On July 20 who challenged the notions of impossible. His exploits on that day made him an object of reverence that would last till he retired. On July 20 one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket, Sir Ian Botham.

Sir Ian’s first big moment came during his first year in first class cricket in 1974. Playing for Somerset, he was facing Andy Roberts, the hostile quick from the West Indies and he was hit in the mouth. With blood oozing out profusely, he spat out his broken teeth and continued to bat on undaunted. After a poor run in Grade Cricket in Australia, Sir Ian made his Test debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1977 and he made an impact when he picked up 5/74 to put England on top. Botham’s spell on the opening day ensured England secured their first victory over Australia at Trent Bridge since 1930.

Botham continued to have a fabulous time in Tests. In the three Test series against Pakistan in 1978, Botham notched up two centuries. It was in the Lords Test where he single-handedly stole the show. He scored a fine hundred and picked up 8/34 in the second innings, giving him the third best haul for an English bowler in Tests. Such was his level of consistency that he was elevated to the captaincy post in 1980. It was from that point on that Botham’s form dipped. He captained in 12 matches and did not win any. It must be noted that 10 out of those 12 matches were against the West Indies, the best team at that point in time. However, during that torrid time, after he relinquished his captaincy, Botham notched up another moment of brilliance when he became the first man to score a century and pick up 10 wickets in a Test.

He achieved this feat against India at the Wankhede By the time of the Ashes series in 1981, Botham’s form was woeful. In the second Test at Lords, Botham was out for a pair and newspaper headlines bellowed, “BOTHAM MUST GO.” In the third Test at Headingley, England stared at an innings defeat and bookmakers had placed odds of 500-1 on an England win. Botham had a good match till then, having scored 50 and picking up 6/95. Few would imagine that it was the beginning of one of the great passages of play in English cricket.

Botham, along with Graham Dilley, decided to have a bit of fun and proceeded to bat like a man possessed. He smashed 149 of the finest runs and shared vital partnerships with the tail as England set Australia a target of 130. Bob Willis put on an astonishing display of fast bowling to pick up 8/43 to give England a remarkable victory by 18 runs. It was only the second time in Test history that a team had won a match after following in. This result galvanized England both as a team and a nation, but Botham would continue the torment on Australia.

In the fourth Test at Birmingham, Botham snapped up 5/11 in 14 overs to give England another close victory by 29 runs. In the fifth Test at Manchester, Botham gave a brutal exhibition of his batting as he tonked 118, a knock which included six huge sixes. Although Australia put up a fight, England secured victory by 103 runs to help England win the Ashesin style. If Sir Don Bradman had spooked England during his time, then the exploits of the 1981, English cricket changed forever. That day saw the emergence of a man th, 1981, the world saw the emergence of Sir Ian Botham in that summer of 1981 spooked Australia.

Botham was at the zenith of his career but as time wore on, injuries took a toll on him and his form faded away. In 1986, he was banned for two months by the England board for smoking cannabis. However, he made a comeback against New Zealand and became the leading wicket-taker in Tests, going past Dennis Lillee’s mark of 355 wickets. By the end of his career, Botham’s mojo seemed to have faded and he retired from both Tests and ODI cricket in the summer of 1992 against Pakistan. 5200 runs at an average of 33.5, 383 wickets at a bowling average of 28. These numbers are remarkable and this resulted in him been knighted in 2007. He was also inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. He is now a commentator and is seen all England home series apart from the major tournaments across the globe.

FUN FACTS

Sir Ian Botham was also a talented footballer. He made 11 appearances in the Football league for the club Scunthorpe United.

Sir Ian Botham has also been involved with charity. His long distance charity walks have helped raise 12 million GBP for Leukaemia research.

Sir Ian Botham was involved in a libel case against Imran Khan in 1994. He lost the case.

It is believed that Sir Ian was involved in an altercation with Ian Chappell in the Adelaide car park during the 2010/11 Ashes series.