Geoff Boycott

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.

Reviews

‘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

About the author

Leo McKinstry writes regularly for the Daily Mail, the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator magazine on a wide range of subjects. Born in Belfast in 1962, he is a graduate of Cambridge University. He has authored several books, including the critically acclaimed story of the Charlton brothers, Jack and Bobby, which won the WHSmith Sports Book of the Year Award in 2003.