68
DIALOGUE Issue #5 2020
BOB WILLIS OG 1968 AND FORMER ENGLAND CRICKET CAPTAIN One of the giants of English cricket, Bob Willis’ career spanned decades, from his days as a cricketer for England to his time as a pundit on Sky TV. The legendary fast bowler took 325 wickets in 90 Tests from 1971 to 1984, claiming an outstanding career-best 8-43 to help England to a famous win over Australia at Headingley in the 1981 Ashes. He captained England in 18 Tests and 29 one-day internationals before his retirement in 1984.
B
ob subsequently worked as a summariser on BBC TV before joining Sky Sports as a commentator in 1991. He continued to work for Sky and was part of their coverage of the 2019 Ashes series. Having appeared for both Surrey Schools and the County Colts, Willis represented Surrey for the first two years of his professional career before spending 12 years at Warwickshire, finishing with 899 wickets from 308 first-class matches at an average of 24.99. Cricketing career Willis made his international debut aged 21 in the 1971 Ashes after being called up to replace the injured Alan Ward. He played the final four Tests of the sevenmatch series as England won 2-0. Willis went on to tour Australia in 1974 but had to return home injured. He returned to the England team in 1976 for the last two Tests against the all-conquering West Indians. That year in India, he took 20 wickets, including 5-27 at Kolkata and 6-53 at Bangalore. In the 1977 Jubilee Test at Lord’s he floored the Australians with 7-78: at Trent Bridge he took 5-88; and at the Oval, 5-102. His heroic 8-43 led England to beat Australia at Headingley in the 1981 Ashes and with England following on in their second innings, he helped Ian Botham to add 37 runs for the last wicket. Touring India and Sri Lanka the following winter, he was appointed England captain. Facing India
RGS 1st XI cricket 1969 (Bob Willis front row third from right)
and Pakistan, he took 25 wickets, winning both series. A fearsome strike bowler, Willis intimidated even the world’s finest batsmen and in his final Test match in June 1984 he achieved yet another historic career landmark: 52 “not outs”, a record in Test cricket. At England’s 1,000th Test in August 2018, he was named in the country’s greatest Test XI by the ECB. The Bob Willis Trophy tournament was held for
the first time in 2020, a one-off, first class cricket tournament in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, which Essex won against Somerset. Bob was not awarded Cricket Colours when at the School, which came up when he met Dr Jon Cox, RGS Headmaster, a cricket fan and member of the MCC, a few years ago. Dr Cox promptly sent him an RGS Cricket Colours tie, which Bob duly wore when he was next on Sky Sports.
