Dickie Bird : Botham runs Boycott out

[gk230170]

the events contained in the audio clip are incorrect, and i would ask the owner to remove it, has is causing some distress to the people involved

[widlad7]

He must be the most boring commentator ever (willis) and that is saying something with Vaughan and Atherton about. Last time I heard Amiss on the radio (2005) he sounded like Norman Wisdom, so i think he must have been pissed. Still love him though. Richie Richardson is the nicest cricketer I have ever met- a real gentleman.

[widlad7]

PART 2. I have to admit that I am not a fan of Dickie Bird anyway. He thinks he is one of the game's greats and he isn't of course he is a boring old bachelor boy from Yorkshire. I once asked him for an autograph (i was about 15) at Aigburth CC and he told me to clear off. I have also met Willis and he is a boring old ignorant bastard too. I met Botham and he was friendly. Never met Boycott and while he is also a bachelor boy from Yorks. he is never boring-not since he retired anyway!

[widlad7]

Part 1. story is full of factual inaccurecies. Match at Christchurch and not Wellington. NZ never declared to set England a target. Boycott was captain and not Willis. Brian Rose opened with Boycott not Luckhurst (god rest his soul, played his last test in 1974/75 and this was in 1977/78). Botham did not go in at the fall of first wicket anyway-Randall did.

[duracellaltoids]

This is fantastic "i'll play my own game" lol

[moggoon]

Is this taken from the "Wit of Cricket" cd's?

[sirenbrian]

@moggoon Hi moggoon, no, I recorded this off the radio back in Australia about 15 years ago. Bird gave this talk in Melbourne somewhere.

[offrampt]

Surely there is a video of Botham running Boycs out?

[Parrock1]

Just looked up the scorecard, Boycott scored just 26 in 80 balls (two hours) whilst his team mates tried to score quickly - not surprised they wanted him out of there! Botham got 30 in 31 balls

[strooka]

i'm sure botham never played in a test team with brian luckhurst!? good story though.

[Ogatai1]

i don't want to call dickie a liar but Bob Willis was not captain in fact BOYCOTT WAS he was filling in for Mike Brearly on the winter tour of Pakistan and New Zealand i think that was in 1971/72 but i check the year up if i were you

[Parrock1]

Willis was captain - Boycott opened with Brian Rose. Dickie got the circumstances wrong in that England were batting third in the match; they wanted to score quickly and then declare to give themselves a chance of bowling NZ out - which they did. it IS true that Willis asked Botham to run Boycott out.

[Sufghan444]

Without Boycott cricket would have been so boring

[jibsmokestack1]

A brilliant story! Told by a legend!! Dickie is great when talking about Boycott but I remember him saying once that if there was one player that he would want to bat 4 his life, it would be Boycott.

[converse91970]

Funnily enough, even Botham said in his autobiography that you could rely on Boycs to never give his wicket away!

[Angaraman]

Agreed. It's a funny tale, even if it is about 50% made up. That's alright though, the best stories grow with the telling until they take on a life of their own, and Bird tells it so well.

[TRIGMASTER06]

dickie may have got some of the facts mixed up, but its fact that botham ran boycott out and its fact that boycott was more bothered about his average than playing for the team.

[all6inthelast]

Good ol' Boycs protecting't average.

[tmpeet1]

@all6inthelast The 'T isn't said at all. Protectin' average

[border205]

Always funny when someone has a go at Boycott!

[MidnightCarp]

Beautifully told ...

[chinnychoo]

About as funny as Jimmy Carr.

[ots2ots]

very funny

[Razovllay]

dlamiss you think your such a know it all with your stats but look it up and you will find out this actually happened its even in boycotts autobiography

[dlamiss]

razovillay

i dont know it all and nowhere have i made claim to

but

luckhurst didnt play

boycott was captain

and yes botham ran him out-but it didnt happen how bird said it did

thats the point

[Razovllay]

ok it did happen but poor old dickie might be goin senile, the match was played at christchurch, boycott was captain, luckhurst didn't play, new zealand didn't declare they just got out cheaply and england needed quick runs to declare

[chinnychoo]

I was actually view number 73 - but listening to Bird's bland crap put me in a coma for 8 months. Waking up and listening to it again... has... confirmed ... it's ... still... shi... zzzz zzzz zzzz zzzz zzzz

[cretter]

As for rude words, how about "boring cunt"

Will that do?

[dlamiss]

dont talk about yourself like that Critter

not nice

[cretter]

Great comeback!

[cretter]

dlamiss -

You come across as a patronising, pompous cock nozzle. Who gives a fuck, what you think you know about the game??

Another fucking Yorkshirman I expect.

[dlamiss]

at least i havent shown how ignorant i am(unlike yourself) by resorting to bad language

know any more naughty words do you clever boy

[OffSpinner6]

Dickie Bird is a great man!

[dlamiss]

knight 4840

ive forgotten more about cricket than you will ever know

it is a totally false story-luckhurst played his last test in 74. boycott was captain. rose opened the batting with boycott

how many more inaccuracies do you want

so go away little boy and listen to some tall storys from Bird

i will say one thing to you though little boy-if you want a TRUE account of a boycott run out in a test i suggest you acquaint yourself with the first test v new zealand in 1973

[DoktorMochaXYZ]

You can find an accurate recounting of the incident by searching for "What Have You Done, What Have You Done?" and "Boycott". You'll see the link to the story on the CricInfo websitel. Dickie's retelling is emotionally true while being factually askew :) Which is often the art of a good after-dinner speaker. And yes England won the Test Match.

[knight4840]

This happened in christchurch 6 months after bothams debut in 1977. England needed to push on to set a declaration and boycott when runout had scored 26 off 81. England won the match to level the series 1-1.

[giftednumber10]

Spot on. Willis was the acting vice captain. Boycott was captain standing in for the injured Brearley. Sounds like dear old Dickie has flowered up his story to suit his audience.

[knight4840]

Not a crap story

absolutly true

and bird was certainly not a crap umpire.

The story is exaggerated slightly as it sounds like a speech at a sportsmans evening. However, if you read bothams autobiography the story is also in there.

Get your facts right before posting on somthing you know nothing about and making yourself look like a fool...

[dlamiss]

crap story

totally untrue

crap umpire

sums harold bird up

[LostInnocenceuk]

Despite Bothams autobiography saying it's true...

Dick.

[brizfightfan]

I can't find any series in NZ where Boycott and Botham played together other than 1978. No test in that series matches this story.

[ollie705]

read Botham's autobiography. It's basically true, although Dickie exaggerated a bit. Brearly opened the innings with Boycott, and Botham wasn't number three, I think. But willis did give Botham orders, according to his book.

[robbiecornish]

A very funny story, very well told by Dickie Bird. But did Brian Luckhurst really open the innings with Boycott?

[cymruisrael]

The story is totally a product of Dickie Bird's imagination.

[ollie705]

Thought it was Mike Brearly but forgot he was injured. It was a bloke called Rose; Botham was number four, not three.

[englandwc06]

Hopefully Boycott can see the funny side of this and i'd like to know if England had won this test match???

[ollie705]

england won easily, and Botham scored a century.

[englandwc06]

Fantastic Story brilliantly told by the legend Dickie Bird XD

[chinnychoo]

I bet all the women in the audience were bored stiff (except for Dickie's bird).

[MartyMolloy]

Lads, lads, lads. First rule of raconteurs: Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.

Secret of The Sun's success.

[ryko26]

It's very well told, but its not exactly a FUNNY story is it? Why are people laughing?

[raysteer]

If you know the people involved (as players), especialy Boycott, who was known for being a selfish batsman, then it is funny, hearing the great and adored umpire tell the story adds to it too.

[mts1977]

Great story. Dickie is a legend.....

[tmpeet1]

Pretentious Yorkshire prat

[j0andc0]

As a lad i weekly got the comic Tiger and Scorcher on a reg basis, and in the centre pages you would weekly get a famous sports personality, and i remember one week it was Dickie with about half a dozon jumpers over his shoulders, hands clasped behind him, straw panama on and looking purposefully at the camera.

LOL! Marvellous.

[Whoppet]

to be fair, i think that the way Dickie told this it was a clear, 'joke' story, not pretending it was total truth

[xLiTtLeBaByElZx]

My dadddd no's him :D

[dunkiep]

I've seen Dickie's Dick! He used the members' urinal at Southport & Birkdale Cricket club in 1982, and I was next to him. Never seen Peter Willey's Willey though.

[MartyMolloy]

Have you ever held Michael Holding's?

[dunkiep]

No, but my wife once asked over the tannoy as to the whereabouts of the Head Groundsman. "Has anybody seen Mike Hunt?" she asked. Play was held up for 10minutes while stewards restored order in the grandstands.

[doctordunc]

Good story... But not true!

[david10101961]

I assume this is referring to the only occasion Botham ran Boycott out, against NZ in Christchurch in 1978. In which case, several of the 'facts' are incorrect. Boycott, not Willis, was captain; England were not chasing a target; Boycott's opening partner was Somerset's Brian Rose, not Luckhurst (whose last test was in 1974). Much more controversial in that innings was NZ bowler Chatfield's run out of Derek Randall, for backing up too early

[meriden4ever]

Yes, England needed quick runs to make a declaration and try to sqaure the series that began with a disastorous loss in the first test to New Zealand. Bob Willis was the vice captain and took responsibility for the tactic of running out the captain (Brearley had been injured in the preceeding tour to Pakistan and replaced by Boycott)

[DBRacingGod]

What Boycott actually said was (in a disbelieving tone):

"What have you done?"

And Both replied:

"Run you out, you cunt."

[meriden4ever]

sounds about right !

[mcs1hr]

This man has been an embarrassment from the moment he retired.

And he gave far too many LBWs.

[wbc5380]

god bless dickie, but telling a story is all about delivery, and he falls short...

[turnleftsmashright88]

i've read botham autobiography "dont tell kath"

and he said that boycott was mumbling about his average when he was dismissed.

[cous101]

You boys obviously don't understand Northern humour and especially the soft spot people have for this fine man. You're all philistines!!!!!

[dlamiss]

i understand northern humour perfectly thank you Cous 101-but you are right i have no idea why anyone has a softspot for H.D.Bird

[weetabixharry]

I'm from south Devon and I think this is brilliant. I think as long as you know who Geoff Boycott is, this has to be funny!

Great upload - thanks very much!

[steverenney]

seeing as i am from northwest england i feel i do have an understanding of northern humour. thanks very much. i just don't like him sorry.

[swoodger]

someone should tell dickie that he just aint funny

[BoonyBeer]

Dickie has not got it quite right Boycott was actually the captain in this match and Willis the vice captain. It just shows what a selfish bastard Boycott was

[JackOffstain]

Haha, brilliant!

[steverenney]

i agree with dlamiss dickie bird is like fellow umpires david shepherd and billy bowden who think the fans want to see them and their antics rather than the actual players. hopping around on when the score is on a nelson or just general over the top signals give me a break.

[ChessChat]

Agree Dicky bird just loved to take the teams off, remember how he ruined the centenary test by keeping the teams off the field. over a lttle bit of water way off the pitch

[danielhewson]

It took about 20 mins till Botham got the opportunity to call a dodgy single that ran Boycs out

[dlamiss]

he just tells crap stories

[smileyguy21]

dickie is legend! as well as being distant relation of mine :-)

[dlamiss]

just checked-it was the test but Boycott was captain

but the story was still shit !!!!

[dlamiss]

he is definately wrong on one point possibly two more-Boycott was capatin on that tour not Willis (Brearley departed injured)

and secondly and i will stand corrected on this but Yes Botham did run Boycott out but i think it was in a warm up match not a test !!

[dlamiss]

not according 2the Autobiography of Amiss-toffeman-& at the risk of name dropping i met him on a cricket holiday in 1986 &asked him about the incident he confirmed his version of events not Boycotts.my one regret about Boycott was wondering just how he would have coped on the aussie tour of 74-5 when virtually all the england batsmen except Greig struggled-his record against the quicks following his return to test cricket in 77 says he would probably have been ok but who knows !!

[dlamiss]

a very unfunny story by a man who when he was test umpire had to be part of the action all of the time-we go to watch the cricket not the umpire Mr Bird

as for being a legend-he is a legend in his own lunchtime-no one elses

ask a few yorkshire men just how popular good old dickie is in his native county !!!

[dlamiss]

toffeman

why should the greatest man who has ever lived sacrific his wicket for Boycott especially as he scored 138 not out in that very innings

and to correct you Boycott called amiss through and Sir Dennis turned his back and grounded his bat

so it was actually boycotts fault anyway

[toffeman1970]

Boycott's fault?my understanding is that they agreed on two runs(an easy two as well!) and Amiss changed his mind at the last minute.However,I'm not chipping at Amiss:my point is that mistakes can happen and not every run out was purely down to Boycs.I never stated that Amiss should have sacrificed himself,and thought he was an excellent batsman...except against Australia.

[dlamiss]

its crap-Dennis amiss also ran Boycott out in a test match against new zealand in 1973 which was a much better example of Boycott being run out

[toffeman1970]

yeah,that was a shocker by Amiss:to say Boycs was annoyed is an understatement...shatters the myth that Boycott did all the naff calling.Having said that,Boycott and Amiss were a really good opening pair;they put on a few runs in 73-74.

[widlad7]

@toffeman1970 You are oviously an Everton fan-my brother would love you for that-but why 1970? Everton won the league in the eighties twice, you're too modest.

[widlad7]

@dlamiss still going on about Amiss? He was a good player and a lovely guy but he wasn't great and history has all but forgotten him-move on!

[dlamiss]

@widlad7

didnt know was still going on about him

i certainly havent in this video thread-

and one other thing- ive met Willis on more than one occasion and IN MY OPINION he is an interesting guy

so IN YOUR OPINION he is an ignorant bastard

THATS NOT A MATTER OF FACT

you need to remember that sir

[MissHawaHawai]

Whateva you say,this is really funny.

[cymruisrael]

He tells a lovely story, but that's all it is - a story. It never happened...

[booboosausage]

Agree with the above comment. Actually saw Dickie Bird live tell this story and thought the same at the time. Luckhurst and Botham playing together? Doubt it. Botham made his test debut in 1977, Luckhurst must have played his last test in 1974.

[toffeman1970]

What a crap attempt at humour by Dicky Bird:get's the venue wrong,nz never declared,luckhurst wasn't playing for england and willis wasn't captain:apart from that,dicky has done well...