Famous Cricketers No 83 - Ian Botham

1987 Botham’s first season with Worcestershire saw him play in eleven Championship matches for the County scoring 366 runs at an average of 28.15 and taking fourteen wickets at 32.14. He played in all five Tests against Pakistan and averaged 33.14 with the bat although his highest score was only 51 not out. With the ball he cannot be said to have been as effective as normal as he took just seven wickets at an average of over 61 and his best figures were the three for 217 he took during Pakistan’s massive innings of 708 at Kennington Oval. For Worcestershire he hit a century against Somerset which must have given him some satisfaction after the breach with them. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 299. Worcestershire v Kent, Worcester, April 25, 26, 27 (Worcestershire won by two wickets) c D.G.Aslett b D.L.Underwood 46 250 16 5 71 2 D.G.Aslett c S.J.Rhodes 378-8d C.Penn c D.B.D’Oliveira c C.Penn b A.P.Igglesden 25 325-8 13 0 54 0 193-2d 300. Worcestershire v Sussex, Worcester, May 6, 7, 8 (Sussex won by three wickets) lbw b I.C.Waring 54 366-6d 20 0 56 1 A.M.Green c S.J.Rhodes 336 1 run out 12 243-7d 12 0 57 2 R.I.Alikhan b 274-7 1 C.M.Wells c P.J.Newport 301. Worcestershire v Essex, Worcester, May 30, June 1, (2) (Match drawn) c G.A.Gooch b J.K.Lever 22 203 16 3 51 3 G.A.Gooch lbw 121 I.Redpath c G.A.Hick D.R.Pringle lbw did not bat - 127-3 302. ENGLAND v PAKISTAN, Old Trafford, June 4, 5, 6, 8, (9) (Match drawn) c Wasim Akram b Tauseef Ahmed 48 447 14 7 29 1 Javed Miandad c B.N.French 140-5 303. Worcestershire v Leicestershire, Worcester, June 13, 15, 16 (Match drawn) b W.K.M.Benjamin 49 234-9d 12 3 23 1 J.J.Whitaker b 159 6 1 16 1 P.Willey c D.B.D’Oliveira 70-2 304. ENGLAND v PAKISTAN, Lord’s, June 18, (19), 20, (22), (23) (Match drawn) c Javed Miandad b Wasim Akram 6 368 305. Worcestershire v Gloucestershire, Gloucester, June 27, 29, 30 (Worcestershire won by 160 runs) c C.W.J.Athey b D.V.Lawrence 0 316 5 1 21 0 185 1 run out 6 197 15 3 53 3 C.W.J.Athey b 168 1 A.W.Stovold b D.A.Graveney c S.J.Rhodes 306. ENGLAND v PAKISTAN, Headingley, July 2, 3, 4, 6 (Pakistan won by an innings and 18 runs) c Salim Yousuf b Mudassar Nazar 26 136 353 c Mudassar Nazar b Mohsin Kamal 24 199 307. Worcestershire v Somerset, Taunton, July 15, 16, 17 (Match drawn) not out 126 337-4 308. ENGLAND v PAKISTAN, Edgbaston, July 23, 24, 25, 27, 28 (Match drawn) c and b Wasim Akram 37 521 48 13 121 1 Ijaz Ahmed lbw 439 1 c Mohsin Kamal b Wasim Akram 6 109-7 20.3 3 66 2 Salim Malik c and b 205 1 Ijaz Ahmed b 309. ENGLAND v PAKISTAN, Kennington Oval, August 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 (Match drawn) b Abdul Qadir 34 232 52 7 217 3 Mudassar Nazar c M.D.Moxon 708 1 Ramiz Raja b Salim Malik c D.I.Gower not out 51 315-4 310. Worcestershire v Glamorgan, Worcester, August 15, 17, 18 (Match drawn) c M.P.Maynard b R.J.Shastri 5 256-7d 8.3 1 38 1 G.C.Holmes c D.B.D’Oliveira 301 did not bat - 0-0 - - - - 274 43