Famous Cricketers No 83 - Ian Botham

IAN TERENCE BOTHAM Ian Terence Botham was born at Heswall, Cheshire on 24th November 1955, the son of Leslie and Marie Botham. He was the eldest of their four children. His father was in the Fleet Air Arm and, at the time of Ian’s birth, was stationed in Northern Ireland. Ian spent his early years in Ireland before the family returned to Cheshire and thence to Yeovil in Somerset where his father had taken a job with Westland Helicopters. Both his father and his mother were cricketers and sport ran deeply in the family. Ian’s talent and enthusiasm for cricket took him into his school teams at Milford and Buckler’s Mead. A sports master, Mr Hibbert, gave him a good grounding in the game whilst the Boys’ Brigade at Yeovil provided plenty of opportunities to play. He became a regular attender at Somerset’s coaching sessions and received excellent help and advice from the Somerset players Peter Robinson, Graham Burgess and Ken Palmer. He got into the various County youth teams and had a spell on the groundstaff at Lord’s before attracting wider attention with some fine performances for Somerset’s Second XI. He played for Somerset first team in two John Player League matches in September 1973 taking his first wicket, that of Geoff Howarth, in the game against Surrey at Kennington Oval. He first sprang to national prominence on June 12th 1974 with an unforgettable performance in the Benson and Hedges quarter final against Hampshire at Taunton. He had already taken two wickets for 33 in his eleven overs, one of his victims being the great Barry Richards and had fielded brilliantly. Shortly after he arrived at the crease Somerset, at 113 for eight, needing 183, looked set to lose. At this stage Botham was hit full in the mouth by a bouncer from Andy Roberts, then the quickest bowler in the game. He refused to leave the field although bleeding profusely from a wound that was to cost him four teeth and he stayed to win the match and the Gold Award hitting two sixes whilst making 45 not out. He played eighteen games for Somerset scoring 441 runs including his first fifty, an innings of 59 against Middlesex at Taunton and he took 30 wickets which included a haul of 5 for 59 against Leicestershire at Weston-super-Mare. He had a good captain to set him on the right road in Brian Close whose own courage and determination to succeed rubbed off on the eighteen-year-old newcomer. His development continued in 1975 with 584 runs and 62 wickets whilst 1976 brought him 1000 runs for the first time with a superb 167 not out against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, as well as 66 first class wickets. In 1976, too, he made his first appearances in International cricket, playing in the one-day games at Scarborough and Edgbaston against West Indies although his performances were moderate. In the winter of 1976/77 Botham went to Australia on a Whitbread Scholarship. He had married Kathryn Waller in 1975 and, whilst he was in Australia, Kathryn gave birth to their son, Liam. Like his own father Ian had been absent at the birth. The 1977 season saw Botham’s introduction into the Test Match arena. He played in the Tests at Trent Bridge and Headingley. Aged 21 he was an immediate success taking five for 74 at Trent Bridge and five for 21 at Headingley, his first Test Match victim being the Australian captain Greg Chappell. It was the start of one of the great Test Match careers which saw him take 383 wickets and score more than 5000 runs. He reached the milestone of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in his 21st Test, faster than any other player, and no English bowler, and very few from anywhere else, has ever bettered his haul of wickets. He made 14 Test centuries with a highest score of 208 against India in 1982 at Kennington Oval. He took five wickets in a Test innings on 27 occasions, destroying Pakistan at Lord’s in 1978 with a 20.5 over burst in which he took eight wickets for 34 runs. Four times he took ten wickets in a 3