Sir Geoffrey Boycott puts huge cricket memorabilia collection up for sale at auction

The indomitable opening batsman is parting with his vast haul at a six-figure Christie's online sale which runs from Tuesday (October 27) to November 16 and is described by the auction house as "one of the last great collections of cricketing memorabilia left in private hands".

No reason has been given for the sale of 130 lots which range from a boyhood scorebook from his debut for Ackworth Cricket Club to the bat he used to score his hundredth 100 in a Test match against Australia in front of his home supporters at Headingley in 1977.

But the legendary cricketer who scored 8,114 runs in 108 Tests and 32,570 in 414 matches for his home county in a 24-year career from 1962 to 1986 was 80 on Wednesday (October 21), underwent a quadruple bypass operation in 2018 and has retired after 14 years as an iconic and outspoken voice on the BBC's Test Match Special.

Highlights of the Christie's sale include that hundredth 100 bat (estimated to fetch £30,000-£50,000); the shirt West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding wore when he dismissed Boycott for a duck with the last ball of one of the fastest, fiercest overs in Test history, at Bridgetown in March, 1981 (£8,000-£12,000;) and a stump from the famous 1981 Ashes Test at Headingley when England recovered from a seemingly impossible position to beat Australia thanks to Ian Botham and Bob Willis (£4,000-£6,000).

Also on offer is a West Indies cap given to him by Viv Richards, one of the greatest batsmen of all time (£5,000-£8,000) and - provisionally estimated at £4,000-£6,000 each - Australian captain Greg Chappell's "Baggy Green", the Gillette Cup Final bat from 1965 when Yorkshire beat Lancashire and Boycott scored a Man of the Match 146, and his bat from the 1981 Test against Australia when he became England's leading run scorer.

The bat he used against India in 1981 when beating Garry Sobers' Test record of 8,032 runs is listed at £3,000-£5,000 and his double-century bat against India at Headingly in 1967 (after which he was dropped for slow scoring even though England won) should fetch £2,000-£3,000.

Apart from an astonishing number of carefully annotated bats, stumps and caps, the vast collection for sale includes an array of sweaters, blazers, ties, photographs, cartoons, medals, cups, salvers and awards.

Running simultaneously is a Christie's Twenty20 charity sale initiative featuring cricket memorabilia donated by some of the great names in the sport's history to raise money for various charities and helping to fill the void left by the postponement of the T20 World Cup.

Lots include the ball Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan's bowled to take his record-breaking 503rd One Day International wicket in 2009 (£15,000-£25,000), Mushfiqur Rahim's double century bat for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe early this year (£3,000-£5,000); Shahid Afridi's final international shirt for Pakistan (£3,000-£5,000); Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene's two World Cup Final shirts (£8,000-£12,000) and Sir Geoffrey's own Yorkshire cap (£700-£1,000 in aid of Yorkshire Air Ambulance).

The Boycott online sale also includes:

* Cap of solid silver marking 100 Test appearances (£4,000-£6,000).

* Trademark wide-brimmed hat, signed on the band (£400-£600)

* Old black tin box in which he kept his medals (£400-£600).

* His copy of an 1894 Yorkshire County Cricket book

* Yorkshire Schools cap (£500-£800)

* Georgian salver from Yorkshire marking 100 first-class hundreds (£3,000-£5,000)

* His old golf shoes...even they may fetch £100-£200

* And that boyhood Ackworth club scorebook recording that he scored 9 not out batting at number 8 on debut? That small piece of cricketing history is expected to realise £300-£500.

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