To legions of Yorkshire cricket fans, he was 'Sir' Geoffrey Boycott. But his reputation as a sporting knight in shining armour has been tarnished forever after a court upheld his conviction for assaulting his girlfriend.

Boycott's remarkable cricketing achievements have been overshadowed by the verdict.

Those who are too young to remember him wielding the bat at Headingley will know him only as a former commentator and woman beater.

It is a great shame that another of our sporting heroes has been let down by his private life.

To the list which includes George Best and Paul Gascoigne, we must now add Boycott.

Both The Sun and the BBC sacked him after the French verdict. They had to. And for once, Geoffrey Boycott has no one to blame but himself.

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