Famous Cricketers No 83 - Ian Botham

In the winter of 1987/88 Botham played a season’s cricket for Queensland where his all-round performances helped to carry the State to the Sheffield Shield final where they were beaten by Western Australia. Botham scored seven fifties in nineteen innings and took 29 wickets at an average of 27.75. Sadly his career with Queensland ended in some controversy when he was arrested after allegedly assaulting a passenger during some rowdy behaviour whilst on an internal Australian flight. There were also rumours of a dressing room brawl after the match against Tasmania. In any event Botham did not fulfil the other two years of his contract. Botham accepted a lucrative contract with the new Durham County Cricket Club in 1992 and played for them for two seasons, retiring before the end of the 1993 season. He scored two centuries for Durham in his total of 1,121 runs, average 30.29. His wickets were more expensive than he was used to - thirty nine at an average of 41.00. Botham was the subject of some controversy during his career. As a superstar he was often the target for malicious articles in the popular press, most of which were designed to sell newspapers and need not be taken too seriously. More serious was his ban from cricket in 1986 after admitting to smoking cannabis. His departure from Queensland was unfortunate and his own retirement from the game which he announced in his newspaper column in The Sun before telling his Club could have been done better. But over and above his cricketing feats Botham deserves to be remembered for his Charity walks on behalf of leukaemia research. Eight times he has trekked the 874 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End as well as other long distance walks, having been moved by the plight of young victims of the disease when he visited a local hospital. Botham played some league football for Scunthorpe United. His son, Liam, after playing cricket for Hampshire, has now opted for a career in rugby union and is currently playing with some success on the wing for Cardiff. Ian, as his manager, is keeping a fatherly watch on his son’s career. Since retiring from cricket he has kept in touch with the game as a writer having written his own biography subtitled Sh! Don’t tell Kath , and he is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines. He has joined the Sky commentary team as a summariser and his views are always constructive and to the point. He has helped the English management with coaching and is putting a lot back into the game in which he gave us so much pleasure. Will another Ian Botham ever emerge? I only wish we could call upon somebody half as good. Perhaps Andrew Flintoff is now worthy of being rated as a true successor if he can maintain his current run of form. 1974 Botham’s first-class career with Somerset began in 1974. His chance came about largely through injuries sustained by Tom Cartwright but he took it with both hands. The 1975 Wisden comments that he “showed star quality. His lively right arm swing bowling, clean flowing driving, and the ability to field magnificently anywhere were soon evident”. He played in eighteen matches scoring 441 runs at an average of 16.96. His bowling earned him thirty wickets at 24.63 and he held fifteen catches. He made his first Championship fifty against Middlesex at Taunton. Batting at number seven he hit two sixes and seven fours in making 59 to help lift Somerset from 138 for five to 261 all out. His first five wicket haul followed against Leicestershire at Weston-super-Mare, five for 59 off 28.2 overs. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 1. Somerset v Lancashire, Taunton, May 8, 9, 10 (Match drawn) c D.Lloyd b D.P.Hughes 13 285 3 0 15 0 381-8c 1 did not bat - 104-2 2. Somerset v Oxford University, The Parks, May (11), 13, 14 (Match drawn) did not bat - 106-1d 3.2 1 10 0 84-8d c S.R.Northcote-Green b M.J.D.Stallibrass 2 50-5 - - - - 90-8d 1 5