Former England captain and pace bowler Bob Willis has died at 70 on Wednesday. Willis, who captained his country between 1982 and 1984, had played 90 Test matches with the best of his 8 for 43 in the third Ashes Test against Australia at Headingley in 1981.

Famous all-rounder Ian Botham later described him as a “tremendous trier, a great team man and an inspiration — the only world-class fast bowler in my time as an England player”.

Bob Willis finished his Test career with 325 wickets, which puts him fourth on the all-time list of England wicket-takers behind James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ian Botham. He captained England in 18 Tests and 29 ODIs before his retirement in 1984. He was named as captain for the 1982 India tour of England after Keith Fletcher was sacked. He finished with a record of seven wins, five defeats and six draws from his 18 Tests.

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“We are heartbroken to lose our beloved Bob, who was an incredible husband, father, brother and grandfather,” read the Willis family statement. “He made a huge impact on everybody he knew and we will miss him terribly.”

He represented Surrey for the first two years of his professional career before playing for 12 years at Warwickshire, finishing with 899 wickets from 308 first-class matches which came at an average of 24.99.

“All at Surrey County Cricket Club are devastated to learn of the passing of former Surrey and England bowler Bob Willis,” tweeted Surrey. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”