On November 24th the cricket world celebrated the 70th birthday of Ian Botham, arguably the most impactful and best match-winner amongst all English cricketers. Witnessing Botham on a cricket field in every department put a spectator on the edge of his seat. Botham manipulated and commanded proceedings in the manner of a great Hollywood actor. He was the ultimate epitome of aggression on a cricket field.
Rare to find any cricketer or even sportsman transcend energy levels in such surreal proportions. At his best, Botham could transcend realms surreal, and could even surpass the ultimate cricketing genius, Sir Garfield Sobers. If I had to bet on anyone to pull off a cricketing miracle one of my first choices would be Botham.
Above everything, Botham enjoyed his cricket more than anyone and infused life into the game as few ever did. Although he was involved with on-field brawls, like with the Pakistani teams in 1992, overall, he was a most affable character.
As a batsman, Botham could produce the power of Hercules, creating the effect of a bulldozer, sending the ball to every area. Botham could score runs at an electrifying rate. His drives and hook shots could be truly majestic, combined with an impeccable defense. He could garner runs at an electrifying rate.
In his heyday, Botham was lethal with an inswinger and outswinger, producing last-minute movement and subtle changes of pace, with a disguised slower ball. His deadly inswinger could trap the best of batsmen in front, and he was a master in laying a trap for an opponent. Sadly, he lost his outswinger in the later part of his career. I doubt in his era any pace bowler surpassed Botham's intelligence, who was a master in drawing batsmen into a mistake. At best, he was the most lethal swing bowler in the world. His swinging half-volley was the undoing of many a batsman.
In the field, Botham pulled off some of the most spectacular catches in the slips.
Highlights of Cricketing Career
Botham made a spectacular start to his Test career in 1977, capturing 5 wickets for 74 runs on debut in an Ashes Test at Nottingham and taking 5-21 at Leeds. He captured 21 wickets in that series.
In New Zealand in 1978, Botham was consistency personified, capturing 17 wickets at 18.29.
In 1978 against a second-string Pakistan side at Lord's, Botham scored 108 and captured 8 wickets for 34 runs, to inflict a humiliating defeat. He gave signs of budding into possibly the best of all-rounders.
In 1978-79 in Australia, Botham was a revelation, making a series of match-winning breakthroughs with the ball and playing some cameos with the bat. His movement tormented the Australian batsmen while his power could make the Aussie attack shell-shocked. Botham captured 23 scalps at an average of 24.65.
In a home series against India in 1979, Botham produced dazzling exhibitions with bat and ball. He produced a match-winning spell at Edgbaston in the 1st Test and scored 137 in the 3rd Test at Leeds like a Blitzkrieg. Rarely has cricket ever witnessed such stupendous aggression with both bat and ball. He captured 20 wickets at 23.20 with the ball and won the man of the series award.
In 1979-80 down under, Botham was inconsistent with the bat but most effective with the ball, capturing 19 wickets, although in losing causes. At Perth, his 11-wicket haul manifested mastery of pace and seam, making the Aussie batsmen grapple. After a string of low scores, Botham scored an unbeaten 119 in the final Test at Melbourne, again however in a losing cause.
In 1980, in the Jubilee Test at Mumbai, Botham epitomized all-round cricketing skill in magical realms, transcending all-round performance at heights unscaled. He took 6-58 and 7-49 with the ball and scored 114 runs with the bat. In response to India’s score of 242, losing 5 wickets with a mere 58 runs on the board, England were in dire straits, before Botham resurrected them from the grave, being involved in a 171-run partnership with Bob Taylor. His stroke play restored memories of Keith Miller and Gary Sobers. With the ball, his devastating swing and seam movement sent the Indian batsmen tottering, who looked dumbfounded or caught in no man’s land. Botham had set a new parameter in all-round performance, not equalled till this day. Rarely has a sportsman, let alone cricketer, remained in such control of proceedings, reminiscent of a crowning moment of an emperor.
In 1980, in the home series against West Indies, Botham was awarded the captaincy for the first time in his illustrious career. Sadly, it distracted and affected his cricket and his performance levels subsided, with bat and ball; in spite of occasional flashes, he scored only one fifty and never had a five-wicket haul. The same story was replicated in the Caribbean tour of 1981, with his side receiving a 2-0 battering.
In the 1981 Ashes, after being relinquished from captaincy after the 2nd Test at Lord's, Botham engineered the most dramatic or mythical twist and turn to a series in cricket history, resurrecting England from the grave to achieve miraculous victories. It was virtually the equivalent of a divine intervention. In the last 4 Tests, he accumulated 365 runs at an average of 52.14 and captured 28 wickets at an average of 19.68, including a 10 for 253 in the final Test.
At Leeds in the 3rd Test, in the first innings he scored 50 out of a total of 174 and captured 6 wickets for 95 with the ball. In the 2nd innings with England in the depths of despair at 135-7, still 92 runs away from averting an innings defeat, Botham scored one of the most explosive innings ever in the game, scoring an unbeaten 149, with his century coming off 87 balls. It was close to the best ever counter-attacking aggression in a crisis, although executed with many freaky and chancy shots, on a pitch that was not true. Many of his boundaries were top edges. One of the best ever exhibitions of adaptation and innovation on a bad wicket, with uneven bounce. Never had the likes of Dennis Lillee and Terry Alderman faced such a battering before overseas, with Botham reminiscent of creating the effect of a bulldozer. His innings turned the complexion of match and morale of players and crowd 360 degrees, as though it ushered a new dawn to turn the entire nation on their feet. In a fitting climax, Australia buckled to lose the game by 18 runs, chasing a target of 130.
In the 4th Test at Edgbaston, Botham again dramatically switched the result of the game, when Australia looked coasting home to a 151-run target, capturing 5 wickets for one run. Ironically, he had even earlier refused to bowl, and it was the mastery of captaincy of Mike Brearley that brought him on to bowl. His impact reminded one of a character who just jumped into a play to give a magical twist to the plot.
In the 5th Test at Old Trafford, Botham’s classic 118 sealed the Ashes, after England looked precariously placed at 104-5 in the 2nd innings. It was close to the best Test match innings ever in terms of sheer virtuosity, taking batting domination and range of stroke play to heavenly heights. Botham mercilessly hooked Lillee for three sixes. A medley of hook shots, drives, and cuts fused the knock to be part of cricket’s museum.
In 1981-82 on the tour of India, Botham was consistency personified with the bat, only effective as a bowler in the 1st Test at Mumbai. He scored a string of fifties before scoring a breathtaking 142 at Kanpur, in the final Test. By the margin of a whisker, Kapil Dev pipped Botham for the man of the series award.
In the 1982 summer, Botham continued his run of form in Test series against India and Pakistan, comprising 3 Tests apiece. He had a staggering average over 100 against India, including scoring 128 at Old Trafford and 208 at the Oval, with the latter being the fastest Test double century then. It was one of Test cricket’s most exhilarating exhibitions, taking batting virtuosity to heights rarely transcended. Botham had a five-wicket haul and scored 67 at Lord's but was overshadowed by Kapil Dev. Botham scored 2 fifties with the bat and captured 18 wickets against Pakistan. His haul of nine wickets and score of 57 helped England clinch the series at Leeds. Still, it was Kapil Dev and Imran Khan who won the race over Botham for the man of the series award, in the respective series. Both outshone Botham.
Botham was hardly at his best in the 1983-83 Ashes down under, making no real impact but came back in a home series against New Zealand in 1983. He made a spectacular impact in New Zealand in 1984, averaging over 54 with the bat, including scoring 138 in the 1st Test.
In the 1984 home series against West Indies, although inconsistent, in the 2nd Test at Lord's he looked an incarnate of Gary Sobers scoring a blistering 81 and then capturing 8 wickets for 103. Botham scaled all-round performance against arguably the best team ever to domains not transcended. His explosive bursts with the ball and exuberant stroke play personified the model all-rounder. Overall, he scored 347 runs at 34.70 and took 19 wickets at 35.10.
In the 1985 home Ashes, Botham justified why he was the best all-rounder with a series of illustrious performances. He scored runs averaging 31.25 with the bat and captured 31 wickets at 27.58.
In 1986 in West Indies, his nightmares continued against the Calypsos.
In home series in 1986 against India and New Zealand, he was not at his best but made a spectacular return in the 1986-87 Ashes down under. His 138 at Brisbane and 5-wicket haul at Melbourne engineered England’s retention of the Ashes.
In 1987 in a home series against Pakistan, Botham was overshadowed by Imran Khan, but still made his presence felt, with an unbeaten 51, which saved England in the final Test at the Oval.
Analysis of Greatness amongst All-rounders
Botham ended his Test career scoring 5200 runs at an average of 33.54 with 14 centuries and capturing 383 wickets at 28.40 with 27 five-wicket hauls in 102 Test matches. Till Ravichandran Ashwin broke his record, Botham was the fastest ever to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets. He holds the record for scoring the fastest double of 200 wickets and 3000 runs in a span of 55 Tests. Botham is the only all-rounder to have scored a hundred and taken five wickets in a Test on 5 occasions.
In his peak period from 1977-82, Botham was 2nd only to Sir Garfield Sobers as an all-rounder, while at his best possibly even more effective in sculpting wins. In that period, in 54 Test matches he scored 2996 runs at 37.92 and captured 249 wickets at 23.82. From 1983 to 1992 his career dramatically mellowed, in 48 Tests scoring 2204 runs at 29 and taking 134 wickets at 37.44.
For sheer match-winning flair as an all-rounder at his best, Botham did not have an equal. No all-rounder at his best turned lost games into winning affairs to such a degree. With both bat and ball, no all-rounder ever equalled Botham’s performance in the 1981 Ashes and the 1980 Jubilee Test in Mumbai. In his peak era, Botham created the impact of Viv Richards and Gary Sobers. Still, I have no doubt that even peak Botham, even if as charismatic, could not equal Gary Sobers’ all-round cricketing skill or genius.
It must be stated that Botham benefited from playing against weaker teams of Pakistan and Australia, when best players signed for Kerry Packer. He also hardly had many notable performances against or in West Indies. After 1982, Botham only gave flashes of his former self.
Botham never scored a century against West Indies. Kapil Dev outclassed Botham in every department against the all-conquering West Indies at home and away. Imran Khan twice in a series in England won the man of the series contest against Botham. Botham was not tested on sub-continent pitches like Imran and Kapil.
Fusing consistency with match-winning flair, Gary Sobers would without doubt stand supreme amongst all all-rounders in cricketing history. In my view, in the final cut I cannot separate Botham from Keith Miller and Imran Khan, who both had better bowling and batting averages than Ian, and could make a team on sheer merit of fast bowling. However, Botham had higher aggregates of runs and wickets than them. Jacques Kallis was a batting all-rounder so the comparison is unfair. Kapil Dev has a better run and wicket aggregate, captured most of his scalps on docile subcontinent tracks and was equally flamboyant with the bat. However, inconsistency possibly placed him a whisker below Botham. Botham was more dynamic or flamboyant with the bat than Imran, but the latter was more consistent in a crisis. No all-rounder as rapidly crossed barriers of doubles of runs and wickets as Botham. Similar to Kapil Dev and Keith Miller, Botham would be at his best with bat and ball at the same time in games and series, with Imran Khan and Jacques Kallis being best with ball and bat in different parts of their careers.
Botham would win my vote amongst the 15 best cricketers of all, just a whisker below Imran Khan because of captaincy, and a whisker above Kallis because of his match-winning flair. His decline after 1982 prevented him from joining the league of a Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, and Shane Warne.
In a selection of 100 best cricketers, Cristopher Martin Jenkins ranked Botham at 18th place, Geoff Armstrong at 18th place, David Gower at 12th, and John Woodcock at 10th. In a selection of all-time teams, 18 cricketers have chosen Botham including Shane Warne, Mike Procter, Barry Richards, Richard Hadlee, Saed Anwar, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Greg Chappell.
Botham is a strong contender to join Garfield Sobers in an all-time XI, even if fast-bowling all-rounders like Richard Hadlee, Keith Miller, or Imran Khan could be better match-winners.
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*Freelance journalist
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