Author: Bobji

When Kevin Pietersen was sacked, there were many in England who were mystified. Kevin was the top scorer in that series though given the rotten performances of the rest, it wasn’t hard to achieve. Why was he singled out when Andy Flower, Gooch and Cook were equally culpable in the abject surrender? Was it based on one series or did it culminate in a series of events? As it turns out, this wasn’t based on one series. It was based on cricketing reasons and issues of discipline. It has been happening regularly with Pietersen. He was someone exceptionally gifted but with a huge ego problem. Boycott feels that England is to be blamed for allowing Kevin to play too many shots at inopportune moments, without worrying about consequences.

On other occasions, Kevin can blame only himself because of a lot of uncaring shots. He was also caught texting his South African teammates which resulted in his first sacking. Cook persuaded ECB to give Kevin one more. He lost his patience a year later and was instrumental in sacking KP.

When KP became the captain

Back in 2008, KP was made the captain after Michael Vaughan lost the series to South Africa and resigned. He started with a hundred and won the final Test but trouble was brewing. He had to work with the coach Peter Moores and the assistant coach Andy Flower. KP’s first tour as captain was to India which was held during the Mumbai terrorist attack. The English players returned to Dubai to decide their next course of action. It was Pietersen who persuaded the English players to return to India which created a lot of goodwill for him and the England team.

However, on the field, England didn’t fare well. They lost the Test series having set a target of 386 in the first Test at Chennai. After returning to England, he was asked for his opinion as to how to improve the English side. He suggested removing the coach Peter Moores and his assistant Andy Flower. It was a huge call to make. Pietersen, probably did not realise the repercussions that his suggestion would have in the near future. His suggestion was leaked to the press and everything broke down. Here was someone having just become the captain, wanting to eliminate both the coach and the assistant coach. Pietersen was away in South Africa with his family when the ECB chief, Hugh Morris called to tell him that both him and Moores were sacked. The captaincy was passed onto Andrew Strauss under whom and Andy Flower England won the Ashes.

KP knew that his chance of captaining England was gone. 

KP’s exposure to huge income

A month later, he was picked for RCB in the IPL for 1.55 Million USD. Now, KP knew that he could earn vast sums of money in the IPL. However, his English commitments restricted his appearance in the IPL. He can only play for 3 weeks in a year which restricted his earnings. IPL needs a player to be available for the entire tournament to be paid the entire amount. KP wanted to play the entire IPL and come back to England when it suited him. His bosses did not like it. KP wanted to play only Test and T20 which ECB didn’t approve of either. He chose to retire from white-ball cricket altogether. It was probably a knee-jerk reaction.

The first banishment

In August of that year, he played a brilliant innings of 149 against South Africa but was caught sending text messages to the South Africans in which he was critical of Strauss and Flower for their management. ECB were furious and many wanted him out of the team forever. It was a stupid thing to do and there could not be any excuse for such poor behaviour. You do not ridicule your captain and the coach to the opposition. If England had sacked him over the texting issue, no one would have wondered and he was rightly sacked.

After weeks of discussion, he was selected in the squad but Strauss and Flower did not like it. They were opposed to Pietersen all along. Strauss was disgusted and he resigned. Cook became the captain. He wanted KP in the team because he knew that KP could win games on his own and Cook could cement his spot as captain. He was integrated and England was in India where he played a brilliant innings of 186. England went onto win the series. A picture was tweeted by Matt Prior in the dressing room with the sign “reintegration complete”. A year later, everything went downhill.

The Australia tour

KP can only blame himself for being sacked. Some of the shots he played on that Australian tour were horrendous. It was like he didn’t care about how the side was placed. The commentator Jonathan Agnew commented that we, ie., England, would like him to assess the situation and play accordingly. With the Ashes on the line, at the WACA, he hit the off-spinner Lyon for six over long-on. Clarke positioned a fielder on the boundary. In trying to repeat the shot, KP was caught by that same fielder. KP by then had played 100 Tests. One would expect the senior player to play more responsibly. Once the tour was over, a meeting was held to decide the future of Pietersen. Cook this time, did not support him and let the axe fall.

If it has been Vaughan captaining KP throughout his career, he would have been firm and would have guided him properly. Strauss, Giles and Cook are mild-mannered. The people running English cricket were fed up with KP’s mannerisms and they had enough. It was all over. One wonders whether in a few decades down the line, whether Pietersen will look back at his career and feel an opportunity missed. Pietersen’s career will go down as proof that you can be an individual in a team but you can’t just be an individual because it is a team game.

2013 Ashes. England were doing well against Australia for a short period. Infact, they dominated the exchange between the teams in 3 consecutive series. This led to complacency. England toured Australia in 2013 and they expected everything to fall in place and that they will win the Ashes easily. What transpired was different. Australia wanted to win the series more than England did. They cannot digest the fact that if they had lost, it would be the first time England would have won 4 consecutive series. Except for Clarke, England did not rate anyone else. However, they ignored certain warning signs before the series. This is Boycott about the 2013 Ashes.

They weren’t scoring huge first innings runs which very much dictates the course of the game. England drew a series in New Zealand that they must have lost. Though they won 3-0 against Australia, the games were much more closer than the scoreline reveals. Lehmann became the Australian coach during the summer series. He picked Steve Smith who repaid the faith with a hundred at The Oval and a couple more in the return series. Mitchell Johnson too was picked for the ODI series from obscurity and he proved to be the chief destroyer of England in the return series in Australia.

Mistakes made by Flower

Andy Flower overlooked the threat Johnson could pose. In that ODI series, Johnson bowled fast, accurate and at the throat of the English batsmen. He was unplayable. However, neither Gooch nor Flower took any note of him. Perhaps, the previous tour during which Johnson was poor, influenced them. In the interim, Johnson worked with Dennis Lillee and Terry Alderman who perfected his bowling action. If Flower had watched the ODIs, he would have seen the big problem brewing in the form of Johnson. In 1990, Mickey Stewart, the England coach called on the services of Boycott to prepare the English batsmen for the West Indian fast bowlers.

He asked the bowlers to bowl full tilt from a reduced pitch length and also showed the batsmen how to duck, weave and defend. The idea was to prepare the players mentally to face fast and aggressive short-ball bowling. If you survive the barrage of the fast bowlers, he will eventually pitch one up that can be stroked for a boundary.

Lack of strategy

Boycott feels that England helped Johnson by not having a cohesive strategy. In Australia, Boycott saw Gooch, the batting coach, giving them a lot of throw-downs but that is not the work of a coach. A coach must study the technique of the batsmen, tidy up their defense and talk to them about where and how to play certain bowlers. Point to the low-risk scoring areas that offer greater rewards. Added to a lack of braveness against Johnson, England gave away a lot of wickets to Lyon. They played him from inside the crease and were virtually shot-less. Joe Root, who was a youngster at that time, fared poorly. He did not come on the front foot as often as it was necessary and was eventually dropped for the last game.

Australia planned well for Alastair Cook who was strong on the on-side. They bowled on the off and outside the off stump so that he remained scoreless. This played on Cook’s mind. It forced him to play shots that he wasn’t comfortable with. The result was there for all to see.

Mental health

Off the field, England lost the services of Trott who suffered from mental health. Flower knew about this problem and was managing it but apparently poorly. Trott retired after the first test. The stress and the pressure were too much for him to bear. England’s treatment of Steve Finn was abysmal. He was a genuine quick who could turn the game around in a matter of overs. His action, his run up and anything else was changed which ultimately led to his drop in confidence. It became so bad that he was sent home from the ODI squad because Giles termed him “not selectable”. England picked 3 tall fast bowlers in the hope of terrorising the Aussie batsmen but Finn became no selectable, Tremlett lost a lot of pace before the series and Rankin was not Test match material.

Swann during the tour was just a shadow of the excellent bowler he was. Swann had an elbow operation in 2013 and ever since, he wasn’t the same bowler. He himself admitted that after retiring. Boycott felt that once Swann retired, he must have been asked to remain with the squad till the end of the series. However, Flower discarded his service once he retired. Panesar was about to make his debut but Swann wasn’t around to give him advise. Flower told Swann that if he is not going to play, he cannot stay with the squad.

Far too many support staff

The England squad of 2013, had 16 support staff. What was the need? Everything about the players was controlled. Flower was here, there and everywhere. He completely controlled the England cricketers. Far too many support staff will make the players stop thinking for themselves if they are offered advise on everything. An 82-page document that showed what the players can eat and what they cannot, made the English team a laughing stock. This was sent in advance to Australia for preparation. This was prepared by an England Chief Nutritionist, Chris Rosimus. Has he even adorned the whites? This sort of micro-management will only make the players feel miserable. Everything showed in the ultimate result. England were routed 0-5.

Chapters 1 & 2

Boycott about cancer struggle

Boycott about cancer treatment

Boycott and the Packer saga

Boycott about his friend Clough

Boycott about sledging

Boycott about 2013 Ashes

Boycott writes about the curse of sledging but more specifically about the England tour of Australia in 2013. Sledging has risen to enormous proportions. It is just a question of time before something untoward will happen on the field. England have been at the receiving end whenever they tour Australia. He feels that the example was set by Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann. Guys at the top must set the standard. During the 1st Test at The Gabba, some years ago, Warner and Bailey behaved appallingly. Abuses were thrown around freely. Clarke walked upto James Anderson when he came into bat and uttered “break his f… arm”. It showed how the behaviour standards have fallen in the game. Even the new players are not immune to this because as soon as they join the team, they start with these abuses.

Anderson is not a saint but the on-field abuse has increased during the last decade. Clarke was a good captain and a nice bloke when he started and when his team were losing but he completely changed when his team started to win. He and every player must understand that it is important to win with dignity. Warner is another who is not shy of getting into a fight. The blame must be laid directly at the door of Darren Lehmann, the then coach. He incited the Australian public to abuse Broad.

The reason behind such appalling behaviour during the winter tour

It all harked back to the 2013 series at Nottingham when Broad did not walk after nicking one to the slip. Australia lost that Ashes series and in one of the interviews, Lehmann called Broad a cheat and said that the Australian crowd must make his life miserable during the return series the same year so that he goes home crying. The Australian press took the cue and called on the fans to abuse Broad. The public and the players were relentless in abusing Broad. To Broad’s credit, he didn’t bother about all that and emerged as the highest wicket-taker for England in that series. Both Clarke and Lehmann were fined a small amount but they were never condemned.

Fines do not solve the problem

The players must be hit where it hurts. Fines will not hurt, rather proper bans will hurt. ICC must call on every nation and tell them that this must stop. This is unacceptable. The modern cricketer seems to think that sledging has always been part of the game and is not worried about the repercussions. The great West Indian bowlers, Marshall, Garner, Holding & Roberts never abused anyone on the field. They played tough but fair. They let the ball do all the damage. At the most, they will only stare at the batsman. They never resorted to personal abuse.

Clarke and Lehmann do not have any moral authority to complain that some batsmen did not walk. Australians are the first to never walk whenever the umpire doesn’t give them out. It has happened multiple times. Remember the Andrew Symonds catch at Sydney against India? Australians are taught during the school years never to walk. Part of the problem is that the umpires aren’t strong enough. They are in awe of the superstars.

The Big Three

Boycott starts with a scathing attack on the so-called Big Three. Hey says they do not really care about supporting Test cricket. The big 3 will earn a major share of the revenue from the media rights leaving the rest with a pittance. The BCCI is calling the shots in ICC. In 2011 Lord Woolf was commissioned by ICC to review its governance. He advocated for the appointment of independent directors to the ICC board to clampdown on decisions being taken with vested interests but it was swiftly rejected. Until 1993, England and Australia had 2 votes each. It was disgraceful and other countries felt the need for a change. Then came the one nation one vote. This tipped the balance in BCCI’s favour because it controls 80% of revenue which has led to greed for more power.

Every nation now wants India to tour. They will be able to settle all their bills because of one tour by India. England and Australia cannot escape blame either because they were also a party to the power-grabbing exercise. In 2015, the powerful men of the 3 boards occupied top positions in ICC. Srinivasan became the ICC chairman. Wally Edwards chairman of the new executive committee and Giles Clarke chairman of the finance and commerce committee. The money that broadcasting companies pour into the game is enormous. The big 3 are the main beneficiary because they are the crowd-pullers. As a result, these teams play more often among themselves.

Cricket must evolve

Fewer people are going to the grounds to watch the game. The authorities must wake up to this alarming situation. The Test match crowd is becoming non-existent. The broadcasters demand more and more games, preferrably with India playing because of the enormous funds that they pump in. As a result, there are lots of games nowadays. If you miss the bus, you do not care as long as another one comes trundling along in 10 minutes. Cricket has become like that. TV channels love cricket because it fills in close to 10 hours of their time. No other sport does that. Boycott want teams penalised 10 runs for every over short. The overrate is abysmal and because of that, teams take a lot of time to finish the overs every single day.

Needless interruptions due to water, celebrating a wicket etc. Test cricket has evolved. It began as a 3-day affair, then moved to 4 and now it is 5 days. In the 1970s and 80s there used to be a rest day in the middle of the Test. That is now abolished. There was also the 8-ball overs in Australia. Cricket has evolved and it must now evolve again. Boycott advocated for day/night Test cricket all those years ago which is now in vogue. Boycott further writes about the changes that English counties will have to go through and the hardships they are put through. Namely, the floodlights that every County must install on their grounds, the improved drainage system that they must adopt etc.

Chapters 1 & 2

Boycott about cancer struggle

Boycott about cancer treatment

Boycott and the Packer saga

Boycott about his friend Clough

Boycott about sledging

Boycott about 2013 Ashes

Yes, New Zealand served a huge warning to the rest of the nations in this World Cup. They announced to the world that they were also in the reckoning to become the ultimate champion. Something triggers the New Zealanders when it comes to ICC tournaments. They punch above their weight quite often in almost every ICC tournament ever since the turn of the millennium. Whenever, an ICC trophy is about to commence, there is always the talk about the 4 semi-finalists and it will usually be the 3 suspects, India, Australia, England and the 4^th one to be decided among the rest. New Zealand have repeatedly shown that they belong to this level and they must not be taken lightly.

In a sense, New Zealand is the antithesis of India. Despite a small population and an even smaller cricketing population, they have managed to win a couple of ICC tournaments. One in 2000 and one in 2020 when they won the WTC title. India on the otherhand, despite a large population and a substantial part of that population playing the game, is yet to win a single ICC title in 10 years. Ofcourse, this is for another day. Today, it is about New Zealand.

Where were the bowlers for New Zealand?

New Zealand entered the game with just 3 bowlers and Ish Sodhi wasn’t one of them. They only had 4 fit bowlers with Tim Southee nursing an injury and Lockie Ferguson with another that may result in him missing the tournament. Only 3 bowlers to start the biggest tournament in ODI cricket. Yet, these bowlers managed to contain a batting lineup that scores in excess of 325 for fun. England has redefined how ODI cricket must be played. They are the benchmark over the last 8 years but they never found the fluency that is usually attached to them.

The absence of Ben Stokes was a blow but when it comes to flamboyant batting, it is not just Stokes. It is the entire side. Against, this New Zealand side, they call came a cropper. If not for some lower-order hitting, England may not even have reached 275. New Zealand’s bowling was disciplined without any fanfare and it will be boosted by the availability of Tim Southee from the next game.

Rachin Ravindra and Conway

What can be said? It was brutal batting. Against a side that prides itself on playing Bazball cricket, these two showed the mirror to the English side. They never stopped playing their shots. Even when only a few runs were required, these two continued with their aggressive method. They have given a gigantic NRR and if they can win the maximum number of games, it will be almost impossible to defeat them on NRR. In the end, they won with 82 balls remaining. It is rare for a side to win with so many balls to spare.

Rachin was confidence personified throughout his innings. Never once did he flinch from the challenge. Mark Wood’s 149KMPH brute was dispatched over the square leg with nonchalant ease. Chris Woakes was read pretty well by Rachin and was duly deposited. This young man is a serious talent. Perhaps, New Zealand is making a mistake by not developing him as a batsman who can bowl if needed rather than the other way around.

Rachin will remember his innings because his Indian parents flew all the way over from New Zealand.

“A hundred’s always special,” he said. “But in terms of being able to perform in India, it is pretty cool. It was nice to have my parents there watching: they flew over from New Zealand

Devon Conway is an enigma. Not so long ago, when he made his Test debut, he batted for so long that the earth had already come around multiple times. Now, he has turned himself into a white-ball beast. He gets off quite quickly before anyone realises it.

With the expected inclusion of Williamson, New Zealand will only become much stronger.

What about England?

For a start, I think they got their batting order wrong. I just cannot see Moeen Ali walking in at number 5. He is not a middle-order batsman. At best, he can bat lower down the order if at all he needs to play. This team has far too many allrounders for their liking. I just do not see Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali all in the same team. None of them is a genuine allrounder. Woakes’s record outside of England is abysmal. I would have preferred Recce Topley instead of Curran or Woakes. Allrounders are alright but they must contribute in one area strongly. None of the above 3 are capable of doing that. They may have their day but not so consistently.

Brooks is an unknown quantity in this format. Liam Livingstone batted way down the order. If Stokes is back, one of these players will have to make way. I think that will be Brooks. On the otherhand, Brooks can be made to open. He prefers to smash the ball and there is no better spot than the top.

England do not have to panic. They will have to get their combination correct. It must have been done before the tournament and not during. Nevertheless, it is not too late. It is a long tournament with plenty of opportunities.

Wrapping up New Zealand served a huge warning

Other sides may well take note of New Zealand. They are here and will not be satisfied until they can win the tournament that they lost narrowly to England in 2019.

Other World Cup blog

Boycott talks about his close friend Brian Clough who stood like a rock for him. He offered advise and pointed out mistakes. Brian wasn’t a cricketer. He played football. Brian Clough was introduced to Boycott by Brian Close. He used to visit the games that was played at Scarborough and Clough watched the game not for fun but to understand. Boycott and Brian met at the latter’s house regularly. Brian wanted to talk cricket and Boycott wanted to talk football.

Brian became the manager for the club County where he introduced several measures like breaks or holidays for the players and staff. Some of his decisions were revolutionary. They would go off to Spain because the time that the players spent with the coach was 8 months which was a longtime. There is and will always be a need to keep the players and the support staff fresh because constant travelling and exposure to the same set of people is bound to take its toll. Sometimes, the club will block some of Brian’s ambitious holiday plans. He always had the intention of watching Mohammed Ali fight which was fulfilled in 1973.

Managing skills

Boycott praises Brian’s man management skills. When Boycott was going through the 3-year break from playing for England, he used to ask whether Alec Bedser, the chairman of selectors had been in touch. Boycott told him that he calls once in a blue moon. Brian replied that if he were the chairman, he would sit with Boycott and convince him to play for England because at that point, he was England’s best batsman. Brian’s gift was to understand people. Boycott goes onto describe his people skills with an example. Nottingham Forest played Liverpool in 1978. Forest lost to Liverpool in the first leg.

During the 2nd leg, the Forest players were terrified of Liverpool. On the way to the game, Brian asked his players to drink beer and smoke if they were smokers so that they would not think about the game. He took great personal risk knowing that he would be crucified if Forest lost. Forest drew the game and went through to the next round and eventually won the European Cup. It could not have happened if not for Brian’s stroke of genius on that bus trip to the game.

Brian gave players absolute belief in their abilities. He was that good with people. He has this knack of saying what to say and when to say. In a game, Brian played Alan Hinton who was afraid of tackling. He reasoned that he picked him not because he could tackle but because he wanted him to pass the ball onto the centre forward’s head and that Hinton was brilliant in that. Brian clearly saw what a player’s strength was.

Leeds United

Later on, Brian joined Leeds United as the coach. There were reporters beside his office wanting to interview him and Boycott went there too. Brian refused to meet the press and took Boycott with him which goes to show the kind of friendship those two had.

Brian missed the services of Peter Taylor at Leeds. It was always Peter who stayed with the players and he was able to spot trouble quickly. Brian wasn’t liked at Leeds United because of the earlier comments he made about the players. It caused resentment and anger. He did not have a great time at Leeds United and was sacked after just 44 days on the job.

Regret

One sore note in Brian’s CV was that he never managed to become the manager of the biggest club, Manchester United. This was despite the fact that the club went through 4 managers during their troublesome period. Brian said that if he had become the manager of MU, he would have shown the players all the trophies that they won and would have shut the cabinet down. He would have told them that we would have to make new memories and not rest on past laurels. He placed a lot of importance on discipline. No swearing or arguing with the referee. Brian summed up football in a peculiar way. “You get the ball, play it on the floor, not in the sky, you play in their half more than in your own, and you put the ball in their net more than they put it in yours”.

Great coaches know how to breakdown the sport into its component parts. Brian was also quick to own upto mistakes. He once bought Gary Megson for 176,000 GBP but Gary did not get to play a single game and was eventually sold to Newcastle. Brian took the blame on himself for the wrong purchase. Brian’s former players were all praise for him which means he must have done something right.

Towards later stages, Brian was addicted to alcohol and lost all drive in life. While Boycott was away in Singapore for a commentary stint, Nigel, told him that his dad passed away. The family waited for Boycott to deliver the eulogy during the ceremony.

Chapters 1 & 2

Boycott about cancer struggle

Boycott about cancer treatment

Boycott and the Packer saga

Boycott about his friend Clough

Boycott about sledging

Boycott about 2013 Ashes

The Kerry Packer Saga. Tony Greig who himself was diagnosed with cancer, died of a heart attack in December 2012. His memorial service was held at Trafalgar Square which was attended by former players including Boycott. Richie Benaud, Dennis Amiss, Michael Holding and David Gower delivered eulogies. Whenever someone talks about Greig, World Series Cricket and his ties with Kerry Packer will invariably come into the picture. The Packer era gripped the game between 1976 & 1978. Boycott left Greig’s eulogy service angry because he felt that history was rewritten by people who were not involved in the events of that time. The eulogies remarked Greig as a messiah who saved cricketers from poverty and the clutches of controlling administrators. Everyone who spoke, paid glowing tributes to Greig for improving the lives of the players.

Michael Atherthon wrote in his weekly column that every cricketer who had made even a half-decent living from the game, owes Greig a great debt of gratitude. There were a lot of people who were of the opinion that Greig and Packer were the saviours of the game but Boycott doesn’t see it that way.

The Greig-Boycott-Packer period

It was an unpleasant two-year period when you were either for or against the Packer cricket. The entire thing was controlled by Kerry Packer and Tony Greig with an overbearing attitude. As things got heated, Boycott was rubbished by Tony in the press and he said that Boycott left Packer cricket because he wasn’t offered captaincy. Boycott is adamant that this was not true. It all started when Tony Greig got an offer to play cricket in Australia in 1975. He wasn’t offered any money but the club promised to find a job for him. Tony found several jobs. Television work, personal appearances and writing articles. It was very difficult for sportspeople in England to get any product endorsement during that period. This exposure changed Greig’s outlook on life. He saw the possibilities.

Boycott appeared for the same club that Greig played for and he also found jobs in sports writing. Kerry Packer met Boycott at his home and told him that he had plans to arrange for cricket games between an Australian XI and a World XI. He asked Boycott whether he would like to play for World XI. Boycott answered in the affirmative. At that time, Boycott never knew what went behind and what happened earlier when Packer was refused the television cricket rights by ACB. Packer was contemplating going up against the establishment. Boycott was of the opinion that these will be exhibition games. There were no private promoter of the game during the period and to be fair to Boycott, he would not have guessed the intention of Packer.

Packer asked Boycott about the best players in the world and also about captains.

The Contract

During the Centenary Test, Austin Robertson who worked for Packer, went to see Boycott with a mega contract that gave Packer control over Boycott’s and other player’s life for 3 years. Boycott refused to sign because he already had an existing contract with Yorkshire. Later, Greig and Packer accused Boycott of not signing the contract because he wasn’t made the captain. This was wrong according to Boycott because he was only the 3rd player Packer talked to and there was no way anyone would know who would be leading. He didn’t turn the contract down because the money wasn’t enough. Money was never discussed. Tony Greig met Packer and was thrilled at the prospect and immediately agreed.

Tony was 30 at that time and was leading England but like any other cricketer, was worried about how to go on after retiring. Hence, he accepted the opportunity. He was promised 25K GBP, quite an amount at that time. The money available to cricketers during that period was a pittance. Bat sponsorship was not allowed in the front. Newspaper columns were severely censored. Advertising was out of the picture. Also, if someone didn’t play a Test, he wasn’t paid for that game. TCCB only relented when it was clear that more players would defect to World Series Cricket if the money was not raised.

The revelation

In May 1977, the Packer story broke. Greig went on making statements every day justifying his actions. However, the former English cricketers were aghast at Tony’s acceptance of Packer cricket. Tony was removed from England’s captaincy. Tony told the press that when Boycott went to his home – Boycott went there to thank Tony’s wife who took care of him in Australia while he was playing for a club – alongwith some other cricketers, that he went there to wait for Tony and asked him to call Packer and was ready to join. This was a lie. ICC on 26 July 1977 announced that anyone part of Packer’s cricket would be ineligible for Test cricket. News of Boycott rejecting Packer cricket was out and he was considered as public enemy number one by Packer and Greig.

TCCB & ACB decided to ban anyone part of Packer cricket. Packer approached the court and Boycott was called as a witness on behalf of TCCB. After examining him and several others, Justice Slade found against the ICC and TCCB ruling that their action amounted to illegal restraint of trade. However, The Professional Cricket Association came out against Packer and voted that his recruits must be removed from the County Championship. Boycott sided with them.

The Pakistan Tour

England visited Pakistan later where the Pakistan selectors, included 4 players from Packer cricket including Imran Khan. England’s players were all against anyone associated with Packer. Boycott became the captain but was immediately faced with a situation. England did not want to play against players who had represented Packer. ECB and the PCB were in serious discussion. Pakistan were adamant that they would induct those 4 cricketers. Doug Insole, the chairman of TCCB, sought Boycott’s support in persuading the players to play. Boycott told him that to captain England was his dream and he could easily take the field but did not want to because of the solidarity within the team. Insole sought Boycott to show leadership which incensed him. He made every player talk to Insole and each and everyone of them was unwilling to take the field.

Boycott convinced Insole to send a telex to PCB that England will not take the field if Australian returnees are on the side and that the consequences are entirely Pakistan’s. Ultimately, Pakistan relented and those 4 players were not chosen. Tony Greig in Australia was furious. He blamed Boycott and his cronies for the turn of events. Meanwhile, Packer cricket didn’t attract the expected crowd. Greig was left to think whether he made the right choice. Tony was subsequently dropped as captain and from the Sussex team. All of this disillusioned him and he left England and relocated to Australia.

End analysis

Did World Series Cricket and Kerry Packer increase the wages of the players? Apparently not. It took a whole 20 years, after the advent of Television, for wages to increase substantially. As for Greig, he had everything. Captain of England, successful series in India where his captaincy was appreciated and good off-field income. He chose to throw away all of that for Packer. Boycott and Tony Greig did not talk to each other for 10 years. It was broken when TWI got the satellite TV rights and sold them to Sky. Boycott joined the commentary team of Greig, Holding and Lewis. They immediately connected and the Packer thing was of the past. Both of them commentated in various games across a whole host of countries. The camaraderie was liked by the listeners.

Chapters 1 & 2

Boycott about cancer struggle

Boycott about cancer treatment

Boycott and the Packer saga

Boycott about his friend Clough

Boycott about sledging

Boycott about 2013 Ashes