Bob Willis
Willis on the commentary team at Taunton, 2007
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| Full name | Robert George Dylan Willis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
30 May 1949 Sunderland, County Durham, England |
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| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 448) | 9 January 1971 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 16 July 1984 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 26) | 5 September 1973 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 4 June 1984 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1971 | Surrey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1977 | MCC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972–1984 | Warwickshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972/73 | Northern Transvaal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 7 December 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE (born Robert George Willis on 30 May 1949), known as Bob Willis, is an English former cricketer, who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England. A right-handed and aggressive fast bowler with a notably long run-up, Willis spearheaded several England bowling attacks between 1971 and 1984, across 90 Test matches in which he took 325 wickets at 25.20 runs per wicket, at the time second only to Dennis Lillee. He is currently England's fourth leading wicket taker, behind James Anderson, Ian Botham, and Stuart Broad. Willis took 899 first-class wickets overall, although from 1975 onwards he bowled with constant pain, having had surgery on both knees. He nevertheless continued to find success, taking a Test career best eight wickets for 43 runs in the 1981 Ashes series against Australia, one of the all-time best Test bowling performances. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1978.
In addition to the Test arena, Willis played 64 One Day International matches for his country, taking 80 wickets, and was a prolific List-A (one day) cricketer with 421 wickets overall at 20.18. With the bat, Willis made little impression as a tail-ender with a best Test score of 28 not-out (*); however, he managed two half-centuries at first-class level and for a time held a record number of Test not-outs. Willis captained the England team in 18 Tests and 28 ODI matches between June 1982 and March 1984. Under Willis' captaincy England won seven, lost five and drew six Tests, and won 16 of the ODIs. Botham recalled Willis as "a tremendous trier.. a great team-man and an inspiration", as well as the "only world-class fast bowler in my time as an England player." The editor of Wisden wrote of him in similar terms: "His indomitable service to England is handsomely reflected in his great collection of Test wickets. Although often beset with aches and pains, he never spared himself when bowling for his country."
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