Geoff Boycott has been one of the most controversial characters that English cricket has produced since the Second World War.
As a player he was known for his intense concentration, solid defence, and reluctance to part with his wicket at any cost. Never a slogger or heavy hitter, instead he relied on steady accumulation of runs, and a willingness to bat all day if necessary.
His single-mindedness meant that he was seldom the most popular with his teammates or even the England selectors. On one memorable occasion in 1967, he was dropped for slow scoring after a particularly time consuming double century against India.
After retirement, he moved into the commentary box, and gained a new legion of fans, not only in Britain, but also in India and other Asian countries, with opinions that always merited consideration.
He was knighted in 2019 for services to cricket. But even then that was marred, in his eyes at least, when an interview with the BBC on the announcement of his investiture, brought up his conviction of domestic violence by a French court, something he has always vehemently denied.
Nevertheless, 1977 marked a special year for one of England’s greatest ever opening batters.
Having made himself unavailable for the Test match team between 1974 and 1977, Boycott returned for the Ashes series of the latter. Although he ran out Derek Randall in front of his home crowd at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, he went on to score a century, and became one of only a handful of Englishman to have batted on all five days of a Test match.
By the time that the next Test rolled-around at Headingley, Boycott’s home ground, he was on 99 First-class centuries. In typical fashion, and before a full house in Leeds, he went on to make 191 in the first innings, reaching the milestone of 100 hundreds by driving Greg Chappell for four down the ground.
He ended that series with 442 runs at an average of 147.33, a reminder of his talents and value to an English side that had seemed to lack character in recent years prior to that.