Boycs: The True Story (Hardcover)

For Geoffrey 'Boycs' Boycott Cricket was his life and keeping his own wicket intact was his primary compulsion. Few professional sportsmen can be said to have been more dedicated to achieving technical excellence in their particular field than Boycott. Leo McKinstry in 'Boycs' - The True Story effectively illuminates Boycott's intense determination to overcome a marked lack of natural ability through sheer hard work seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year. In a very well balanced biography McKinstry also provides us with another view of Boycott, that of the moody, foul-mouthed loner, incredibly rude and deliberately obstinate - particularly at the crease where his leaning towards slow-scoring, 'hogging' the strike and running players out made him immensely unpopular among his team mates.

McKinstry is very fair in his reflections upon the more controversial incidents that occurred during Boycott's conflict-ridden career. He further reinforces the scathing contempt that supporters of Boycott felt towards those among the Yorkshire hierarchy who siezed upon any opportunity to discredit him and eventually to oust him as a disruptive influence in the dressing room. He gives us a good insight into the controversies of Boycott's test-career, including the incident that infuriated him more than any other when after scoring 248no against India the MCC promptly dropped him for slow-scoring. Countless test players have made important contributions in which they describe their experiences of batting with Boycott out in the middle. Some of the hottest coals are spared for references to his Jekyll and Hyde personality off the field. An abundance of incidents are described that further expose Boycott as insecure and rigidly egocentric. Again, McKinstry effectively balances this view with several accounts that serve to provide a counter-image of him as generous, considerate, loyal and, above all, totally without prejudice.

The stable balance of the book ultimately falls into disequilibrium in the final chapter, that which deals with the infamous incident in a hotel room involving Margaret Moore, which resulted in Boycott receiving a three-month suspended sentence and a heavy fine for assault. The author comes down heavily on the side of Boycott, serving up an impressive mixture of testimoies from medical consultants, psychiatrists, lawyers and former acquaintances of Ms Moore that appear to fully vindicate Boycott of any wrong-doing. The evidence accumulated by McKinstry projects an image of the wealthy, honest batchelor falling victim to the forces of opportunism... The chaoitic debacle that supposedly represents the everyday mechanics of French justice appears farcical enough, without the inclusion of an irate Yorkshireman desperately trying to be understood by a non English-speaking judge who knows nothing of 'Creekit'.

The tragic legacy of the whole affair is that Geoffrey Boycott is no longer on our screens. The BBC and Sky TVs loss has been Talk Radio's gain, although for fans of Boycott this will never be enough. Geoff should be out there in front where he belongs - where it seems he has always been, executing the opening shots (if a little slowly from time-to-time). The one thing upon which all McKinstry's contributors appear to agree, being that Boycott's expertise on the game and the accuracy and delivery of his summaries are second to none.

The passages about Boycs as a commentator were superb. Again I have to admit that I am biased because I rate him as one of the best.

I was surprised at the amount of humour within the book, and some of the passages had ne laughing out loud.I'll conclude by saying that it was an interesting read but perhaps limited to those interested in the man himself or cricket in general.