Bob Willis

Bob Willis

England England

Overview

Full Name Robert George Dylan Willis
Age 70y 188d
Died on December 4, 2019
Born Monday May 30, 1949, England
Batting Style Right Handed
Bowling Style Right-arm fast
Playing Role Bowler

Teams represented

Awards

Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year - 1978

Biography

A huge fan of Bob Dylan, the singer, Bob Willis added the name ‘Dylan’ as his middle name, his commentary style probably as sing-a-song as a singer. But that does not take away from this bowler’s amazing will to succeed despite the operations to his knees, and the pain that he played his cricket in; ending with 325 Test wickets at a very good average of just over 25.

Willis began his career in 1971, however, by the time he was 26; he was grossly struggling for fitness. Luckily it was only physical fitness that he was looking for, because, he had abundance of mental toughness, something that helped him come out of this phase and play on a very consistent basis for England. Willis derived his wickets from sheer pace, and on wickets which helped the bowlers a little more than usual, he became doubly dangerous. In what came to be known as the Botham’s Test against Australia, Willis took an 8/43 to stun the living daylights of the Aussie team. He went on to captain the English team 18 times, winning more than he lost. However, his Test career ended when he gave away 163 runs off the 26 overs he bowled against West Indies at Leeds, pulling down a curtain on one of the best pace bowlers from England.

After retiring from the game, he joined the Sky commentary team, as one of the commentators, but his sonorous voice has had its fans and critics alike.

Debut
England vs Australia at Sydney - Saturday January 9, 1971

Batting

Matches 90
Innings 128
Runs 840
100's - 50's 0 - 0
Sixes - Fours 1 - 79
Average 11.50
Strike Rate 32.63
Highest Score (vs India, 10/06/1982) 28

Bowling

Matches 90
Innings 165
Overs 2169.5
Wickets 325
Economy Rate 2.83
Five-Wicket Haul Innings 16
Ten-Wicket Haul Innings 0
Best Figures (vs Australia, 16/07/1981) 8/43

Fielding

Catches 39
Stumpings 0
Run Outs 0

Career Wickets

57
45
30
15
Wickets
Years