Ian Botham Biography -Biography Online About Ian Botham Biography Ian Botham is a retired English Test cricketer, who was one of the most entertaining all-rounders of his generation. His flamboyant batting and successful bowling had the capacity to win games and excite the spectators. His greatest moment came in the 1981 Ashes test at Headingley – where Ian Botham led England to the most spectacular and unpredictable recovery against Australia. Short Biography Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham OBE, was born November 24, 1955 in Heswall, Cheshire. He later moved to Yeovil, Somerset where he began playing cricket – playing for Somerset under 15s. As a youngster he was also a talented footballer – for a short time he played for Scunthorpe United, before settling on cricket as his chosen sport. After leaving school early, he played for Somerset, making his first class debut in 1974, aged 18. After 12 seasons of playing for Somerset, he resigned in 1986, in protest at the sacking of his West Indian friends Sir Vivian Richards and Joel Garner.

He later played for Worcestershire, Durham and Queensland in Australian cricket. He gained his Test debut for England in 1977. He went on to an illustrious international career. He took 383 wickets at an average of 28.4 and scored 5,200 runs at an average of 33.54. The figures on their own are not spectacular, but Botham frequently made a big impact in important games. He could also score at a quick rate and some of his innings were memorable, even if didn’t score a century. He had tremendous power and could hit the ball out of the ground, though he also had a good technique. His swing bowling was effective for his ability to move the ball – even when his pace slowed down in later years, he could make a big difference. Ian Botham was always a big character in the team, he became as famous for his on-field exploits as his off-field exploits. He had quite a few run ins with the more ‘stuffy establishment.’ – especially the members at Lords. For example, he got into trouble for smoking cannabis in 1986.

He also fell out with other players, notably Geoff Boycott – who Botham once famously ran out for scoring too slowly. In 1980, Ian Botham was made captain of England. However, it was not a success. He lost form, England didn’t do well, and not everyone in the dressing room was enamoured of Botham’s style. After first two tests in the Ashes series of 1981, Botham resigned the captaincy, with England trailing 1-0 and struggling to have any hope of winning series. In the second test at Lord’s Botham scored a pair. In the third test at Headingley, Brearley was made captain. The test got off to a bad start for England. Australia scored a big innings total 401-9. But, in reply, England could only make 174 – with Botham top scoring on 50 not out. In the follow on on Saturday, England’s top order again failed. On Saturday evening, bookmakers offered odds of 500-1 for England to win. On Sunday, Botham came to the crease when England were 105 for 5.

But, England then lost Boycott and Bob Taylor, leaving England on 135-7. Defeat looked inevitable. No-one in the ground expected England to have the faintest chance. But, as Graham Dilley joined Ian Botham in the middle, Botham let fly and played an innings of superb quality and attacking flair. Hitting the ball over the ground, he accelerated to 149 not out. He was ably supported by the England tail (Dilley scored 56) and Chris Old (29). Still England’s lead was just 129. There was only a feint chance of winning, but Botham had restored England’s pride. However, Bob Willis bowled with exceptional talent to bowl out the Australians for 111. Willis finished with 8 for 43. England had won a classic game by just 18 runs. It was only the second team to win a game after following on. Botham was the hero. It was a huge psychological boost for England. At the time, the economy was in deep recession, and the headlines about England cricket and been unrelentingly critical, but this turned the whole mood of the nation.

A packed Headingley celebrated the most unlikely of wins. In the next test match, England won by 29 runs – helped by a spell of bowling by Botham where he took 5 wickets for 1 run. England won the ashes in the Old Trafford test, where Botham again was man of the match with a peerless 118, which included six sixes, including two off the fast bowler Lillee. England won the final test at the Oval to take the series 3-1. Botham was named man of the series, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets. He was awarded BBC Sports Personality of the year in 1981. As well as his cricketing career, he was a prolific charity fund raiser. To raise funds he undertook gruelling walks. Several times he walked from Lands End to John O Groats. These walks received high publicity and raised substantial funds. His motivation for undertaking charity walks occurred when he went to a hospital in Somerset to receive treatment for a broken toe. By mistake, he took a wrong turn into a terminally ill childrens ward and was moved by the fact many children had only a few weeks to live.

After retiring from cricket he worked as a commentator for Sky Sports, becoming a regular voice on TV. He married Kathryn Waller (Kathy, now Lady Botham) in 1976. They had three children Becky, Sarah and Liam. Significant awards include: 1978 – Elected one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. 1992 – Awarded OBE 2004 – BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. Ian Botham Career statistics Sir Ian Botham – TalkCricket Other Interesting Facts Introduction Ian Terence Botham, also known fondly as Beefy and Guy the Gorilla (probably due to his large build), is one of Britain’s most famous cricket players. Botham is best known for holding a number of impressive records, such as having taken the highest number of wickets out of all England bowlers. Not only was Botham a fantastic bowler but he was in fact genuinely considered to be an all-rounder, great at both batting and bowling, having achieved 14 centuries as well as his 383 wickets. Botham was a former England Test Cricketer and also a team captain.

He has been a famous sports personality, in particular because of the number of newspaper headlines he dominated during his peak – indeed, fans will remember that he was as interesting and vibrant (though sometimes controversial!) off the pitch as he was on it. Even now at 52 years of age, he does not wish to be separated from his passion of cricket and is currently working as a cricket commentator. Botham’s cricketing career When Botham was a young boy, cricket soon became his passion. He was still at Junior school when he started played enthusiastically for the Somerset Under-15s team. His cricketing interests made him lose interest in his work, wanting to concentrate solely on his cricket, and so he left school at an early stage. He recalls that his careers master once said to him: "Fine, everyone wants to play sport, but what are you really going to do?" but Botham was determined to succeed in sport and worked hard till he became renowned for his skills. Botham began his career by playing first-class cricket at home for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1974. He later went on to play for Durham and Worcestershire as well, after he resigned from the Somerset team.

He also went to Australia in 1986 for a year to play for Queensland, but was sacked there due to being arrested for the assault of another passenger on a flight. During his time playing first-class, he scored 19,399 runs at 33.97, took 1,172 wickets at 27.22 and held 354 catches. Botham gave his first shot at Test-cricket, the longest form of cricket, in 1977 in the Third Test against Australia. His success meant that he had secured his career for the next fifteen years as a Test cricketer, playing in over a hundred matches, and also became one of England’s most famous Test players. It was during this time that he achieved 5,200 career runs at an average of 33.54, taking 383 wickets at an average of 28.40 and holding 120 catches. Amongst his various successes during that period was also becoming England’s captain for 12 Tests in 1980 and 1981.

Unfortunately, he did not prove to be a good captain and very few people remember anything he achieved while he had the position, making no wins and frequent losses. However, some speculate that this was not Botham’s fault but simply the fact that his team was up against the West Indies which were a spectacularly good team. Botham’s technique was never extraordinary as he preferred to perfect classic strategies for playing cricket. For example, he was a big-hitting batsman and also a swing bowler which is a popular subtype of fast bowling. 1981 Ashes Tour Above all Ian Botham is most remembered for his role in what is known as the the most famous few weeks in English cricket history, the 1981 Ashes, where England had an incredible victory due to him. This can be seen as the peak of Botham’s career. Spectators were astonished at his three performances, two of which consisted of him batting and one where he bowled. Botham always insisted that he won matches because of inspiration, not preparation and that that was ultimately what saw him through the Ashes. During the Ashes, Botham managed to score 2 centuries.

He set an incredible record of six sixes in a single Ashes Test Match at Old Trafford, a record which remained unbroken till Andrew Flintoff’s successes in 2005. Also, on the 4th day of the Headingly test, whilst England was predicted to lose by the Bookies at an odds of 500-1, Botham single-handedly made the come back with his 149 not-out. According to Wisden, this was the 4th finest of all time. Because of his success during the Ashes, Botham had become England’s hero once more despite having had a failed position as captain and a very high-profile resignation. His famous play resulted in the 1981 Ashes becoming known as Botham’s Ashes. After the Ashes, Botham continued to play strongly on an international scale but many noted that his abilities deteriorated over time, partly due to his growing weight which meant that his outswing was becoming less effective.

Records Here are some of the records Botham achieved during his cricket career: Fastest in Test cricket to achieve the doubles of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and 3,000 runs and 300 wickets. Holds the highest number of test wickets ever taken by an Englishman (383) On 5 occasions, Botham scored a century and took 5 wickets in an innings in the same Test match, a record others have managed to do only twice. The first player to score a century and take ten wickets in a Test match Other Interesting Facts 1. Botham has been in a number of controversial situations. For example, in 1986 he was suspended for smoking cannabis, and fell out with a number of players including Imran Khan who accused him of racism and cheating during a game. He also had at least one affair outside his marriage resulting in a public apology to his wife. 2. Botham was always very talented at football as well as cricket but had to make the decision early on in his life as to which he’d continue. 3.

Botham has done a lot of work for charity, such as raising much money for Leukaemia research (an estimated £10 million!) Because of such efforts, together with his spectacular cricketing achievements he was even knighted by the Queen in 2007 at Buckingham Palace. Other honours include being: BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for cricket and charity work (1992) Awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year (1988) BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1981) Wisden cricketer of the year (1978) He has now released many publications such as Botham, his official autobiography which was published in 2000. He has also written a similar one entitled Head On – Ian Botham: The Autobiography late last year, as well as his My Life Illustrated at the start of last year.

2014: Sir Ian Botham 2014: Sir Ian Botham 2014: Sir Ian Botham Sir Ian Botham used his 2014 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture to express his concerns at the increasing power of the Indian Premier League, suggesting it "should not be there at all." England's greatest cricketer described the IPL as "too powerful for the long term good of the game" before adding that it "provides the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing". Botham's MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture Listen to the Lecture Mike Gatting (President, MCC): Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2014 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture, both to everyone in the room and to those all over the world who are watching on YouTube, where we are live streaming this event for the very first time. A few individuals to mention to start. Firstly, the Cowdrey family, a good number of whom are here tonight. It’s great to see so many of you here, and I hope you have a very enjoyable evening.

Secondly, our panellists – Matt Prior and Sunil Gavaskar – who will be drawing on their huge international experience to discuss many of the issues raised by the lecture. Finally, a special thanks to our host for the Q&A, Mark Nicholas, who continues to give freely of his time and remains a huge advocate of the MCC Spirit of Cricket, for which we are very grateful. Over the years the lecture has seen some of cricket’s greatest personalities tackling the game’s biggest issues, and tonight is no different – and I can say that. Our guest this evening is widely regarded as one of the greatest English cricketers of all time – (Audience: “Hear, hear.”) – and I was lucky enough to share a dressing-room with him on many occasions, which was never boring. He started out here at Lord's on the ground staff, where he terrorised many a Member at 6 o’clock at night coming for a net before their evening or Saturday match. He was quite imposing, as he probably wanted to get to the pub for a beer.

He played over 400 First-class games for three counties and went on to play 102 Tests and 116 One-Day Internationals for England. He was aggressive and dominant with both bat and ball, and one of the best slip fielders England ever had. He was the fastest cricketer to reach the double landmark of 1000 runs and 100 Test wickets, and is England’s leading wicket-taker in Test matches with 383 wickets. I am sure Beefy will certainly give James Anderson a pat on the back, as he always does, perhaps, if he makes it past Beefy’s 383 some time next year. Since calling time on the incredible playing career, he has gone on to become one of Sky Sport’s most popular commentators and remains one of the most tireless charity fund raisers through his now famous walks for leukaemia. Ladies and gentlemen, I can say that they are not easy, and Beefy has gone through many a pain barrier. I have been there, walked with him, and the work he has done has been absolutely magnificent.

(Applause) He is one of the most outspoken and engaging characters in English sport, and I am sure he will have some very interesting things to say tonight, so, ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome Sir Ian Botham. (Prolonged applause) Sir Ian Botham: Good evening, everybody. I grew up playing sport. It was my life – cricket in the summer, football in the winter. If I could change anything about modern Britain – actually, there’d be a few changes – it would be to downgrade the importance attached to exams and upgrade the need for sport. Sport teaches you about life. It puts you in situations competitive and social that test and determine your character. After all, isn’t life about what you get for yourself and how you use that for the benefit of those around you, whether it’s family, friends or teammates? And sport sets you free: it takes you outside into the air and the elements and asks you to stretch yourself to the limits of your physical and mental attributes. Sport makes you fit, strong, fuels your adrenaline. Sport leads to your friendships. In short, sport encourages you out of the norm into areas you would never otherwise go.

To put this another way, sport takes you from the streets to the parks and the playing fields. If any Government can’t see that, they are blind. I always felt cricket was special, because of its gladiatorial nature. Much as I love the team framework of the game, I also love the one to one, the face-off, the head to head of Dennis Lillee trying to knock my block off, and I used to try and knock Alan Border’s block off and do the same to him. I love it that Viv Richards took on the world as if he were fighting for his life in the Coliseum and I love it that any emperor in the history of the Roman Empire would have held his thumb horizontal, waiting till the crowd went quiet, and then slowly raise it skywards to the roar of all the people who came to see Viv play. If any one man personified all that I believe is good about cricket, it is Viv – strength of body, mind and character, a bright personality, a unique talent, brilliantly applied to a successful career and, best of all, an honourable way of playing the game, respecting it dearly, treating his opponents as he would want to be treated himself.

That is not to say that Viv was perfect. Indeed, he had his moments where he lost the plot, but don’t we all? Viv’s passion for cricket, for his country, island, county, any team he represented rode roughshod over everything. Viv was the ultimate team man and defended that team sometimes to the point of going over the top in his responses to things, moments, issues, and getting it wrong. But I say rather that than hiding in the corner. This evening I want to make a few points about the game as I see it today and as I see it going forward and, within that, I want to tell you some of my own story. Cricket has been the main part of my life; it has given me so much. I hope I have done it justice in return. I have made mistakes – haven’t I? – but with few regrets, only happiness at my great luck to have been associated with this great game. Before I tell you some of my own cricketing stories, I would like to say a word or two about the reason we are all here. Right at the start of my career I played against the Kipper – Kipper Cowdrey.

Of course as kids we watched him play and admired his wonderful stroke play and timing and his brilliant slip fielding. Then when I got to know him a bit I found him to be a former great who supported the modern player instead of knocking him, as so many seemed to do back then – and I guess a few do now. Playing for Somerset against Kent in 1974, the Gillette Cup semi-final, I got the great man out. Granted he was in his 40s, but as far as I was concerned he was the great Colin Cowdrey and I’d got him out. That in itself was an inspiration to me. There remains no doubt that his life, so devoted to cricket, has been an inspiration to many others too. My story I was brought up in the south-west, but my roots were always in the north. We worked hard, we played hard. My father, Les, was in the Navy, my mum Marie a dental nurse. I think back now to the sacrifices they made for me as a youngster, initially to get me around Yeovil, then to get me around Somerset, south-west of England and then England – the sacrifices they made.

We were just a working-class family, and the rest of the family also missed out on a certain number of things so that they could accommodate my ambition with cricket. I then in Yeovil went to Millfield Junior School – Milford Junior School, I should say; Millfield, no chance. (Laughter) A certain Mr Hibbett, who became the sports master – I think actually he was the history teacher, but I think he got bored with history – spent time in the evenings with all the guys who wanted to play cricket. In the summer he would stay there at the school and quite often finance the equipment that we needed out of his own pocket. I often wonder: do the kids of today have the same opportunities now? I look at my friend Mark Nicolas and Mervyn King and what they’ve done with “The Chance to Shine” to encourage schools back into cricket. But why aren’t the Government focusing on sport as a necessity in the school curriculum? School is about more than exams; it is about life skills. This subject drives me insane. I feel that it is my duty to point out the problems that face sport in schools, and specifically cricket.

When I went to school there were 300 kids at Bucklers Mead Secondary Modern School. I knew every teacher, every teacher knew me, and in the summer we would be there till 8, 8.30, 9 o’clock in the evening playing sport; in the winter we would be in the gym playing badminton or indoor football, five a side, but the teachers were always prepared to stay there. The problem is now that schools are too big, and when you get 3,000 pupils, there is no personal touch with the teachers. And as schools get bigger, one of the things that you lose is your playing fields. Then of course, if you do want to stay behind, there is pressure on the teachers. We live in this world now of political correctness, health and safety. Why would you, as a teacher, be there at 6 o’clock in the evening in the summer and someone breaks a leg? In the culture we live in now you would probably get sued. Come on, David Cameron. When I came to Downing Street to meet you, you made all the right noises and promised to come back to me with your ideas. I’m still waiting.

(Applause) As I said, I was lucky with my parents, as many youngsters today are. I wish they were here tonight, my mother and father, but they will be looking down in disbelief, hardly able to believe that their anti-establishment boy is in a suit and tie, specs on – that will come to most of you at some stage – talking to an MCC-driven audience and, on that subject, let’s talk Lord's and the MCC. I first arrived here as a 15-year-old. I came up on the train with my mother. Somerset sent me up here to come and meet Harry Sharp and Len Muncer, running the MCC Young Professionals over the back here at the Nursery. I arrived on a Friday. They were impressed enough to say to me “Look, we’ve got about two weeks to go of the season. Would you like to come back on Monday and sample a couple of weeks?” It seemed like a good idea. I went back home with my mother on the train, sat down with my father and mother. At that time Crystal Palace were a prominent first division side in those days. I did say “in those days”.

I said “What do you think?” and he said “Son, I’ve seen you play football and I’ve seen you play cricket. You’re a better cricketer.” So I returned to Lord's and returned to the ground staff, and then in 1978, against Pakistan, four years after I made my First-class debut, I returned to the place that I had grown to love and admire and I had a big game, a massive game – 100, but 8 for 34. There have been many great swing bowlers to grace Lord's since – Malcolm Marshall, the late, great Malcolm, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and our very own Jimmy Anderson. If you will bear with me, I would like to say a few things about Jimmy. He’s going to waltz past my record and he’ll go well into, I think, maybe 500 wickets. He keeps himself fit, he is a master at what he does, and I admire and love watching him bowl. The way he performs, the slightest movement of the wrist from the away-swinger to the in-swinger, using the finger as the rudder.

It’s great stuff and I will be more than delighted when he passes my record. I am just worried about having to lump something all the way out to the West Indies, because that’s where it will happen – (Laughter) – to enjoy with him when he breaks my record. (Applause) Then in 1981, back here at this ground, I was captain, and I got out for a pair and I left the ground to stony silence. I walked off the field and I got to the steps to go into the Pavilion – stony silence. I went up into the Long Room, turned left to go towards the England dressing-room, people were hiding behind magazines, newspapers were going up – silence everywhere. Up the stairs into the dressing-room, and I sat down and I thought “Do I really want this? It’s affecting me, it’s affecting my teammates and, more importantly, it’s affecting my family. No.” So I resigned, and, as they say, the rest is history. Then 26 years later, in 2007, a wonderful thing happened to me. An envelope popped through the letter-box.

I opened it, read it and at the bottom it said “You cannot tell anyone for the next six weeks the contents of this letter”. I told my wife Kath and I told my two oldest children, Liam and Sarah. I daren’t tell my mother, because the whole world would have known within four minutes. I was about to receive a knighthood, and when the greatest day of my life arrived I was allowed to take three guests, so I decided that we would take the two oldest grandsons – what a moment for them – James and Regan. I also thought I should invite Kath. What a remarkable lady the Queen is, almost as remarkable as the long-suffering Kath. The point of this story is that a great day was finished off by the MCC with a marvellous reception in the Long Room, and they had arranged for tours for all the guests. There must have been nearly 200 people there and there were tours through the Long Room, through the Inner Sanctum, through the dressing-rooms, the England dressing-room, the Away dressing-room, where Shane Warne had probably sat just a few months before. It was magnificent. It really was magnificent.

And then that evening we had dinner in the Library for about 30 of our closest friends and family. It was done magnificently. Yes, MCC and me, we’ve got it sorted. (Applause) Let’s turn our attention to county cricket. When I joined Somerset I had an impressive captain, one called Brian Close, a man mountain, amazing guy. He never asked you to do anything that he couldn’t or hadn’t done before himself, and if Viv Richards was stood alongside me here, he would say exactly what I’m going to say now. Without his guidance, who knows, we could have fallen off the rails. We both had meteoric rises, but Brian Close was there to keep us on the straight and narrow. For that I thank him. What I don’t thank him for is when, as junior pro, I had to go and travel with Brian Close. This was the worst you could ever have. You’re doing 90 mph in the outside lane going to your next venue and Closey is sat there, cup of tea on the console, beef and mustard sandwich in his right hand and the Sporting Life over the steering wheel, looking for today’s elusive winner.

(Laughter) In 1974, my early days of county cricket, a certain Andy Roberts hit me in the face at Taunton. I would like to say I was hooking without a helmet. In actual fact it was my first year in First-class cricket and I had never seen anything like Andy Roberts. I had never seen any bowler this quick and this clever. I have to say that it was a really eye-opener – for cricket, the forerunner of things to come, so much so that the evidence is still there and in a few days’ time I’ve got to have two double implants put in. I am not particularly looking forward to that, I have to say. I am pretty brave at most things, but not the dentist. Then I went down to Somerset. I joined the team there and then Vivian Richards arrived, a pretty talented player, and then Joel Garner followed, two of the finest cricketers I’ve played with. The things they did for Somerset and, more importantly, the West Indies, were mind-blowing.

The West Indies team, the greatest team ever – I can say that, because I didn’t see Bradman’s team here in 1948, unlike quite a lot of you here. (Laughter) But I can assure you that that West Indies team in my time were the hardest I’ve ever played against – power batting, good technique, brilliant catching and ground fielding, and then they had a few bowlers. The fantastic fast-bowling department, four, five, six, seven, eight of them competing for those four spots, some of the greatest bowlers the game has ever seen. Did I object to the bouncer barrage? Well, it sort of made it hard to score and gave us all some feel of what Larwood did to Bradman. Then people say to me “That West Indian team can’t be the best. They had no spinner.” My question to you is “When was he going to bowl?” (Laughter) I debuted for Somerset in 1973, won our first trophy in 1979, first for the club after 97 years – what a moment. I left in 1986.

By then we had won five trophies, and the club was truly on the map. I made the short journey up the M5 to Worcester, a wonderful place, a wonderful team, wonderful people. I had a great time there, winning five trophies, including two championships between 1987 and 1991. Then what was left of my body made its way home to Durham. Finally I made it back to the north-east of England. To see Durham’s success today brings great pleasure, and I would like to mention one person in particular up there who I think has done a magnificent job, and he never gets the praise he deserves. That is Graham “Foxy” Fowler. He started the academy, which has so benefited Durham and England. Well done, Graham Fowler. (Applause) The importance of county cricket it is a springboard to Test cricket, yes, but county cricket is an important part of the fabric of our game. We don’t need franchises. Are Warwickshire any more relevant as the Birmingham Bears, I ask myself. But we do need a greater concentration of talent so that standards stay high. Personally I think there are too many county teams.

Twelve seems a good number to me, but I would not envy the person who has to tell the other six. England – goodness, how things have changed. That dreaded wait by the telephone on a Sunday, listening to the radio, to find out if you are in the team on Thursday. We had rest days in those days as well. They were magnificent. We did more damage to those Australians on the rest day than we ever did on the pitch. (Laughter) My first ever captain, Tony Grieg, the extrovert, larger than life, made things happen. I heard about his lecture here two years ago. It always hurt me that the establishment in England felt he had let them down, but for the MCC to bring him back was fantastic. We miss you, Greggy. You were an inspiration and, with Kerry Packer, you changed the modern game. (Applause) Mike Brearley, sat there next to Kath – we always used to call him the mentor. The first time he met you he would look you straight in the eyes and you could feel him probing inside your head. Needless to say, he didn’t stay in mine too long.

(Laughter) But we always used to say he had a degree in people. He was the best captain I played with. Bob Willis was another character, my opening bowling partner, my first big mate, the bowlers’ union, the man who took me out of the hotel and encouraged me to see the world through other eyes than just cricket. We met wonderful people and saw wonderful places. We embraced different cultures. We even went up the Khyber Pass, not something I’d have a crack at now. Central contracts, brilliant, but have they now become so essential to the England player that the sharpness goes? A long contract is a cosy contract. To play international sport above all else, above even freshness and rest, you must have desire. It is not enough to want success; you must need success. If you want success, that’s fine, but you need it; you need it as a player. Hunger is still the most important attribute for any sportsman. They now allow wives on tour, which I think is brilliant, and they should be on tour. It’s a lonely place when you’re touring Australia, particularly if you’re not going well. I remember in 1987 we went down with the family.

I wanted the family close to me. Just to show you how things have changed – for the better – when we went down there I took the family and the nanny and we went down to Australia for the whole tour. It cost me my whole tour fee and another £3,000 to play for England, but I wouldn’t swop it for the world. The Ashes If Viv is the person who most stands for all I believe to be good in cricket, the Ashes is the contest that most explains what the game means to me and why its status in the game should never be taken lightly. The summer of 1981 changed my life – the cricket, the royal wedding, the miners’ strike – living in the north of England it was very apparent – the race riots – driving into Bristol when St Paul’s was on fire – Margaret Thatcher under the cosh, but what the whole country got behind was the cricket team, because England wanted a winner, and the England team pulled it off against all the odds. Yes, I became synonymous with that series – Botham’s Ashes – but of course they’re not my Ashes, not close.

The Ashes belong to all of us, the players in that series and in any other series, and to the people of our two proud countries. Gatt, you’re President: is the urn really too fragile to travel between countries? I always believed that the side that has won the Ashes should have the Ashes on display in that country, and if that could be achieved, I think it would make them even more valuable. (Applause) So I’ve slipped the ball inside, Gatt. To an Englishman, beating Australia is the best thing in sport, and the same thing applies in reverse to the Australians, with bells on. I played Shield cricket for Queensland for a season and, believe me, the Aussies ache to beat England. They regard it as compulsory, a given, and it’s great that they care that much, because beating them is even better because of it. The Ashes bring out the emotion and, from it, comes everybody’s involvement. Millions in both lands want to be part of it. The best example of this in recent times was England in 2005 when, after 16 years of hurt, England turned it around and Freddy was a hero.

The whole country was glued to the matches. The kids were playing the game wherever you looked. So passion is my number one reason why the Ashes matter: it inspires kids to play in parks, paint wickets on garage doors. This is what a winning England team in any sport can do – inspire. The others are comradeship and a collection of achievements that can define you and your career. At a time when T20 threatens to take over the game, Ashes matches are an important standard for Test cricket. They are history, they are records, the excitement, the personalities, the way in which the public become involved, the TV rights, the live crowds – all this, and it’s just a little old urn. We should beware of overkill of T20 When T20 began we played the tournament in a three-week burst and it worked. Since then we have played more and more of it and, guess what, the crowds haven’t got bigger. The county championship needs space to breathe. Let’s not crowd our calendar with an overkill of T20. (Applause) And while I am on T20, I am worried about the IPL.

In fact, I fear it shouldn’t be there at all, as it is changing the priorities of world cricket. Players are slaves to it. Administrators bow to it. How on earth did the IPL own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these players into the game? I know this has been modified to a degree, but it is still an imbalance. The IPL is too powerful for the long-term good of the game. (Applause) Corruption is enough of a problem in itself, but the IPL compounds that problem, given that it provides the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing. We have seen a few players exposed, but does throwing the odd second XI player into jail solve it? I leave you with one thought: to kill the serpent, you must cut off its head. The ICC anti-corruption unit must pursue the root of the problem and, if necessary, expose the big names. (Applause) My reflections on the game Cricket has given me so much. I played in the age of the all-rounder – Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan and myself.

If ever cricket told you that there was a place for everyone, it was then. Think how different we all are – proof that cricket is for all people from all corners of the world. Hell raising, dope, the ban, even that bloke Tim Hudson who put me in that jazzed-up blazer – remember that multi-coloured blazer? – and said I could be a Hollywood star. Hardly! Did anyone see me in panto? Yes, I was a renegade, but I did all right in the end. I was a free spirit and I would never knock that in any other person. The importance of using fame and profile to kick ass, as my grandchildren say –- leukaemia. The success story indirectly comes from my life as a cricketer. Without doing what I did on the cricket field, I would never have had the platform to make the leukaemia walks and charity work successful. What has been the impact of those walks on leukaemia? The difference is that when we first started 30 years ago there was a 20% chance of survival for children with the most common form of leukaemia.

Now it’s a 94% chance – (Applause) – and that very first walk started all that rolling. We raised enough money to build a leukaemia research centre outside Glasgow, and that’s where all the money that we raise now goes to beating that awful disease. We have also set up a foundation now so that we can expand and take on other diseases – CRY, Batten disease, brittle diabetes in the young, brain tumours – so we are ongoing. Closing in now, I have mentioned some people who inspired me and I urge the cricketers of today to continue to look to inspire the next generation. Finally, there are two more people I want to pick out – first, Kenny Barrington. The thing I enjoyed most with Kenny, and I had many tours with him, is that I never heard him say once “in my day”, a true British bulldog to the last. The saddest day I have ever experienced on a cricket field was when the two teams lined up in Barbados when Kenny had passed away with a massive heart attack that night. Never to be forgotten.

And then a man who, if he was still alive, would be 100 years old this year – John Arlott, all that is good about playing and watching the game, a wonderful man. For the last 10 years of his life I was as close to him as anybody outside his family, and if you will bear with me, I will just give you a couple of examples. John was a creature of habit and he lived just up the road from me in Alderney. He introduced me to the island, and that’s why we bought a place there. John would be up at 6 o’clock listening to the Radio 4 News. The shipping report would come on at 9, he would get a courtesy call from his doctor and at 9.06 – you could set your alarm by it – the phone would ring: “Are you there?” “Yes, John, I’m here. I haven’t gone anywhere.” “Good.

What time are you coming up?” I’d say “Very shortly, John.” “Good, and bring your thirst with you.” (Laughter) I have just come back from the Channel Islands and Alderney, and, to this day, every time I go there with my father-in-law, Kath’s dad, we always take a very good bottle of red wine down to John’s grave. We go down and shake hands, and we sit there and we open the bottle, we enjoy it and then we leave the cork on the grave, and I have been doing that for some time. There is a considerable amount of cork on that grave. (Laughter) They are two men with a perspective on cricket that reflected their magnificent perspective on life. I would not have swapped any of it. I respect cricket, and cricket has been good to me. I repeat, it has been a major part of my life, and I am a lucky man, as indeed are all of us in this room: we are lucky to have cricket in our lives. Thank you. (Applause) Share this page footballsite - some of the record-breaking, unusual and bizarre football stories. FOOTBALL & CRICKET........

Its perhaps not the case so much now but with seasons which hardly overlapped and a group of natural sportsmen who needed to earn a decent living in both summer and winter it was perhaps not surprising that many players played both our national sports - football and cricket - to a high standard. A dozen players have represented England at both football and cricket and dozens more have played both games to a high standard. Here are some of them - Chris Balderstone was a true Roy of the Rovers all-rounder. As a footballer he was signed by Bill Shankly for Huddersfield Town in 1958 although one Denis Law kept him out of the first team until the following year. He went on to play for Carlisle, Doncaster and Queen of the South. At Carlisle he scored a penalty for the Cumbrians against Spurs on Saturday August 24th 1974 - the only goal of the match and a victory that put Carlisle on top of the old First Division for just a few days. Carlisle results/table 1974/75. As a cricketer he made his debut for Yorkshire in 1961 before moving to another strong and successful club, Leicestershire.

He made two Test appearances for England and following retirement he became a first-class umpire, officiating in two one-day internationals. The two sports once famously combined to earn him a bit of a 'Superman' reputation. On Monday 15th September 1975 he played cricket for Leicestershire against Derbyshire at Chesterfield and at close of play he was 51 not out. A quick drive to Belle Vue followed and he played for Doncaster Rovers in the evening in a 1-1 draw against Brentford in the Fourth Division. The following morning he was back playing cricket, finishing his innings on 116 and taking 3 wickets for 28 runs to help win the County Championship for Leicestershire for the first time. Amazing! The trick pub quiz qu estion is - name the three England captains who have played for Scunthorpe United? Kevin Keegan, Ray Clemence and....Ian Botham. Former England cricketer Botham made his Football League debut for Scunthorpe as a sub away to Bournemouth on Tuesday March 25th 1980, a 3-3 draw.

He made his starting debut a couple of years later in Scunthorpe's home match against Wigan on Friday March 12th 1982. A memorable match - Scunthorpe lost 2-7, their worst home League defeat! In total Ian Botham played 11 League games for Scunthorpe as a non-contract player and of course with a record like that was awarded a benefit match....against Manchester United! Brothers Denis and Leslie Compton had sport, and more particularly Arsenal and Middlesex, in their genes. Leslie was the more successful footballer of the two making a total of 253 League appearances for Arsenal between 1932 and 1952 and playing twice for England. He was 38 years and 64 days old when he made his debut for England, against Wales in 1950, making him the oldest-ever outfield England debuntant. Between 1938 and 1956 he kept wicket for Middlesex, playing a total of 274 first class matches.

Denis made 54 League appearances for Arsenal between 1936 and 1950 and played 12 times for England in war-time (unofficial) internationals. Cricket was his main sport, making 78 Test appearances for England while scoring 38942 runs and taking 622 wickets in a total of 515 first class matches played. The brothers played alongside each other in Arsenal's League Championship successes of 1937/38 and 1947/48, in Middlesex's County Championship victory in 1947 and were both in the Arsenal side that defeated Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup Final at Wembley. A remarkable family achievement. Trevor Ford enjoyed his cricket but his career was in football. A centre-forward, he played for Swansea, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Cardiff, PSV Eindhoven and Newport County as well as making 38 appearances for Wales. After retiring from football he made a cameo appearance in a very famous County Championship cricket match between Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire.

On August 31st 1968 at the St Helen's ground in his home town of Swansea he made a brief appearance for Glamorgan as a substitute fielder for the injured Ossie Wheatley. Later that day Nottinghamshire's Gary Sobers became the first person ever to score six sixes in one over, the unfortunate bowler being Malcolm Nash. The greatest all-rounder of them all was CB Fry. An amateur footballer, he played for the Corinthians as well as a total of 18 Southern League matches for Southampton and Portsmouth. While at Southampton he won an England cap against Ireland and played for the Saints in the 1902 FA Cup final against Sheffield United, who had 'Fatty' Foulke in their line-up. Two days after their replay defeat in that final Fry scored 82 when opening the batting with WG Grace for London County at the Oval. As a cricketer he made 26 appearances for England and during his career scored 94 centuries.

As well as being a double international he held the world long-jump record for a while, played for Blackheath and the Barbarians at Rugby Union, he was a writer, edited his own magazines, broadcaster, unsuccessfully stood in three General Elections, he met Hitler and was once reputedly offered the throne of Albania. I bet I could have beaten him at WII ten pin bowling though! Although born in Bury, Lancashire, Andy Goram was a double international for Scotland. As a goalkeeper he played 43 times for Scotland at football while at cricket he played twice in first-class matches against Ireland and several times more in one-day internationals. He was fined by his football employer, Hibs, for playing in one of those matches, against the Australians in 1989, after being told not to do so to prevent possible injury. After his £1 million move to Rangers in 1991 he was effectively banned from playing cricket to prevent a possible injury. In 2001 he was voted by Rangers fans as the best ever Rangers goalkeeper and while at that club he picked up a unique chant in his honour.

Having been diagnosed with a mild case of schizophrenia there was only one possible chant - 'Two Andy Gorams, there's only two Andy Gorams!' Geoff Hurst holds the record as the only footballer to have scored a World Cup final hat-trick but he also holds the record of being the only World Cup winner to have played County Championship cricket. He did this just once - for Essex against Lancashire at Liverpool in 1962 but also played 23 times for Essex 2nd XI during the summers of 1962, 1963 and 1964. Gary Lineker was another sporting all-rounder. He captained Leicestershire Schools and played for the County 2nd XI before concentrating on football. He later played for the MCC against Germany at Lords in 1992 scoring a single run - 'I always score one against Germany' he said. Arthur Milton was the last of the England double internationals. He made his international debut at football for England against Austria in 1951 after having played only 12 League matches for Arsenal.

He retired from football in the summer of 1955 after making a total of 89 League appearances for the Gunners and Bristol City. He was also a Gloucestershire cricketer from 1948 to 1974 and made 6 appearances for England. He made a century on his England debut, against New Zealand at Headingley in July 1958, opening the batting in that Test with another double international MJK (Mike) Smith (cricket and rugby union). Like the Comptons, the Nevilles would be part of any argument that sporting excellence is in the genes. Dad Neville (yes his name was Neville Neville) was a league cricketer in Lancashire while sons Phil and Gary are England football internationals and their sister Tracey is an England netball international. Both brothers were talented youth cricketers with Phil Neville being seen by many as a future Test player. He captained England Under-15s, played alongside Andrew Flintoff in the Lancashire Under-19 side and when just 15 he became the youngest player to play for the Lancashire 2nd XI.

Then he joined Manchester United, but it wasn't a straightforward decision - "My last ever game of cricket was for Lancashire seconds. I got called in by my school and they told me I was missing too much time. They said I had to give up either football or cricket, but I had just played at Wembley against an Italian team containing Totti so that swayed me. And Lancashire didn't offer me anything either. In the end, my maths teacher helped me make my decision." Ian Botham's Somerset team-mate Viv Richards was a double World Cup international. He was a World Cup winner for the West Indies at cricket but somewhat less successful when playing football for Antigua in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. W ith Moore, Hurst and Peters in the side it would be easy to overlook the sporting prowess of the other members of the West Ham United side of the mid-sixties. One of them was goalkeeper Jim Standen. In 1964 he was part of the Hammers' side that won the FA Cup for the first time and during the summer a member of the Worcestershire side that won the County Championship, also for the first time.

His medium pace bowling saw him take 64 wickets at 13 runs each (best performance 7-30) to finish top of the County Championship bowling averages. In 1965 he was back at Wembley with the West Ham side that beat Munich 1860 in the European Cup Winners Cup Final and although Worcestershire retained their cricket title Standen played in only one of their matches. ********* Sheffield United were formed by Yorkshire Cricket Club in March 1889 just six days after Bramall Lane had staged an FA Cup semi-final which had taken £600 in receipts. The cricket club decided that regular football at the ground would prove successful (Bramall Lane) . It did prove successful, so much so that the football club became the senior partner and eventually evicted the cricket club from the ground. Yorkshire played their last County match at Bramall Lane in August 1973, drawing with Leicestershire. The South Stand at Bramall Lane was then built on part of the former cricket ground, finally enclosing the football ground on all four sides.

********* Yorkshire staged 339 County Championship matches at Bramall Lane and in July 1902 became the only current Football League ground ever to host a Test Match, England losing to Australia by 143 runs. However, with Bramall Lane suffering from poor light because of the smoke emissions of local factories it proved to be the only one the ground hosted. Pictured is the crowd at the Bramall Lane Test showing the Pavilion in its hey-day, in contrast to the picture above which shows the same Pavilion shortly before it was demolished to make way for yet another car park. ********* Following the loss of cricket at Bramall Lane the last ground to host both Football League and County Championship matches was the County Ground at Northampton. Originally a cricket ground, Northampton Town were residents of the County Ground from their formation in 1897. The football pitch had the reputation of having the worst playing surface in the League which was largely the result of the pitch being used as a spectator area/car park/picnic area during the cricket season. The Cobblers played their last match there on Tuesday October 11th 1994, a 0-1 Division 3 defeat by Mansfield.

Four days later they drew 1-1 with Barnet in their first match at the Sixfields Stadium. ********* Sheffield Wednesday is another football club which owes its formation to cricketers. The club was formed at a meeting at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield on Wednesday 4th September 1867 by members of the Wednesday Cricket Club who wanted to play football to keep fit during the winter months. The cricket team played on Wednesday afternoons when the shops were shut for half-day closing and the Wednesday Football Club – they didn’t officially become Sheffield Wednesday until 1929 – was expecting to do the same. The club formation was announced shortly afterwards in a statement in the Sheffield Independent newspaper - SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CRICKET CLUB AND FOOTBALL CLUB. At a general meeting held on Wednesday last, at the Adelphi Hotel, it was decided to form a football club in connection with the above influential cricket club, with the object of keeping together during the winter season the members of this cricket club. From the great unanimity which prevailed as to the desirability of forming the club, there is every reason to expect that it will take first rank.

The office bearers were elected as follows: - President, Mr. B. Chatterton; vice-president and treasurer, Mr. F. S. Chambers; hon. Secretary, Mr. Jno. Marsh; assistant, Mr. Castleton. Committee: Messrs Jno. Rodgers, Jno. White, C. Stokes, and H. Bocking. About sixty were enrolled without any canvas, some of them being the best players of the town. ********* It's not just some of the English football clubs who can trace their origins back to cricket but one one of the most famous foreign clubs of them all can - AC Milan. No joking! AC Milan were founded back in December 1899 by a group of English expats led by Herbert Kilpin and Alfred Edwards as the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Although the cricket section hasn't lasted the passing of time the English spelling of their Milan name has. The Milan in AC Milan is spelt the English way, rather than the Italian spelling of Milano, in a lasting tribute to their English founders. ********* Darlington's old Feethams ground was next-door to a cricket ground.

On December 29th 1923 Darlington's Third Division (North) match against Chesterfield couldn't be played at the Feethams because of a frozen pitch so the match was moved to the cricket ground. A crowd of 5675 saw Darlington record a 2-1 victory. ********* When the cricketing authorities decided to experiment with floodlit cricket in England they had a problem - no English cricket grounds had floodlights! So they turned to football for help. On August 14th 1980 Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground hosted the first senior day-night match in England, Essex against the West Indies. An artificial pitch was laid but a football pitch is not the ideal shape for cricket. Being long and thin it was an easy matter to hit sixes to the short boundaries - Graham Gooch hit a century in just 77 minutes and in one 18-minutes spell Viv Richards scored 53 runs.

A crowd of 11,073 made it a success full experiment, so much so that when Chelsea played Wrexham two days later in their opening Football League fixture of the season the chant of 'We want cricket' was heard during the slower moments of the game. A month later, on 17th September 1980 an England XI (including Botham, Gooch, Boycott and Gatting) played the Rest of the World (including Richards, Gavaskar, Lloyd and Marshall) in a 40-over match at Bristol City's Ashton Gate Ground. A crowd of 7925 made it a profitable venture but the experiment didn't bring a lasting union between the sports with the major cricket grounds getting their own floodlights. ********* It has become less common over the years for players to have careers in both sports so in February 2015 it came as a surprise when Steve Harmison became manager of Ashington FC. Steve Harmiston was a former Durham fast-bowler who had played 63 times for England - including in an Ashes-winning series - and had taken 63 Test wickets.

Ashington Football Club were members of the Northern League and were part of the ninth level of football in England with a normal attendance of around 200 at their Woodhorn Lane ground. Explaining his reasons for managing a football club rather than coaching a cricket side he said that he had always supported his hometown club, playing for them before he joined Durham and then training with them while he played for Durham. But then he perhaps spoilt it a bit by saying that his first love in football was Newcastle United! ********* Well, one thing that you will probably never see nowadays is a friendly cricket match between two football clubs, it often used to happen. One example was this friendly between Manchester United and Manchester City in 1962 but with so many foreign players in the game could any club muster up 11 players who now even know how to play cricket? And that hard ball - which club would allow any of their pampered stars to risk injury playing the game? *********

Question: With which English county cricket club did Ian Botham finish his playing career?
Answer: Durham