Bob Willis

Bob Willis portrait Bob Willis bowling Bob Willis with shoes
Bob Willis celebrating Bob Willis as a pundit Bob Willis close up

The legendary fast bowler and pundit Bob Willis

Robert George Dylan Willis MBE (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English 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 England's fourth leading wicket taker as of 2019, behind Jimmy 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 a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1978.