Bounder and allrounder

One thing that Head On makes clear is that Botham is next to useless as a role model for aspiring cricketers. Throughout his life, he felt claustrophobic playing in the nets (that's what he claimed) and, as a result, he admits: 'There was probably no one in English professional cricket who practised less than I did.' He disliked watching the sport, apart from his great friend Viv Richards and David Gower, and he never had any interest in analysing statistics or collecting souvenirs. Regular viewers of BBC's A Question of Sport, on which Botham was a long-time captain, will remember just how little interest he appeared to take in his profession.