I watched Yorkshire too as a kid but later reported on them too, seeing them play at Headingley but also Abbeydale Park as well. I met many of the great players, not least of which was Geoffrey Boycott. I had some good meetings with him and some that were not so good, but they were certainly memorable. I was never bored by how he played the game, I always willed him to make centuries no matter how long they may take. I remember seeing him against Derbyshire at Queen’s Park.
He’d ground out about 28 at lunch and after tea had moved on to 99 and I’m ashamed to say, as a Derbyshire fan, I really wanted him to get his hundred. Chris Wilkins was a medium pace all-rounder for Derbyshire. Because he was very tall he could get a lot of bounce out of the wicket. He bowled what was pretty much a long hop outside the off-stump to Boycott who was on 99. Boycott hit it hard off the back foot towards the covers. But because Wilkins would get that extra bounce the ball was further off the ground and a player called Edwin Smith, an off-spinner, took the most blinding catch you’ve ever seen, diving away to his right. It was a brilliant catch. Boycott stood there absolutely dumb founded and eventually trudged off. Despite my team taking a wicket, with a blinding catch, I actually felt really disappointed! I wanted Boycott to get the hundred.
Alan Biggs @AlanBiggs1
Memory added on April 21, 2014
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