of the most celebrated sporting victories in their nation’s history.
It was a match memorable for many reasons – dubious umpiring, a poor pitch, remarkable batting and New Zealand’s first Test win against England – but also curious because its most striking feature was its torturous, painful dullness, most of the blame for which was placed at the feet of the England captain, Geoffrey Boycott – feet that in this match did little running and a great deal of standing exactly where they were.
“Boycott is the top, bottom and sides of the batting which is a situation which seems to bring out the best and the worst in him,” Henry Blofeld wrote in the Guardian, in a prescient preview to the first Test. “He thrives on this kind of responsibility and in any case needs no urging to occupy the crease. But with so little support he at times allows himself to become too introspective and bogged down for his own or his side’s good. [Sometimes] in his determination to stay in he forgets completely that one of his objects is to score runs.”
Boycott was standing in as the captain because Mike Brearley was at home nursing a broken arm, while New Zealand also had an unfamiliar skipper: Glenn Turner missed the series to concentrate on the organisation of his benefit season with Worcestershire; his most obvious replacement, Bevan Congdon, was overlooked because his employers – a tobacco company based on New Zealand’s South Island – were not willing to let him tour; so they ended up picking Mark Burgess, who was not even the captain of Auckland. Even Burgess did not think it was a very good idea. In a howling wind at Wellington’s Basin Reserve Boycott won the toss and put the Kiwis in.
It was a match memorable for many reasons – dubious umpiring, a poor pitch, remarkable batting and New Zealand’s first Test win against England – but also curious because its most striking feature was its torturous, painful dullness, most of the blame for which was placed at the feet of the England captain, Geoffrey Boycott – feet that in this match did little running and a great deal of standing exactly where they were.
“Boycott is the top, bottom and sides of the batting which is a situation which seems to bring out the best and the worst in him,” Henry Blofeld wrote in the Guardian, in a prescient preview to the first Test. “He thrives on this kind of responsibility and in any case needs no urging to occupy the crease. But with so little support he at times allows himself to become too introspective and bogged down for his own or his side’s good. [Sometimes] in his determination to stay in he forgets completely that one of his objects is to score runs.”
Boycott was standing in as the captain because Mike Brearley was at home nursing a broken arm, while New Zealand also had an unfamiliar skipper: Glenn Turner missed the series to concentrate on the organisation of his benefit season with Worcestershire; his most obvious replacement, Bevan Congdon, was overlooked because his employers – a tobacco company based on New Zealand’s South Island – were not willing to let him tour; so they ended up picking Mark Burgess, who was not even the captain of Auckland. Even Burgess did not think it was a very good idea. In a howling wind at Wellington’s Basin Reserve Boycott won the toss and put the Kiwis in.
Source:
theguardian
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