Sir Geoffrey exits (stage right) …

On 21st October this year, assuming all remains as is – coincidentally the 215th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar – Sir Geoffrey Boycott will celebrate his 80th birthday.

I think it is fair to describe Boycott as a singular man in the twin senses of “exceptional” and “unusual”.

Throughout both his cricketing and commentating/punditry careers he was and is still regarded as a ‘marmite’ figure – either loved or hated – as perhaps best encapsulated in the story, either true or apocryphal [I’ve been googling without success to establish which but perhaps a fellow Ruster can assist by sending a postcard to the usual address] when a group of cricketing legends and/or pundits had gathered to discuss the greatest batsmen of all time.

One of the assembled picked A.N. Other [the name escapes me] as “The batsman I’d pick to bat for my life” but then went on to nominate Boycott as the man he’d pick “to bat for his own”.

I feel the above is an appropriate background introduction to the link I’m providing today for those Rust readers interested in cricket, viz. to an opinion piece by Andy Bull on Sir Geoffrey’s recent ‘dropping’ – or is it ‘retirement'(?) – from the BBC’s radio cricket institution Test Match Special (“TMS”) as appears today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN