Geoff Boycott: A Cricketing Hero
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Review
‘The best book on Boycott so far’ Yorkshire Evening Press
'A terrific biography' Wisden
'Underneath that brusque facade there is a sensitive soul that wants to be loved but does not really know how to get it' Simon Hughes
'A thorough and illuminating study…difficult to put down' The Times
‘A magnificent, intelligent book’ Country Life
Product Description
Few modern British sportsmen have fascinated the public more than Geoff Boycott. In this first comprehensive and balanced account of Boycott’s life – fully updated to include his battle against cancer – award-winning author Leo McKinstry lifts the lid on one of cricket’s great enigmatic characters.
A record-breaking Test cricketer and acerbic commentator, Geoff Boycott has never been far away from controversy during his long career in the game.
Based on meticulous research and interviews with a host of players, Test captains, officials, broadcasters, friends and enemies, this definitive biography cuts through the Boycott myth to expose the truth about this charismatic, single-minded and often exasperating personality.
What was Boycott like as a schoolboy? How did his England cricket colleagues such as Graham Gooch, Dennis Amiss and Brian Close feel about him as a person? Why was he so unpopular in his early career for Yorkshire? And what is the real truth about the relationships that soured his private world?
From his upbringing as a miner’s son in a Yorkshire village, through highlights like his hundredth century at Headingley against Australia, to the low points such as the damaging court case in France, this warts-and-all account of his life makes for captivating reading.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Boycott evokes strong responses in many people on both sides of the fence: amongst professional cricketers past and present, amongst cricket fans and amongst the general public by dint of his wider celebrity. Those views are deeply entrenched and, I suspect, unlikely to be changed. If you retain an open mind however then, simply, there's no better place to look to form your opinion on Boycs than Leo McKinstry's excellent biography.
The subtitle of the book, 'A cricketing hero' kind of hints at McKinstry's personal stance on Boycott (indeed, it would a strange author indeed who took the trouble to write a biography on a cricketer s/he despised....which makes me wonder about Don Mosey...) but the overwhelming impression I got from the biography was just how fair it was: McKinstry is obviously an admirer of, but by no means an apologist for, Boycott.
Most of the prejudices, misconceptions and lazy tabloid thumbnails of Boycott - received wisdom built upon professional jealousies, Chinese whispers and apocryphal gossip - are expertly picked apart with logic and bare facts. Many of the anecdotes exposing Boycott's boorishness, arrogance, selfishness and social ineptitude are upheld, with no attempt to excuse, contextualise or qualify them.
With admirably comprehensive research and careful and even-handed compilation, Boycott is presented as a very complex character, a person of stark contradictions: utterly self-centred but also generous, eye-wateringly rude and insensitive and yet considerate and charming, confident, calculating and determined whilst also emotionally fragile and in need of constant encouragement, intensely private but craving attention.
I have read more passionate and interesting cricketing [auto]biographies but, given the aim of the book, none have been better researched or well balanced.
The subtitle of the book, 'A cricketing hero' kind of hints at McKinstry's personal stance on Boycott (indeed, it would a strange author indeed who took the trouble to write a biography on a cricketer s/he despised....which makes me wonder about Don Mosey...) but the overwhelming impression I got from the biography was just how fair it was: McKinstry is obviously an admirer of, but by no means an apologist for, Boycott.
Most of the prejudices, misconceptions and lazy tabloid thumbnails of Boycott - received wisdom built upon professional jealousies, Chinese whispers and apocryphal gossip - are expertly picked apart with logic and bare facts. Many of the anecdotes exposing Boycott's boorishness, arrogance, selfishness and social ineptitude are upheld, with no attempt to excuse, contextualise or qualify them.
With admirably comprehensive research and careful and even-handed compilation, Boycott is presented as a very complex character, a person of stark contradictions: utterly self-centred but also generous, eye-wateringly rude and insensitive and yet considerate and charming, confident, calculating and determined whilst also emotionally fragile and in need of constant encouragement, intensely private but craving attention.
I have read more passionate and interesting cricketing [auto]biographies but, given the aim of the book, none have been better researched or well balanced.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Leo McKinstry is without doubt the best writer of sporting biographies that I have ever read,and I have read a lot.His books on Sir Alf Ramsey and the Charlton brothers were outstanding but Geoff Boycott is probably his best.Unlike the Don Mosey book about Boycott who clearly had an axe to grind, he takes a fair and honest view of one of the most controversial cricketers of the modern era. The book covers all of the chapters of Geoffreys career, the good and the not so good,and gets many comments from ex cricketers both friend and foe of Boycott which will surprise people who have pre conceived ideas of the great man.If you want to read about a cricketer of which there has never been anyone quite like him then get this book,you will definately enjoy it.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Geoffrey Boycott : A Cricketing Hero is a crickting biography that impressed me the most about books of cricketing legends I have read so far to emerge in the scene. It is beatifully and insightfully written to paint a full picture of Boycott from various angles. The main features include childhood, schooling days, first cricket career, international scene, media role, continued contribution to the game and personal life. He unfortunately is no stranger to controversy as few parts of the book provide evidence of.
Geoffrey Boycott is clearly misunderstood as it an initial impression that I potray of the legend. A few distinguish traits are not favoured well with peers. He is perceived as self centred, obsessed and arrogant individual, but no one can deny he is one of the all time cricketing greats to embrace a name within the sport. He loves and is passionate about cricket, which is unquestionable. Ok he resorts to quarrels with the management and is obsessive with technique, but their is real truth to this. The author sets about trying to understand Boycott's character and looks at contrasting sides the personality.
If you have a passion for cricket, read this biography and you will understand the psychology of Geoffrey Boycott's personality and what traits differniates the legend from leading cricketers. The biography is beautifully narrated and colourfully in sighted. It took me three days to read this biography, as it is so fascinating and interesting.
Geoffrey Boycott is clearly misunderstood as it an initial impression that I potray of the legend. A few distinguish traits are not favoured well with peers. He is perceived as self centred, obsessed and arrogant individual, but no one can deny he is one of the all time cricketing greats to embrace a name within the sport. He loves and is passionate about cricket, which is unquestionable. Ok he resorts to quarrels with the management and is obsessive with technique, but their is real truth to this. The author sets about trying to understand Boycott's character and looks at contrasting sides the personality.
If you have a passion for cricket, read this biography and you will understand the psychology of Geoffrey Boycott's personality and what traits differniates the legend from leading cricketers. The biography is beautifully narrated and colourfully in sighted. It took me three days to read this biography, as it is so fascinating and interesting.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Another excellent book from McKinstry
The other reviews say it all really. This is a balanced boigraphy of Boycott, who was/is a complex character, with a single minded approach to his life's purpose of playing cricket... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. HOLMES
First class
Besides being an excellent and interesting writer, Leo McKistry is judicious, balanced and fair in his treatment of Geoffrey Boycott. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Chandler
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