Ian Botham was born on 24th November, 1955, in Heswall, Cheshire. 'Beefy' was one of the last of a rare breed to play both professional football and cricket. He played football for Scunthorpe United and at County Cricket level played for Somerset and Worcestershire before ending his career at Durham.
However, it is at Test level where Ian Botham really made his mark on the game of cricket. He made his England debut on 28th July, 1977 in the third Test against Australia. Botham notably took five for 74 in Australia's first innings, assisting England in their seven wicket victory. Ian botham's most memorable cricketing moments are available to enjoy thanks to a range of DVDs in stock at the Sky Sports DVD Shop.
Ian Botham Cricket DVDs
In total, Ian Botham played in 102 Test matches for England, 12 of which were as captain. He took 383 wickets (at the time a world record) at 28.40, scored 5,200 runs at 33.54 and held 120 catches. He ended his Test career as England's greatest ever all-rounder, as well as being one of the most successful all-rounders in the history of cricket.
His finest hour was the Ashes series of 1981, later renamed 'Botham's Ashes'. In the third Test at Headingley, England were forced to follow on and at one stage were 135 for 7, staring at an innings defeat. The situation was so desperate that bookmakers were offering England at 500-1. Botham scored an exhilarating and heroic 149 not out and, assisted by some vital tail end performances from Graham Dilley and Chris Old, England had amazingly set Australia a modest target of 129. Botham took the first Australian wicket and then Bob Willis produced a devastating spell of 8 for 43 as Australia were bowled out for 111.
The following Test at Edgbaston was almost as remarkable. This time Australia had been set 151 to win. Surely it couldn't happen again...Australia appeared to be in total control at 105 for 5, enter Ian Botham. In an incredible 28-ball spell Botham took 5 wickets for just 1 run, and England won by 29 runs.
Botham followed this with a swashbuckling 118 at Old Trafford and ultimately was named 'Man of the Series', scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets. The end of the years was rounded off nicely as Ian Botham was named as 1981 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
All of the action from these historic England Test Cricket matches has been captured on DVD. Relive all the excitement with our range of Ian Botham and England Cricket DVDs.
A number of England cricket books have been written celebrating 'Beefy' Botham's contribution to the game - a selection of which are available from skysportsdvdshop.co.uk.