Bob Willis: Generations will forever remember his Headingley heroics
It is an image that will be forever remembered as one of the greatest moments in the history of English cricket. There is Bob Willis, arms aloft but still with that almost trance-like look on his face, sprinting off on his own after taking his eighth wicket of the innings to complete the original miracle of Headingley in 1981.
It was the undoubted highlight in the career of one of the greatest of all English fast bowlers, who has died in hospital near his London home after illness aged 70.
Willis, with that distinctive long hair and much impersonated piston- like action, knees pumping throughout his extra- long run-up, defied repeated injury to take 325 wickets in his 90 Tests and captained his country towards the end of a distinguished career.
But it was that day in Leeds when, running downhill from the Kirkstall Lane End and defying his penchant for no balls, he took eight for 43 to demolish Australia for 111, just 18 short of their modest target, that has gone down in cricketing legend.
It was a performance to inspire a generation of young cricket fans - including this correspondent who, aged 15, bunked off school to watch the closing stages of that tumultuous Test across the road on TV at a friend's house.
We later confessed what we had done to our geography teacher who was furious - not that we had missed his lesson but that we had failed to tell him what we were doing so he could come and watch the gripping denouement with us.
Years later I was privileged to be handed one of the highlights of my journalistic career when, together with Sportsmail colleague Mike Dickson, we took the by- then retired Willis and
Dennis Lillee back to Headingley to revisit the scene of that unforgettable Test from both an English and Australian perspective. How we hung on every word the pair said.
That fabled 1981 series will always be known as Botham's Ashes but it was Ian's great friend and sparring partner Willis who bowled England to a sensational against the odds victory that everyone insisted could never be repeated - until Ben Stokes pulled off ' The Miracle of Headingley, the Sequel' only last summer.
It says everything about Willis the man that he was delighted Stokes had somehow upstaged him by producing an even greater individual performance to again upset the Australians at that same fabled Headingley ground 38 years on.
For the reputation Willis later garnered as an outspoken pundit who was never afraid to come off that long run up of his on Sky and let rip at today's generation was at odds with his warm and funny, albeit a little reserved with those he did not know well, personality.
Make no mistake, Willis was passionate and forward thinking about cricket throughout his life and cared deeply about the England team and the health of the domestic game, criticising administrators as articulately and fearlessly as any player.
And how satisfying it was to his many friends and admirers that Willis in the later stages of his broadcasting career should carve out such a niche for himself on Sky's Verdict and Debate programmes after each day's play alongside Charles Colvile.
His opening gambit of ' Well, Charles,' before taking a deep breath and then informing and entertaining us with a lengthy monologue about how and why England had gone wrong became unmissable TV and was copied almost as much as his bowling action.
But however successful Willis became after retiring from playing, both as a technically brilliant broadcaster and a Chardonnay-loving wine producer who would tell his companions ' life is too short to drink Italian wine' and 'Sauvignon is rat's p***', it was as a fast bowling great that he left an indelible mark on the game.
It was when he was still making his way with Surrey ( he grew up near Cobham after being born in Sunderland) that Willis was called up by Ray Illingworth to England's 1970- 71 Ashes tour as a replacement for the injured Alan Ward.
When he returned to the Oval to help Surrey win the 1971 championship he found his path to a regular place blocked by Robin Jackman and, unhappy with the offer of a new contract, controversially left the next summer for Warwickshire.
It was at Edgbaston that Willis found his county home and had a spell as Warwickshire captain but he was ahead of his time ahead of central contracts in wanting to save his best overs for England rather than 'waste' them on the county treadmill.
Willis's prioritising of England became even more acute when he had surgery on both his knees in 1975, operations he nonchalantly described as 'similar to a 50,000 mile service,' but what were to provide him with constant pain for the rest of his career.
With that in mind it was another miracle that he was able to go on to have the outstanding career he enjoyed, bowling with real pace and hostility to become one of only five England bowlers to take 300 Test wickets alongside Fred Trueman, his great mate Beefy, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who has gone past them all. When he finished his career in 1984 only the legendary Aussie Lillee had more Test wickets than Willis.
Yet, whether it was because of that fragile body or unfair doubts about his effectiveness, Willis's place in the England side always seemed under threat and he could easily have missed out on his greatest hour at Headingley.
It is often forgotten that Willis, struggling with both his general fitness and a chest infection, was actually dropped for that third Test of a 1981 series that had been going badly wrong but managed to convince chairman of selectors Alec Bedser to restore him to the squad ' on condition he played in a Warwickshire second team game, a 40-over match and bowled 12 overs in the Headingley nets ahead of the Test.' Willis obliged and the rest is history.
For such a bright cricketing man Willis' spell as England captain after being appointed to succeed Keith Fletcher in 1982 was not great as he was found wanting tactically and as a man manager, perhaps because he was absorbed so much in his own game.
Willis' 18 Tests as captain brought seven victories, five defeats and six draws while he won 16 of his 29 one-day internationals at the helm, confirming that he was much better off being led by others, not least when being let off his leash and told to concentrate on what he did extremely well by Mike Brearley in 1981.
It was perhaps ironic that Willis should go on to become such a hard-hitting pundit because he was always slightly suspicious of the media as a player, notably in a tetchy interview with Peter West of the BBC in the immediate aftermath of his Leeds heroics.
Willis admitted in later years he regretted that interview but he really was always a players man, as he showed to England's current crop of fast bowlers when he was invited to have dinner with them two years ago by England management.
England's bowlers went to that dinner with some trepidation knowing Willis had not always been kind to them on air but they were quick to discover the real Bob, the charming and innovative man of cricket who always badly wanted them to win. It is fair to say those bowlers were very pleasantly surprised and converted.
In the end cancer was to become the one adversary Willis could not conquer and he was noticeably absent from his regular chair alongside Colvile for the Debate programmes during England's New Zealand series as he fought in vain to beat it.
Robert George Dylan ( he added the name of his musical hero by deed poll in 1965) Willis is a huge loss. He was, truly, not only a great bowler and great voice of the game but he was undoubtedly one of the great men of cricket.