Ian Botham On The Field Records "Botham's Ashes" Off The Field

Whilst his averages suggest a no more than average batsman and bowler, they belie his reputation as one of the greatest match winners of the game. He tended to play to extremes, so if Botham played well, he often seemed to win the match on his own.

He was reknowned as a big-hitting batsman with a surprisingly classical technique, and as a fast-medium paced swing bowler. In his later career after a back injury, his pace descended to no more than a gentle medium pace, but seemed to retain the knack of taking wickets regardless.

1 On the field

A talented footballer as well as cricket, Botham had a choice very early in his career whether to play professional football or cricket. (Later on in his career, in an attempt to get fit after an injury, he played for Scunthorpe United.)

Botham started his first-class career with Somerset in 1974. He left Somerset in protest in 1985 after the county sacked Viv Richards and Joel GarnerJoel Garner (born December 16, 1952) also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", was a fearsome sight in the highly regarded late 70's and early 80's West Indies cricket sides. He was a popular 6'8" (2. 03 m) fast bowler capable of ripping through the heart o, and played for WorcestershireWorcestershire County Cricket Club is a county cricket club based at New Road, Worcester, England. The club was formed on 11 March, 1865, and attained first-class status in 1899. Between the wars, Fred Root was among the county's finest players, and one o between 1986 and 1991. In 1992 he joined County Championship newcomers DurhamDurham County Cricket Club (Durham CCC) is an English domestic first-class cricket team based at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Granted first-class status in 1991, Durham is English cricket's youngest first-class county. The Count until his retirement midway through the 1993 season. He also played for QueenslandQueensland State flag ( In detail) Coat of Arms ( In detail) Capital Brisbane Governor HE Ms Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie Area — Land — Marine — Total 1 730 648 km² 121 994 km² 1 852 642 km² Population (2002) Density 3 729 000 2. 15/km² Time zone U.

He made his Test debut for England against Australia on 28 July, 1977, and played 102 Tests. He served as England captain for 12 Tests in 1980, but was an unsuccessful captain, with 8 draws and 4 losses (although in his defence, 9 of these were against the best team of the time, the West Indies).

His career coincided with several other great all-rounders, including Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev. As a result, the 1980s is considered to be a golden era for the all-rounder. Botham's top world rankings were first and third in bowling and batting respectively.

1.1 Records

He holds a number of Test records as an all-rounder, including being fastest (in terms of matches) player to obtain 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and 3,000 runs and 300 wickets.

He was the first player to score 5,000 runs and take 300 Test wickets, and the first to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test match. He scored a century and took 5 wickets in an innings on 5 occasions; no-one else has managed this feat more than twice.

When he retired, he held the world record for Test wickets, although this has subsequently been passed by several players.

1.2 "Botham's Ashes"

In 1980, Botham was the pre-eminent all-rounder in world cricket, and was made captain of the England team. However, his captaincy was not a happy one; he lost form and the team did not do well (see above). He resigned the captaincy after a loss and a draw in the first two Tests of the 1981 Ashes series, which Botham being out for a "pair" at the Second Test at Lord's. The Australian team was rated as second only to the the great West Indies team of the time, and contained a formidable pace attack in the form of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Terry Alderman .

Mike Brearley, the captain Botham had replaced, took over the reigns for the third Test, at Headingley. This started out very badly; Australia scored 401, and asked England to follow on after bowling them out for 174. The one bright point in the innings came from Botham, who top scored with 50 (his first since he had been made captain 13 matches earlier.) In the second innings, Botham came to the crease with England on 5-105, still 126 behind. Matters did not improve: Geoff Boycott and Bob Taylor soon followed, and an innings defeat looked likely.

By all accounts, everyone on both sides thought the game was lost. When Graham Dilley joined him at the crease, Botham reportedly said, "Right then, let's have a bit of fun...." Botham, with able support from the lower order, went on to make 149 not out, and gave England a slender lead of 129. The next day a fired-up Bob Willis took 8 for 43, and Australia slumped to 111 all out. It was only the second time in history that a side following on had gone on to win a Test match.

Ladbrokes famously offered 500-1 against England winning the Headingley test. (Equally famously, and controversially, Rodney Marsh and Dennis Lillee placed a bet on England to win, claiming that 500-1 were silly odds on any two-horse race.)

The next match, at Edgbaston looked almost as hopeless for England. In a low scoring match (no-one made a score over 48), Australia needed 151 to win. At 105-5, things looked a little worrying for them, but an Australian win was still the most likely result. Botham then took 5 wickets for 1 run in 28 balls to give England the win by 29 runs. (Later, Brearley said that Botham hadn't wanted to bowl and had to be persuaded.)

The Old Trafford Test was less of a turnaround and more of a team performance than the previous two Tests, but Botham again was the Englad hero, scoring 118 in what the Lilley claimed was a better innings than his Headingley heroics. England won the match, then drew the last match at The Oval (Botham took 6 wickets in the first innings) to take the series 3-1.

Unsurprisingly, Botham was named man of the series, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets.

2 Off the field

A colourful character, Botham was suspended briefly in 1989 for smoking cannabis, and his private life has made occasional dramatic appearances in Britain's tabloid newspapers. He is married with three children. His son Liam is a professional Rugby Union player.

After his retirement as a player, he became an authoritative television commentator and has participated in a number of charity long-distance walks raising over five million pounds, with leukaemia research amongst the good causes which benefitted.

He was appointed an OBE in 1992 for services to cricket and his charity work. For several years, he was a resident team captain on the BBC quiz show A Question Of Sport and has also shamelessly taken up offers of appearing in pantomimes during the Christmas period.

Bowlers who have taken 5 wickets in a test innings 25 times or more
Muttiah Muralitharan ( SL) \| Richard Hadlee ( NZ) \| Shane Warne ( Aus) Ian Botham ( Eng) \| Anil Kumble (Ind) \| Wasim Akram ( Pak)

3 External links

Cricinfo Player Profile : Ian Terence Botham

Botham, Ian Botham, Ian

Preceded by:
Mike Brearley

English national cricket captain
1980-1981

Followed by:
Mike Brearley

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