Famous Cricketers No 83 - Ian Botham

match. Against India at Bombay in 1980 he so dominated the match that he scored 114 out of an all out score of 296 in England’s first innings and took six for 58 and seven for 48 in the Indian innings. Botham’s greatest year as a Test cricketer was probably 1981 when he turned a series against Australia on its head and was largely responsible for England winning three Test Matches in a row. Botham had started the series as England’s captain but defeat in the first Test and a “pair” in the second Test at Lord’s led to him resigning the post. Mike Brearley was recalled as captain for the third Test at Headingley. Despite a major contribution from Botham - six wickets in Australia’s innings and a top score of 50 when England batted, England were heading for a second, probably Ashes losing defeat, 92 runs behind in the follow-on with seven wickets down. Then Botham intervened. Helped by Dilley, Old and Willis he played a wonderful innings of 149 not out taking England to a lead of 129. Bob Willis then bowled Australia to defeat taking eight for 43 as Australia were bowled out for 111. At Edgbaston in the Fourth Test, Australia were chasing 151 to win and were looking comfortable at 105 for four when Brearley threw the ball to Botham who proceeded to take five wickets for one run as Australia were bowled out for 121. At Old Trafford Botham hit a brilliant 118 in England’s second innings with six sixes in a sensational display. England’s third successive victory ensured the retention of the Ashes. Botham was a relative failure against West Indies - who wasn’t in that era? - but his overall record of 5,200 runs at 33.54 and 383 wickets at 28.40 makes him the leading English all-rounder of all time and his replacement in the England side or even an approximation of one has not yet appeared. He was not a raging success as a Test captain, but it should be borne in mind that his two full series in charge were against West Indies and that England only lost 1-0 in 1980, and that by two wickets, a much closer call than the next three series under other captains. For Somerset Botham played in 172 first-class games scoring 8,686 runs at 36.04 and taking 489 wickets at 26.52. He helped Somerset win their first one day trophies - they still have not won the Championship. Botham’s career in one day cricket will be dealt with more fully in the second part of this book. He played many explosive innings with a highest score of 228 against Gloucestershire. The author remembers an innings of 139 that he played at Old Trafford against Lancashire in 1986, his last season with Somerset. The ball kept disappearing to all corners of the ground. I remember too that Botham, as Somerset captain, risked defeat by instructing his batsmen to chase the target on the final day when they could have easily batted out for a draw. In 1985 Botham hit 80 sixes, scored five hundreds and averaged, for Somerset, 100.91. His departure from Somerset could surely have been handled better. The County had decided to dispense with the services of Vivian Richards and Joel Garner in order to appoint Martin Crowe as their overseas professional in 1987. Botham, a close friend of the two West Indians, made their sacking a case of “if they go, I go”. Sadly the Somerset Committee were prepared to let him depart rather than try to reach a compromise with him. Joining Worcestershire he played for them for five seasons scoring a further 2,097 runs at an average of 30.39 and taking 131 wickets at 25.74. The Championship was won in 1988 and 1989 and, although Botham’s part in the 1988 triumph was minimal - he played only four games because of injury - he contributed a lot in 1989 taking 51 Championship wickets at 22.00 each. There were also some one-day titles which will be dealt with later. 4