# Talk:Bob Willis

We ought to note - if we can find out - in which Test Willis overtook Trueman's 307 (from memory) Test wickets to become England's top wicket taker (until superseded in turn by Botham) JH (talk page) 10:25, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Now done. It was in the first Test of the 1983-4 tour of NZ. JH (talk page) 21:51, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Bob Willis/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Aaroncrick  (talk)  Review me! 21:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)
Excellent, should only be a few knit-picks. 

Early life - "He adopted his third name 'Dylan' by deed poll in honour of Bob Dylan, of whom he is a fan." Briefly mention who Dylan is. I know you have a link but it would probably be easier if you say that he is an "American singer-songwriter, musician, painter and poet." Aaroncrick  (talk)  Review me! 21:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)
I've put "American musician Bob Dylan", as including all those things I felt would be a bit much. SGGH ping! 22:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)
Even better. Aaroncrick  (talk)  Review me! 22:09, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by: Peripitus (Talk) 03:53, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
There is one thing that stands out. There lead seems to be written as a referenced introduction, rather than a summary of the article. While references in the lead are fine, they do tend to indicate that there is material there that is not covered later in the article. The 899 wickets, his ranking relative to Ian Botham, and possibly other things seem only covered in the lead. There is also significant material in the article that is not covered in the lead section. "Early Life" and "County Debut" do not seem to have made any impact on this section.

Everything in the lead needs to be in main body. Aaroncrick  (talk)  Review me! 06:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
Yep, and a summary in reverse. Should be able to read the article or the lead separately. One a complete storey and one a summary - Peripitus (Talk) 07:51, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
I'm not sure how much of the early life would be relevant in the lead (as it's not the most critical thing about his life in terms of notability) but I will work to put the info in the lead which is missing from the article back in. I might ask User:Jhall1 to take a look, as he knows when and where the leading wicket taker trophy was passed. SGGH ping! 11:21, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
I've added a paragraph at the end of the "England captaincy" section (being the section that covers the end of his playing career) that will hopefully cover some of these points. The two references to issues of the Playfair Cricket Annual are to the table of highest Test wicket takers as at the end of his career (showing only Lillee ahead of him) and as it stands currently (showing Botham as the only England player ahead of him). I could equally well have referred to the corresponding issues of Wisden, but Playfair was closer to hand. JH (talk page) 18:10, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
thanks mate. SGGH ping! 18:28, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
The amount needed is really in some proportion to the proportions in the rest of the article.... roughlyish- Peripitus (Talk) 11:25, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
Before I pass, why is "Willis'" and "Willis's" both used? Suggest "Willis'" is used. Aaroncrick  (talk)   06:44, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

The latter is the grammatically correct one, I suspect it's a typo. SGGH ping! 10:34, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm ashamed of my lack of knowledge about cricket, so this may be an idiotic query... but were bowling speeds measurable during Willis' career? If they were, could anyone supply numbers? Regards, Notreallydavid (talk) 04:00, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

They were, but they often measured after the bounce and it was somewhat unreliable, as it should be measured from the hand. I don't know the figures. S.G.(GH) ping! 11:39, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

The article is misleading, and factually wrong, about the 1982/83 Ashes Series.  Whilst it correctly gives the first innings scores of Australia and England, it falsely states that Australia won the match by 8 wickets.  It was actually a drawn match.  It was the 2nd Test in Brisbane that Australia won by 8 wickets.  Australia won the 3rd Test in Adelaide, narrowly lost the 4th Test in Melbourne by 3 runs (correctly stated) and drew the final to win by 2-1.  The section makes it sound like Australia won 3-1.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.177.218.51 (talk) 05:14, 2 November 2011 (UTC) 

Fixed S.G.(GH) ping! 11:38, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

@Daniels014: Can you explain why you are using schooltips.com.ng as a source for Willis' obituary as opposed to BBC News, the Daily Telegraph or any number of more respectable outlets? Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 17:19, 4 December 2019 (UTC)

I've added the Guardian obit to the lead as it seems to be the only one which actually gives a date of death. That might be worth keeping an eye on just in case it's not actually the 4th. Blue Square Thing (talk) 20:05, 4 December 2019 (UTC)
Both Cricinfo and Cricket Archive have the 4th as his date of death. Lugnuts Fire Walk with Me 20:45, 4 December 2019 (UTC)

I've partial merged in a reduced copy of the table that was recently redirected from List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Bob Willis. It doesn't need to stay, but I've done the things that were generally agreed a few years ago at the project talk page (iirc) - removed the victims and economy rates and shortened the venue stuff to make it easier to read. Feel free to do whatever people want to it. Blue Square Thing (talk) 15:54, 12 February 2025 (UTC)