Ian Botham
Encyclopedia
Sir
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 Ian Terence Botham
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 24 November 1955) is a former England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

 Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...

 with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy". While a controversial player both on and off the field at times, Botham also held a number of Test cricket records, and still holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler.

He is generally regarded as being England's greatest ever all-rounder, particularly in Test cricket, although having earned celebrity status, his award of a knighthood was ostensibly in recognition of his services to charity.

A talented footballer as well as cricketer, Botham made 11 appearances in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

.

On 8 August 2009, Botham was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame "recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". A hall of fame, it was launched by the International Cricket Council on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers'...

.

Early life

Botham was born in Heswall
Heswall
Heswall is a town in Wirral, in the county of Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. At the time of the 2001 Census, the total population of the ward was 16,012 , which included the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton...

 on the Wirral
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...

, to Herbert Leslie Botham (who worked for Westland
Westland Aircraft
Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil in Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Ltd just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915...

) and Violet Marie, née Collett (a nurse). Both his father and mother played cricket. He went to Milford Junior School in Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...

, Somerset, where his "love affair" with sport began, and played for Somerset Under-15s. He left Bucklers Mead
Bucklers Mead
Bucklers Mead Community School is a secondary school and specialist Technology College in Yeovil, Somerset, England. It has 985 students between the ages of 11 and 16....

 Comprehensive School at the age of 15, intent on playing cricket for Somerset, although he also had an offer to play football for Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 From an early age he was always single-minded. When informed that Botham wanted to be a sportsman, the Careers Mistress at his school said to him, "Fine, everyone wants to play sport, but what are you really going to do?" (interviewed BBC Radio 4's Fiona Glover, 20 November 2010, Saturday Live).

Domestic career

In his non-first-class appearances for Somerset, his bowling figures did not stand out, but there were some sizeable scores, namely 91 for the Under-25s v Glamorgan Under-25s, 82 & 42 v Cornwall, 51 v Gloucester Under-25s, 50 v Glamorgan 2nd XI and in his last game (before his 1986 comeback match) 100 against Glamorgan 2nd XI.

In first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

, he scored 19,399 runs at 33.97, took 1,172 wickets at 27.22 and held 354 catches. He played for Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...

, Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

 and Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

, as well as a season (1987–88) in Australia playing for Queensland
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...

.

Botham began his first-class career in 1974 with Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

. In that year, when playing against Hampshire and facing the West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts, a bouncer
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...

 hit him straight in the mouth. He spat out teeth and simply carried on. In 1986 he resigned from Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

, in protest against the sacking of his friends Sir Viv Richards
Viv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...

 and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....

, and joined Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

, playing for that county between 1987 and 1991. In 1992, he joined County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 newcomers Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...

 before retiring midway through the 1993 season, his last match being Durham's match against the visiting Australian XI.

Grade Cricket in Australia 1976/1977

Only months before announcing his presence on the international scene, Botham played Grade cricket
Grade cricket
Grade cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states. The term may refer to:*Brisbane Grade Cricket *South Australian Grade Cricket League*Sydney Grade Cricket...

 for the University of Melbourne Cricket Club
University of Melbourne Cricket Club
The University of Melbourne Cricket Club, often called simply "University", plays the sport of cricket in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket. The club was founded in 1856 and played its first season of premier cricket in 1906–07. Known as...

 during the 1976/77 Australian Domestic Season. In a season where 5 of the 15 rounds were abandoned owing to adverse weather, Botham joined up for the second half as a result of a sponsorship arranged through the TCCB by Whitbread's Brewery. He was joined by Yorkshire's Graham Stevenson. Botham played 4 matches, the first of which was against Northcote in a one-day game on 8 January 1977. Brought on as first change, he finished with figures of 10.5-0-83-0 (8-ball overs). He batted at number 4 being run out for 0. The opposition wicket-keeper Richie Robinson
Richie Robinson
Richard Daryl Robinson is a former Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 2 ODIs in 1977. Robinson was widely recognised as the second best wicketkeeper in Australia during his career, behind the formidable Rod Marsh and would no doubt have played more tests had Marsh not been around...

 would be an opponent in the Test arena only months later. His second match was against St Kilda
St Kilda Cricket Club
St Kilda Cricket Club is a cricket club in the elite club competition of Melbourne, Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket.Its home ground is the St Kilda Cricket Ground, often called the Junction Oval.-History:...

, scheduled as a 2-day game over consecutive weeks. It became a one day game after the first Saturday was washed out. His analysis was 10–1–39–2. He scored a hard hit 41 in 33 minutes with five 4s. His third appearance was against Essendon CC
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...

 in another 2-day game. He was the side's most successful bowler with analyses of 22.7–2–92–4 but fell for another 0 caught of leg-spinner Keith Kirby. His last match was against North Melbourne CC
North Melbourne, Victoria
North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its...

. He was promoted to opening the batting but was caught for 3 off Neil Majewski
Neil Majewski
Neil John Majewski is an Australian cricketer, who played for the Tasmanian Tigers. He was a right-handed batsman and right arm fast medium bowler who represented Tasmania in 1979.-External links:...

. His bowling analysis was 27–4–86–0 against a side that included Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...

 and Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation...

. Prior to this game, the match against Richmond was abandoned because of rain and the last game was also abandoned. His complete analysis was 44 runs in 4 matches at a batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 of 11, and 6 wickets at a bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...

 of 51.16. Botham took one catch.

International career

Botham made his Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 début for England on 28 July 1977 in the Third Test against Australia. He went on to enjoy a Test career spanning 15 years, in which he played in 102 matches.
Botham finished his Test career with 5,200 runs at an average of 33.54, taking 383 wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

s at an average of 28.40, and holding 120 catches. He is generally regarded as one of England's greatest Test players. He was also England's captain for 12 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 in 1980 and 1981. As captain of the England XI, Botham is generally considered to have been unsuccessful. His tenure was brief and under his captaincy the team achieved no wins, 8 draws and 4 losses. In his defence, 9 of his matches as captain were against the best team of that era, the West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...

, who won 12 out of the next 13 Tests played against England.

Compared with many of cricket's greatest players, most of whom were specialists, Botham's averages seem fairly ordinary but this overlooks Botham's all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...

 status, which is rarely achieved at world-class level. Of note, Botham's first 202 wickets came at 21.20 per wicket, while his final 181 cost on average 36.43 apiece; the first average is one that would make Botham one of the greatest bowlers of the modern era, ranking alongside the West Indian greats Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose is a former West Indian cricketer. His skill was as a right-arm fast bowler, especially in partnership with Courtney Walsh...

 (career average 20.99), Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall
By 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings...

 (career average 20.94), and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....

 (career average 20.97), but the second average depicts a player who, as a specialist bowler, would be unable to sustain a place in many Test teams. This difference can be largely attributed to a back injury which limited Botham's bowling pace and his ability to swing the ball.
Botham's batting – although never the equal of his bowling abilities – declined as well, with a batting average of 38.80 for his first 51 Tests substantially higher than the 28.87 he managed in his last 51 Tests, again a number that would be considered unsatisfactory for a specialist batsman in most Test sides. In the first 5 years of Botham's Test career, when not playing as captain, he scored 2557 runs at an average of 49.17 including 11 centuries and a highest score of 208, took 196 wickets at an average of 21.28 including nineteen 5 wicket hauls and held 50 catches. Such figures denote a player who would easily maintain a place in any Test side as a specialist batsman or bowler alone. During this period his reputation as one of the leading Test all-rounders was firmly established.

He was renowned as a big-hitting batsman, though with a classical technique of playing straight, and as a fast-medium paced swing bowler
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...

 who could be very effective when atmospheric conditions favoured his style.

Records

Botham holds a number of Test records as an all-rounder, including being the fastest (in terms of matches) to achieve the "doubles" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and 3,000 runs and 300 wickets. He briefly held the world record for the greatest number of Test wickets, although his tally has subsequently been passed by several specialist bowlers. He still holds the record for the highest number of Test wickets taken by an England player (383).

Botham scored a century and took 5 wickets in an innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...

 in the same Test match on 5 occasions; no-one else has managed this feat more than twice. In 1980, playing against India, he became the first player to score a century and take ten wickets in a Test match (Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson (cricketer)
Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...

 was the first to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in a Test but that did not include a century).

During the 1981 Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

, Botham set a record of six sixes in a single Ashes Test Match at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...

. That record remained unbroken until 7 August 2005 when Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...

 scored five in the first innings and four in the second innings of the second Test at Edgbaston, and again until 12 September 2005, when Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...

 hit seven sixes in the second innings of the last Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

.

One Day Internationals

Botham's ODI career included 116 games from 1976 to 1992. He made his debut on 26 August against the West Indies at Scarborough. He finished with a batting average of 23.21 (nine 50s, no 100s, cumulative score of 2113 runs), and a bowling average of 28.5 (strike rate 43.24, 145 wickets in total, best figures 4/31).

1981 Ashes Tour: Botham's Ashes

In 1980 Botham had been appointed captain of the England team. However, his captaincy proved to be an unhappy one; he lost form and the team did not do well.
He resigned the captaincy after a loss and a draw in the first two Tests of the 1981 Ashes series. The resignation itself was the cause of controversy, with Sir Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...

, Chairman of the TCCB selectors, making it clear after media questioning that Botham would have been fired in any event. Botham himself refers to the event as his "dismissal" in his autobiography. In this Test, the Second Test played at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 and his last as England captain, Botham was dismissed for a pair. He returned to an embarrassed silence in the pavilion and after the previous year's events at the centenary Test, this possibly was the final straw. For the remainder of his cricket-playing career, Botham refused to acknowledge MCC members in the pavilion when playing at Lord's. However, Botham subsequently accepted the honour of Honorary Life membership of MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 and his portrait (depicting him enjoying a cigar) now hangs prominently in the Long Room
Long Room
The Long Room is a notable, historic room at Lord's cricket ground, in St John's Wood, London."The most evocative four walls in world cricket", the Long Room is situated in the Pavilion.-Function:...

 Bar at Lord's.

Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...

, the captain whom Botham had replaced, took up the reins again for the Third Test scheduled for 16 to 21 July, at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. They batted all day Thursday and most of Friday, declaring after tea at 401 for 9, John Dyson
John Dyson
John Dyson is a former international cricketer who is now a cricket coach, most recently in charge of the West Indies....

 having made 102 and Botham having taken 6 for 95. The England openers Graham Gooch
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...

 and Geoff Boycott survived the remaining few overs, and England finished the day on 7 for no wicket.

The next day, Saturday, was a disaster for England: Gooch was out in the first over of the day, and although Boycott and Brearley then attempted to dig in, they were both out before lunch. None of the other batsmen got going at all with the exception of Botham who top scored with 50 — his first half century since his first Test as captain 13 matches earlier. England were all out in the third session for 174. Australia enforced the follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...

 and piled on the pressure; Gooch was out for 0 on his third ball of the first over caught by Terry Alderman
Terry Alderman
Terence Michael Alderman is a former Australian cricketer.He began his first-class career in 1974 with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and came to international prominence when he was chosen for the Australian national team to tour England in 1981...

 off the bowling of Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...

. By the close, England had struggled to just 6 for 1, still 221 behind Australia.

By all accounts, both teams' players thought Australia would win the match; indeed the England team had enjoyed a raucous barbecue chez Botham on the Saturday evening, such was their lack of faith in a positive result. Sunday 19 July was a rest-day and the newspapers roasted the lamentable England performance. Morale was not improved by Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...

 offering odds of 500–1 against England winning the match, as displayed on the Headingley electronic scoreboard! Controversially, the Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh
Rod Marsh
Rodney William Marsh MBE is a former Australian wicketkeeper.A colourful character, Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian season. In 96 Tests, he set a world record of 355 wicketkeeping dismissals, the same number his pace bowling Western...

 and opening bowler Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...

 both placed bets on England to win, later claiming that 500–1 were silly (if not incredible) odds on any two-horse race.

On the Monday morning 500–1 odds began to look somewhat more ungenerous as first Brearley, then David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...

 and Mike Gatting
Mike Gatting
Michael "Mike" William Gatting OBE is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988...

 all fell cheaply reducing England to 41 for 4. Boycott was still anchored at the other end however, and he and Peter Willey
Peter Willey
Peter Willey is a former English cricketer, who played as a right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler. In and out of the England team, he interrupted his international career for three years by taking part in the first of the England players' South African rebel tours in 1982...

 added 50 runs before lunch. In the afternoon, Willey was out for 33 and England were still in deep trouble at 105 for 5 when Botham went in to bat. Matters did not improve as first Geoff Boycott and then Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor (cricketer)
Robert William Taylor , known as Bob Taylor, is a former English cricketer who played as wicket-keeper for Derbyshire between 1961 and 1984 and for England between 1971 and 1984. He made 57 Test, and 639 first class cricket appearances in total, taking 1,473 catches. The 2,069 victims across his...

 were quickly dismissed. At 135 for 7 an innings defeat looked almost certain.

When Graham Dilley
Graham Dilley
Graham Roy Dilley was an English cricketer, whose main role was as a fast bowler. He played first-class cricket for Kent and Worcestershire, and appeared in 41 test matches and 36 ODIs for England...

 joined him at the crease, Botham reportedly said, "Right then, let's have a bit of fun...". With able support from Dilley (56) and Chris Old
Chris Old
Chris Old is an English former cricketer, who played in forty six Tests and thirty two ODIs from 1972 to 1981....

 (29), Botham hit out and by the close of play was 145 not out with Bob Willis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...

 hanging on at the other end on 1 not out. England's lead was just 124 but there remained some glimmer of hope. On the final day's play there was time for just four more runs from Botham before Willis was out and Botham was left on 149 not out. Wisden rated this innings as the 4th best of all time.

Willis' far greater contribution was with the ball. After Botham took the first wicket, Willis skittled Australia out for just 111, finishing with figures of 8 for 43 – rated by Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...

 as the 7th best bowling performance of all time. England had won by just 18 runs. It was only the second time in history that a team following-on had won a Test match.

The next Test match, at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

, looked almost as hopeless, if not hapless, from England's point of view. 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 still seemed the most likely result. Botham then took 5 wickets for only 1 run in 28 balls to give England victory by 29 runs. Later, Brearley said that Botham had not wanted to bowl and had to be persuaded to do so.

The Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...

 Test was less of a turnaround and more of a team effort than the previous two Tests, but Botham again was England's hero hitting yet another century in what Lillee claimed to be a better innings than his Headingley heroics. Botham had joined Chris Tavaré
Chris Tavaré
Christopher James Tavaré is an English retired cricketer, who played in thirty one Tests and twenty nine One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1989.-Life and career:...

 with the score at 104–5. Botham then scored 118 in a partnership of 149 before he was dismissed. He hit six sixes in this innings, three off Lillee's bowling, two of them in the same over. Remarkably, even though he seemed to take his eye off the ball while hooking some fearsome Lillee bouncers, his sheer power and strength carried the ball over the boundary rope. In total Botham batted for 5 hours shorter than Tavaré and yet scored 40 more runs! England won that match, then drew the last one at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

 (Botham taking 6 wickets in the first innings), and thereby winning the series 3–1. Hardly surprisingly, Botham was named Man of the Series, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets.

Football career

A talented footballer as well as cricketer, Botham had to choose very early in his career whether to play professional football or cricket. At one point during his career, in an effort to get fit after an injury, in March 1980 he joined the football club Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

, where he played as a centre half
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 and made 11 appearances in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

. He also had a spell at Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town F.C.
Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...

.

Controversy

Botham often courted controversy and was suspended briefly in 1986 for smoking cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

 and was allegedly accused of racism and ball tampering by Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...

. This would become the subject of a court case later on, one that Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...

 would go on to win. Botham was liable for all expenses in the court case in the ruling, even those incurred by Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...

. He also fell out publicly with other players, including fellow England opener Geoff Boycott, Somerset captain Peter Roebuck
Peter Roebuck
Peter Michael Roebuck was an English cricketer who achieved later renown as an Australian newspaper columnist and radio commentator. A consistent county performer with over 25,000 runs, and "one of the better English openers of the 1980s", Roebuck captained the English county side Somerset...

, and Australian batsman Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation...

, with whom he had an altercation with in an Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...

 car park during the 2010–11 Ashes series
2010–11 Ashes series
The 2010–11 Ashes series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of Australia during the 2010–11 cricket season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011...

. His private life has also made occasional dramatic appearances in Britain's tabloid newspapers, with at least one extramarital affair prompting a public apology to his wife Kathy. Botham was also sacked from the Queensland team after being arrested for assault of a fellow airline passenger.

Charity walks

Botham has been a prodigious fundraiser
Fundraiser
A fundraiser is an event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause. See also: fundraising. A fundraiser can also be an individual or company whose primary job is to raise money for a specific charity or non-profit organization...

 for charitable causes, undertaking a total of 12 long-distance charity walks. His first, in 1985, was a 900-mile trek from John o' Groats to Land's End
Land's End to John o' Groats
Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities; in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is and takes most cyclists ten to fourteen days; the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road...

. His efforts were inspired after a visit to Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

's Musgrove Park Hospital
Musgrove Park Hospital
Musgrove Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital located in Taunton, Somerset. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1949.-About the hospital:...

 whilst receiving treatment for a broken toe; when he took a wrong turn into a children's ward, he was devastated to learn that some of the children had only weeks to live, and why. Since then, his efforts have raised more than £12 million for charity, with Leukaemia Research among the causes to benefit.

Honours

  • 2010 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science
    Doctor of Science
    Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...

     by the University of Lincoln
    University of Lincoln
    The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....

    .
  • 2008 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Sports Science by Leeds Metropolitan University
    Leeds Metropolitan University
    Leeds Metropolitan University is a British University with three campuses. Two are situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England while the third is situated in Bhopal, India...

    .
  • 2008 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bath
    University of Bath
    The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....

    .
  • 2007 Botham was honoured as Knight Bachelor
    Knight Bachelor
    The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

     by HM Government in the Queen's Birthday Honours
    Queen's Birthday Honours
    The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...

    , again in recognition of his cricket achievements and his sustained efforts in raising money for Leukaemia research (see above). He was knighted by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace
    Buckingham Palace
    Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...

     on 10 October 2007
  • 2004 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
    BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
    The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to a sportsperson "who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime". The winner is...

    .
  • 2003 First ever President of Leukaemia Research, the UK's leading blood cancer charity.
  • 1992 Botham was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket and for his charity work in the Queen's Birthday Honours
    Queen's Birthday Honours
    The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...

    .
  • 1988 Awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year
    Pipe Smoker of the Year
    Pipe Smoker of the Year was an award given out annually by the British Pipesmokers' Council, to honour a famous pipe-smoking individual. The award was discontinued in 2004 because its organisers feared it fell foul of laws banning all advertising and promotion of tobacco.-Pipe Smokers of the Year:...

  • 1981 Voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year
    BBC Sports Personality of the Year
    The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...

    .
  • 1978 Elected one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year
    Wisden Cricketers of the Year
    The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...

    .

Test centuries and five-wicket innings

Botham achieved the double of making a century and taking 5 wickets in an innings in the same Test match 5 times. Only three other players have achieved this feat more than once: Sir Gary Sobers, Mushtaq Mohammad
Mushtaq Mohammad
Mushtaq Mohammad is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 57 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the most successful Pakistani all-rounders and went on to captain his country in nineteen Test matches...

 and Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...

, who have each done it twice.
He is the only man to have made a century and take 8 wickets in an innings in the same Test match, 108 and 8/34 against Pakistan at Lord's in 1978. Botham was also the first of only two men to make a century and take 10 wickets in the same Test match, the other being Imran Khan
Imran Khan
Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...

. Botham did this in the Centenary Test in Bombay in 1979–80 (114, 6/58 and 7/48), the last match before he became England captain. In the 25 Tests he played before he became captain he made 6 centuries and took 5 wickets in an innings 14 times, including 10 in a match 3 times, an astonishing record.
Ian Botham's 14 Test Centuries and 27 Test Five Wickets Hauls
No
Number
A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers....

 
100s
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...

 
No
Number
A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers....

 
5 Wt
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

Test Opponents Season Venue City Country Result
1 5/75 Third Test 1977 Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

 
Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 
England England won by 7 wickets
2 5/21 Fourth Test 1977 Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

 
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 
England England won by an innings and 85 runs
1 103 3 5/73 Second Test 1977–78 Lancaster Park  Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 
New Zealand England won by 174 runs
4 5/109 Third Test 1977–78 Eden Park
Eden Park
Eden Park is the biggest stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer . The ground also occasionally hostts rugby league matches. To accommodate all three sports, the cricket pitch is removable...

 
Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 
New Zealand Match Drawn
2 100 First Test 1978 Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

 
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 
England England won by an innings and 57 runs
3 108 5 8/34 Second Test 1978 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England England won by an innings and 120 runs
6 6/34 Second Test 1978 Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

 
Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 
England England won by and innings an 119 runs
7
8
6/101
5/39
Third Test 1978 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England England won by 7 wickets
9 5/70 First Test 1979 Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

 
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 
England England won by an innings and 83 runs
10 5/35 Second Test 1979 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England Match Drawn
4 137 Third Test 1979 Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

 
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 
England Match Drawn
11
12
6/78
5/98
First Test 1979–80 WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....

 
Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 
Australia Australia won by 138 runs
5 119*
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...

Third Test 1979–80 Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

 
Melbourne Australia Australia won by 8 wickets
6 114 13
14
6/58
7/48
Centenary Test 1979–80 Wankhede Stadium
Wankhede Stadium
The Sheshrao Krushnarao Wankhede Stadium is a cricket stadium in the Indian city of Mumbai. This ground was built after disputes between the Cricket Club of India, which owns the Brabourne Stadium, and the Mumbai Cricket Association over the allocation of tickets for cricket matches...

 
Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 
India England won by 10 wickets
7 149*
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...

15 6/95 Third Test 1981 Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

 
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 
England England won by 18 runs
16 5/11 Fourth Test 1981 Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

 
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 
England England won by 29 runs
8 118 Fifth Test 1981 Old Trafford Cricket Ground  Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 
England England won by 103 runs
17 6/125
4/128
Sixth Test 1981 Kennington Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

 
London England Match Drawn
18 5/61 First Test 1981–82 Wankhede Stadium
Wankhede Stadium
The Sheshrao Krushnarao Wankhede Stadium is a cricket stadium in the Indian city of Mumbai. This ground was built after disputes between the Cricket Club of India, which owns the Brabourne Stadium, and the Mumbai Cricket Association over the allocation of tickets for cricket matches...

 
Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 
India India won by 138 runs
9 142 Sixth Test 1981–82 Modi Stadium  Kanpur  India Match Drawn
19 5/46 First Test 1982 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England England won by 7 wickets
10 128 Second Test 1982 Old Trafford Cricket Ground  Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 
England Match Drawn
11 208 Third Test 1982 Kennington Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

 
London England Match Drawn
20 5/74 Third Test 1982 Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

 
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 
England England won by 3 wickets
12 103 Fourth Test 1983 Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

 
Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 
England England won by 165 runs
13 138 21 5/59 First Test 1983–84 Basin Reserve
Basin Reserve
The Basin Reserve , is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand, used for Test, first-class and one-day cricket. Some argue that its proximity to the city, its Historic Place status and its age make it the most famous cricket ground in New Zealand...

 
Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 
New Zealand Match Drawn
22 8/103 Second Test 1984 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England West Indies won by 9 wickets
23 5/72 Fifth Test 1984 Kennington Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

 
London England West Indies won by 172 runs
24 6/90 First Test 1984 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England Match Drawn
25 5/109 Second Test 1985 Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 
London England Australia won by 4 wickets
26 5/71 Fourth Test 1985–86 Queen's Park Oval
Queen's Park Oval
Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the...

 
Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...

 
Trinidad and Tobago West Indies won by 10 wickets
14 138 First Test 1986–87 Brisbane Cricket Ground
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....

 
Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 
Australia England won by 7 wickets
27 5/41 Fourth Test 1986–87 Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

 
Melbourne Australia England won by an innings and 14 runs

Personal life

In 1976, in the Borough of Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, Botham married Kathryn Waller (Kathy, now Lady Botham) whom he first met in June 1974. After their marriage, they lived until the late 1980s in Epworth, near Scunthorpe. They have two daughters Becky (born November 1985) and Sarah, and a son Liam
Liam Botham
Liam James Botham is a former rugby player who played rugby union and later rugby league. He is the son of English Test cricketer Ian Botham. His godfather is the former West Indian cricket captain Viv Richards....

 (born August 1977). Sarah works for Sky
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

 as a production assistant, and Liam was a professional cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 player, before becoming a commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

 for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

. Sir Ian and Kathy, their son and daughter-in-law (and their three children) all live in Ravensworth
Ravensworth
Ravensworth is a small village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Richmond and from Darlington. It is situated in the Holmedale valley and is in the ward of Gilling West...

 in North Yorkshire. Botham is an enthusiastic football fan and supports Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

, Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 and Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

. Botham is also a supporter of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

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Botham is colourblind.

Publications


External links

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