Botham reaches unlikely half century

“Many people thought I’d never make it,” grinned Ian Botham when congratulated on reaching 50. His celebrations might be remarkably low-key (he will be flying to Karachi as soon as the Faisalabad Test is over) but so are those in the English media, surprising given that he has provided them with almost three decades of guaranteed copy. Only the Times and Daily Telegraph (the latter a day early) have marked the occasion.

Patrick Kidd in the Times concentrated on his role as a fashion icon ... not:

Botham seemed to be the inverse of Samson: as his power waned, his hair got longer. The tightly cropped beard that he wore as England captain in 1980 went, but along came the flowing mullet and highlights.

As well as the changing hairstyles, there were the clothes, such as the blazers in red, yellow, black and green stripes, or the leather waistcoats. Even the dust-jacket image on his autobiography is a bit wacky: a greying mullet, denim shirt, ethnic wristband and a waistcoat that looks as if it has been attacked by Rolf Harris.

Simon Hughes in the Telegraph revealed just how hard a job it is even keeping up with him:

An evening with him can be both enlightening and an endurance test, and during his last couple of years as a player, there was a rota system, colleagues taking it in turns to go out with him. The physical and financial burdens need to be shared around.

Happy birthday, Beefy.