Full name Ian Terence Botham
Born November 24, 1955, Oldfield, Heswall, Cheshire
Current age 65 years 94 days
Major teams England, Durham, Queensland, Somerset, Worcestershire
Also known as Sir Ian Botham
Nickname Beefy, Both, Guy
Playing role Allrounder
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Other Commentator
Height 6 ft 2 in
Education Buckler's Mead Secondary School, Yeovil
Relation Son - LJ Botham
In a nutshell One of the finest allrounders of all time, Ian Botham was the fastest to the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets. An English icon, full of endless self-belief, he could change the course of a game in an afternoon. With him, England were a side to reckon with; without him they were abysmal More
Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 102 | 161 | 6 | 5200 | 208 | 33.54 | 8565 | 60.71 | 14 | 22 | 621 | 67 | 120 | 0 |
ODIs | 116 | 106 | 15 | 2113 | 79 | 23.21 | 2671 | 79.10 | 0 | 9 | 197 | 44 | 36 | 0 |
First-class | 402 | 617 | 46 | 19399 | 228 | 33.97 | 38 | 97 | 354 | 0 | ||||
List A | 470 | 419 | 64 | 10474 | 175* | 29.50 | 7 | 46 | 196 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 102 | 168 | 21815 | 10878 | 383 | 8/34 | 13/106 | 28.40 | 2.99 | 56.9 | 17 | 27 | 4 |
ODIs | 116 | 115 | 6271 | 4139 | 145 | 4/31 | 4/31 | 28.54 | 3.96 | 43.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
First-class | 402 | 63547 | 31902 | 1172 | 8/34 | 27.22 | 3.01 | 54.2 | 59 | 8 | |||
List A | 470 | 22899 | 15264 | 612 | 5/27 | 5/27 | 24.94 | 3.99 | 37.4 | 15 | 3 | 0 |
Test debut | England v Australia at Nottingham, Jul 28-Aug 2, 1977 scorecard |
Last Test | England v Pakistan at Lord's, Jun 18-21, 1992 scorecard |
Test statistics | |
ODI debut | England v West Indies at Scarborough, Aug 26, 1976 scorecard |
Last ODI | England v Pakistan at Manchester, Aug 24, 1992 scorecard |
ODI statistics | |
First-class span | 1974 - 1993 |
List A span | 1973 - 1993 |
Dominant and domineering, Ian Botham was not merely the top English cricketer of the 1980s but the leading sports personality. In an era of discreet footballers - before Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham - he commanded endless newspaper headlines as his career surged improbable heights and bottomless depths. Within a year of being elevated from Somerset to his England debut in 1977, he was undisputed as the country's leading allrounder; within three years he was captain; within four, he had resigned (a minute before being sacked), his form shot to pieces.
Mike Selvey on Botham
Botham had bucketloads of self-belief to go with his tremendous talent. Even when age slowed him down he could will wickets into falling with the force of his personality
Stats analysis
At his peak his match-winning skills as an allrounder were unparalleled, and he could have made it to the England team as either a specialist batsman or bowler
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1978
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1981
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1982
Walter Lawrence Trophy 1985
Awarded the OBE in 1992
Knighted in 2007