Planet Rugby Forum

70 years old. Died after a short illness.

I'll miss his miserable analysis.

penguin wrote:70 years old. Died after a short illness.

I'll miss his miserable analysis.

I always enjoyed it! He was born a few months ahead of me.

Great bowler. Chucked his guts out.

I'm stumped if I can find a suitable comment.

Ovals will arrive soon.

If he's out on bail.

All joking aside, that's another luminary to cross off the Christmas list.

RIP Bob. Possibly the dryest commentator on earth. And I loved him for it.

Bloody hell, that's a shame. Who'll they get to fill the curmudgeonly role in the post-match analysis now?

Brazil wrote:Bloody hell, that's a shame. Who'll they get to fill the curmudgeonly role in the post-match analysis now?

You have a chance ............

Boo, I really enjoyed watching him.

Diego wrote:Boo, I really enjoyed watching him.

I enjoyed watching him bowl (though I'm only just old enough to remember the tail end of his career). Can't say I enjoyed watching him as a pundit though.

Still shame he has gone.

One of my first memories of live test cricket was watching him being a miserable bastard right in front of us in the outfield at old Trafford in 81. Halcyon days.

RIP

Respect Bob - you bowled your bloody guts out every time you had the ball. A lot of current test cricketers could learn from watching you.

Christ, 70 seems young these days. Loved watching him bowl when I was a young un.

RIP

Remember his '81 Ashes performance the most.

I remember in that series when he was batting and it was 9 wickets down, and England needed a few runs to win. Botham was at the other end and making the calls to run or not. He told Willis that it would be YES or NO. Then he hits the ball for a quick single and shouts GO. Willis dawdled back and fore as he was unsure of the call but just made it. LOL

Great bowler on his day
Shite pundit/analyst

RIP

Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpKKqek8v3U

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpKKqek8v3U

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

Yes.

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

That's the one.

The best of that to me was the 500-1 odds for an England win. Lillee seeing it and sending one of the staff off to place a bet. They lost that game and the fella came in and slapped 1000's on the table. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Graham Dilley died at 52 as well

One of the greats. RIP.

Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

croyals wrote:Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

Wut to the first line?

croyals wrote:Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

I'm sure this is obvious, but, what?

Seneca of the Night wrote:

happyhooker wrote:

croyals wrote:Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

Wut to the first line?

No one ever has just one line.

Wrong

Brazil wrote:

croyals wrote:Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

I'm sure this is obvious, but, what?

I was at a dinner once where he was asked how he bowled with such energy in the '81 Ashes, his one word response - 'cocaine'.

croyals wrote:

Brazil wrote:

croyals wrote:Great man. Suspect putting some Colombian bloke's kids through university may have accounted for him young.

The soundtrack to my thoughts after every England batting collapse, will never be quite the same.

I'm sure this is obvious, but, what?

I was at a dinner once where he was asked how he bowled with such energy in the '81 Ashes, his one word response - 'cocaine'.

Yeah, fairly obvious in retrospect.

FFS, this place.

RIP Bob

Still a teenager when his raw, untutored pace helped win Surrey's first county championship for many years in '69. Almost "Malcolm Devon-like". He scared the bejesus out of tailenders. Matured magnificently but recovered a terrorising hostility in the famous Headingley test. RIP Bob.

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpKKqek8v3U

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

Just as a side thought - you've got to admire the composed and objective commentary from all parties, not least Richie Benaud at the climax.

2019 death pool is getting some zingers in late in the day.


81 Ashes







Though he was pretty average as a captain

Glaston wrote:2019 death pool is getting some zingers in late in the day.


81 Ashes







Though he was pretty average as a captain

He admitted that. When asked he was too knackered from bowling all day to be a good captain

Frodder wrote:

Glaston wrote:2019 death pool is getting some zingers in late in the day.


81 Ashes







Though he was pretty average as a captain

He admitted that. When asked he was too knackered from bowling all day to be a good captain

Fast bowlers captaining is bloody tough unless you have a vice you trust enough so that you can stay at fine leg.

Sad and shocked to lose a true great of the game. Still only 3 English bowlers have taken more test wickets than him - and his 8-43 in the 81 Ashes, was the stuff of legends.

RIP Bob

Well that's a bit shit.

20 years ago it used to baffle me how fixated my mother was on older people dying; I used to joke about how every conversation seemed to contain a "have you heard that X has died?".

Now I get it. It's when you hit the age when a whole raft of people who are part of your mental furniture, and who you subconsciously have pegged as going to be around for a long time, start dying.

(And then there are the ones that I sort of assumed died ages ago but haven't; It seems very odd to me that Dick van Dyke & Julie Andrews are still alive but Bob Willis and Alan Rickman are dead.)

Frodder wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

That's the one.

The best of that to me was the 500-1 odds for an England win. Lillee seeing it and sending one of the staff off to place a bet. They lost that game and the fella came in and slapped 1000's on the table. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Graham Dilley died at 52 as well

The team(s) I watched the most had - Brearley, Botham, Gatting, Willis, Smith, Randall, Willey, Dilley, Tavare, Emburey, Gower, Lamb, Downton ..

Who was the other spinner Emburey and ???

Bollocks.

He was the center piece of my comedy bowling actions routine that was the delight and wonder of the School cricket team.

LandOTurk wrote:

Frodder wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

That's the one.

The best of that to me was the 500-1 odds for an England win. Lillee seeing it and sending one of the staff off to place a bet. They lost that game and the fella came in and slapped 1000's on the table. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Graham Dilley died at 52 as well

The team(s) I watched the most had - Brearley, Botham, Gatting, Willis, Smith, Randall, Willey, Dilley, Tavare, Emburey, Gower, Lamb, Downton ..

Who was the other spinner Emburey and ???

Edmonds?

I remember first seeing Willis in technicolour (grew up on no tv then b and w tv) at Queens Park, Chesterfield. Derbyshire would have been playing Warks and the beer tent was next to the pavilion, so most of the players would engage in a chat on the way past. I was struck by his mop of reddish - brown hair.

As a true fan of Alan Ward and Mike Hendrick I wasn’t particularly well disposed towards Bob and never really came to terms with his bowling action. None of which detracts from his achievements which will grace the history books a long time from now. RIP Bob.

A5D5E5 wrote:

LandOTurk wrote:

Frodder wrote:

Enzedder wrote:Was it this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtPw_Ztlm_Q&t=834s

England forced to follow on and they set Aussie 130 to win - all out for 111 with Bob getting 8 wickets

That's the one.

The best of that to me was the 500-1 odds for an England win. Lillee seeing it and sending one of the staff off to place a bet. They lost that game and the fella came in and slapped 1000's on the table. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Graham Dilley died at 52 as well

The team(s) I watched the most had - Brearley, Botham, Gatting, Willis, Smith, Randall, Willey, Dilley, Tavare, Emburey, Gower, Lamb, Downton ..

Who was the other spinner Emburey and ???

Edmonds?

Correct. When Tavare and Boycott were batting together everyone was praying for a wicket including the England supporters

globus wrote:

penguin wrote:70 years old. Died after a short illness.

I'll miss his miserable analysis.

I always enjoyed it! He was born a few months ahead of me.

Great bowler. Chucked his guts out.

I'm stumped if I can find a suitable comment.

Ovals will arrive soon.

If he's out on bail.

All joking aside, that's another luminary to cross off the Christmas list.

RIP Bob. Possibly the dryest commentator on earth. And I loved him for it.

How many times did you hit the ball out into Wellington Road off his bowling ?

Seems a shame that Botham is trending in response to this! I guess everyone is referring to Botham’s Ashes when talking about Willis.

zzzz wrote:Bollocks.

He was the center piece of my comedy bowling actions routine that was the delight and wonder of the School cricket team.

Mine was Gladstone.

HKCJ wrote:

zzzz wrote:Bollocks.

He was the center piece of my comedy bowling actions routine that was the delight and wonder of the School cricket team.

Mine was Gladstone.

Fúck you imitating people with no necks.

HKCJ wrote:

zzzz wrote:Bollocks.

He was the center piece of my comedy bowling actions routine that was the delight and wonder of the School cricket team.

Mine was Gladstone.

Wind your neck in, mate.

A very fine fast bowler. Grew up watching him giving the Kiwi openers,Edgar and Wright, the hurry up a few times.

Had a real feud with Glenn Turner who nicknamed Willis “The Goose” Not fond of one another. Was a great mate of Kiwi skipper Geoff Howarth at the time they were leading their respective countries.