Geoffrey Boycott has hit out at the BBC following his omission from Test Match Special’s statement list for 2020.
Boycott, 79, was once the notable absentee on a list of names for a summer of coverage that will feature the first Test cricket to be broadcast on BBC TV for more than 20 years.
And while the BBC implied in a remark to the Guardian that Boycott’s presence all over this summer’s Test series against West Indies and Pakistan was once a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak, his response to a Twitter user on the subject implies that it can be a more permanent arrangement.
Replying to a Guardian story suggesting that Boycott’s time at the BBC was once up, the user wrote: “White, male, straight, tory and knows approximately cricket. Surprised he lasted this long at the BBC.”
Boycott retweeted the remark, adding: “Absolutely correct”, before therefore deleting it.
“Because of the current situation, Geoffrey isn’t a part of the statement team for the [West Indies] series,” a BBC spokesperson said. “Alternatively, we are monitoring the situation closely and we are hoping to look forward to him making an appearance on TMS this summer.”
Isa Guha, the former England women’s World Cup winner, has been named as the BBC’s lead presenter of a day-to-day highlights show all over every of the Tests and one-day internationals, alongside the likes of Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, Carlos Brathwaite and Phil Tufnell.
Boycott’s organization with the BBC dates back to the 1980s. He has been a steady on TMS since 2005, after a stint at Channel 4 all over their six years of coverage of Test cricket from 1999 onwards.
Final year he received a knighthood in Theresa May’s resignation honours, a decision that caused controversy following his conviction in a vinaigrette court in 1998 for assaulting his then partner, Margaret Moore.
He later told the BBC’s Today programme that he “couldn’t give a toss” approximately the outcry against his knighthood.