By Richard Watts
January 31 2007

With the 2007 season fast approaching we thought it would be good to look back at Yorkshire's previous triumphs. In the second of a series of articles we reflect on the 1965 season. A year where Yorkshire lifted the Gillette Cup and Geoffrey Boycott gave a batting masterclass in the final. 1965 saw Yorkshire collect their first ever one day trophy, the Gillette Cup Competition that was in its third season. Yorkshire had failed to get past the second round in the previous two seasons.

The first round saw Yorkshire travel to Grace Road to take on Leicestershire. The home side won the toss and decided to bat. Accurate Yorkshire bowling ensured that Leicester never looked like making a competitive total and they were dismissed for 168 in 49.4 overs. Only the left hander Clive Inman offered any resistance to the Yorkshire attack, he made 66. The wickets were shared, Richard Hutton’s 3-50 the pick but there were fine spells from Fred Trueman 2-24 from 9 overs, 2-23 from 11.4 from Tony Nicholson and 1-33 from 10 overs by Geoff Boycott. Yorkshire were never stretched in reaching their target by six wickets in the 54th over. Boycott’s 56 and Padgett’s 31 being the main contributions.

Drawn away to Somerset at Taunton the hosts won the toss and decided to bat on a lively pitch. Fred Trueman’s 6-15 in 10.4 overs destroyed the Somerset batting who had only two double figure scores, Kitching 39 not out and Virgin 11, in a total of 63 all out. Brian Close also put in an impressive spell bowling 10 overs for fifteen runs, taking one wicket. Yorkshire lost Taylor and Padgett early before Boycott’s 23 not out steered them to a seven wicket win. For Somerset Fred Rumsey had the impressive figures of 13-7-12-2. Fred Trueman took the man of the match award.

Edgbaston and a game against Warwickshire was the destination for Yorkshire in the Semi-Final. Brian Close won the toss and decided to bat but Yorkshire were soon in trouble standing at 85 for 6 as Cartwright and Brown caused early problems. A determined 45 from Ray Illingworth and late contributions from Jimmy Binks (21) and Fred Trueman (28) took Yorkshire up to what looked an inadequate 177 all out in the 59th over. Tight Yorkshire bowling particularly from the spin twins Wilson and Illingworth restricted Warwickshire who also contributed to their own down fall with three run outs. The hosts for whom Alan Smith top scored with 39 were bowled out 20 runs short for 157. Wilson 13-6-15-2 and Illingworth 13-1-29-0. The man of the match was Ray Illingworth.

Surrey were waiting for Yorkshire in the Lords Final. Heavy rain the day before meant that the match did not get underway until 12.15. Mickey Stewart won the toss and sent Yorkshire into bat. After a tight opening ten overs, with Geoff Arnold bang on Target and Yorkshire losing Taylor for 9, Surrey looked in command. A tremendous batting performance from Boycott and Close saw Yorkshire changed all that and Yorkshire took total command. Both players displaying a tremendous array of strokes as they put on 192 for the second wicket before Close went for 79. Boycott continued to play some classical cover drives before he eventually fell to Ken Barrington for 146. Some lusty late blows from Hampshire (38 not out) and Trueman (24) took Yorkshire to a competition record of 317 for 4 in their 60 overs. Trueman’s opening spell clinched the match for Yorkshire. He sent back Edrich, Smith and Barrington to reduce Surrey to 27 for 3. Despite Tindall’s 57 they never recovered and were dismissed for 142 to give Yorkshire victory by 175 runs. Ray Illingworth finishing off the job Trueman started with figures of 11.4-1-29-5.

Boycott won the man of the match for an innings which still remains one of the finest one day knocks by an Englishman. Was this the finest one day knock ever by a Yorkshire man - tell us what you think in the thread below...