Keeping the memory of the great Bob Willis alive in our strange times

HUWZAT ON WEDNESDAY: David Willis launched a new book about his brother with some stellar names on the Corinthian Terrace of The Kia Oval. The views from up there are truly incredible, looking out over Greenwich and Crystal Palace

Sometimes I have to admit I am lucky to have my job.

This was one of those occasions: the launch of a new book called Bob Willis: A Cricketer and A Gentleman.

Invited by Bob’s brother David and his widow Lauren, it was a lovely occasion, although one of course tinged by sadness at the great man’s death late last year.

David staged a Q&A with some stellar names on the Corinthian Terrace in the OCS Stand of The Kia Oval. The views from up there are truly incredible, looking out over Greenwich and Crystal Palace.

On the famous turf below, Surrey were hosting Middlesex in the first match in this summer’s fittingly named Bob Willis Trophy. There was no crowd alas, thanks to the government’s sudden about-turn. For many in attendance it could prove to be their only taste of watching county cricket in the flesh this summer.

Mike Atherton made a surprising confession. He only attended one day of Test cricket before he played for England himself. That was Willis’ finest match, Headingley 1981, so he picked a good one, although he didn’t choose the best day. Rather than the fourth on which Ian Botham blasted his extraordinary 149, or the last when a rampaging Willis took 8 for 43, it was the first: John Dyson’s solid 102 from 234 balls leaving Australia on a promising 203 for 3.

Atherton actually spent the last day peering through the window of a television shop in Manchester city centre along with other clued-up cricket fans who suddenly realised that something amazing was happening across the Pennines. He got to know Willis through their work with Sky, and said he could not have asked for a better colleague.

READ MORE FROM HUW TURBERVILL

Headingley 1984 was not such a happy match for Willis; in fact it was his last. Michael Holding recalled smashing 59 from 55 balls with five sixes in an eight-wicket win for West Indies. Willis took some heavy punishment, recording figures of 18-1-123-2 in that first innings. Holding chose this moment to speak to Willis for the first time ever. “I said to Bob it was just my day – I also had four winners and a Yankee!” Willis, who also had a slight interest in horse racing, laughed and they became friends, becoming very close on England’s tour to South Africa in 1999/2000; they played bridge with Sir Ian Botham, and Willis introduced him to Sauvignon Blanc, which remains his vino of choice.

JK Lever told us that Willis kept him sane in the winter of 1976/77, from November to February in India and Sri Lanka, and then to Australia for the centenary Test at the MCG in mid-March.

Tony Grieg led England to a famous 3-1 win in India, although they lost that thriller to the Aussies by 45 runs. “The campaign seemed to go on and on and on forever, and I was very homesick,” Lever recalled. “Bob was the mastermind. He had us close knit in a tight circle just talking rubbish to each other every night and it seemed to work!”

Paul Allott became extremely close to Willis working together on Sky. He recalls England’s tour to 1981/82, when they were team-mates. Both sitting out one match, they sat in deckchairs, and Allott listened as Willis spelt out his vision for county cricket, played in blocks of four-day (it was three in the County Championship back then) and one-day matches.

This summer’s one-off Bob Willis Trophy, with three groups of six counties and a final, is close to the vision he had for the domestic game, spelt out by the Cricket Reform Group, along with his brother, Atherton and Michael Parkinson, in 2003.

Whether a similar competition appears again in future seasons appears to be in the lap of the gods, though.

Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman, edited by David Willis is published by Hodder & Stoughton £20). Proceeds from the book will go to Prostate Cancer UK