Famous Cricketers No 83 - Ian Botham

1977/78 - England in Pakistan and New Zealand Botham’s first overseas tour with England took him to Pakistan and New Zealand. Although he did not play in any of the Tests in Pakistan he played in all three in New Zealand, scoring his first Test century in the second Test at Christchurch. He took five wickets in New Zealand innings at both Christchurch and Auckland and he achieved the best figures of his career, seven for 58 against Otago at Dunedin. Besides his century and five first innings wickets at Christchurch, he hit an explosive 30 not out in thirty-six balls in England’s second innings as they pressed for a declaration and followed this up with three wickets and three catches, two of which Wisden describes as “sensational”, to complete a memorable all-round performance in England’s win. In the team’s averages he finished second as a batsman and third as a bowler and in the New Zealand Tests he was second on both lists. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 78. England XI v United Bank XI, Faisalabad, December 4, 5, 6 (Match drawn) did not bat - 284-1d 12 5 26 1 Haroon Rashid c J.M.Brearley 210-4d 1 c Shahid Pervez b Aamer Hameed 0 165-3d 4 0 20 0 58-2 79. England XI v North West Frontier Governor’s XI, Peshawar, December 8, 9, 10 (England XI won by 212 runs) did not bat - 285-3d 4 1 11 0 127 1 not out 22 122-3d 4 0 12 0 68 80. England XI v Punjab XI, Bahawalpur, January 9, 10, 11 (Match drawn) did not bat - 334-5d 8 0 53 1 Wasim Raja c P.R.Downton 217-9d 9 2 31 2 Ali Zia lbw 193-9 Naeem Ahmed b 81. England XI v Auckland, Auckland, January 27, 28, 29 (Match drawn) b L.W.Stott 33 210 6 0 36 0 182-4d did not bat - 208-3d 8 2 27 1 P.N.Webb c M.Hendrick 114-3 82. England XI v Canterbury, Christchurch, February 5, 6, 7 (Match drawn) b B.E.Congdon 0 173 11 3 28 3 P.E.McEwan c G.Boycott 144 M.L.Ryan lbw W.L.Eddington c R.G.D.Willis not out 126 230-4d 7 1 45 0 142-5 83. ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, Wellington, February 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 (New Zealand won by 72 runs) c M.G.Burgess b R.J.Hadlee 7 215 12.6 2 27 2 J.G.Wright lbw 228 1 S.L.Boock b c S.L.Boock b R.J.Hadlee 19 64 9.3 3 13 2 M.G.Burgess c G.Boycott 123 D.R.Hadlee c G.R.J.Roope 84. England XI v Otago, Dunedin, February 17, 18, 19 (England XI won by six wickets) c and b B.L.Cairns 0 195 17 4 33 3 B.J.McKechnie c P.R.Downton 130 W.K.Lees b B.L.Cairns c P.R.Downton not out 4 82-4 19.4 6 58 7 W.L.Blair c P.H.Edmonds 146 B.J.McKechnie lbw P.R.Facoory c M.W.Gatting W.K.Lees b B.R.Blair c P.H.Edmonds B.L.Cairns b C.M.Kirk c J.K.Lever 85. ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND, Christchurch, February 24, 25, 26, 28, March 1 (England won by 174 runs) c W.K.Lees b S.L.Boock 103 418 24.7 6 73 5 M.G.Burgess c G.R.J.Roope 235 B.E.Congdon lbw W.K.Lees c G.Miller R.O.Collinge c P.H.Edmonds E.J.Chatfield c P.H.Edmonds not out 30 96-4d 7 1 38 3 R.O.Collinge c G.Miller 105 3 S.L.Boock c R.W.Taylor E.J.Chatfield lbw 14