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IB
Cricket Biography

Ian Botham

British · Born 1955

EnglandAll-Rounder1981 Ashes
All-Rounder
102
tests
5200
runs
383
wickets

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Beefy — England's greatest all-rounder and author of the most extraordinary individual series performance in cricket history — the 1981 Ashes.

Ian Botham is England's greatest all-rounder and one of cricket's most compelling personalities. His performances in the 1981 Ashes series — where England were heading for defeat before Botham transformed three Tests single-handedly with bat and ball — are the most celebrated in English cricket history. The series was renamed "Botham's Ashes." He scored 5,200 Test runs and took 383 wickets.

At Headingley 1981, England followed-on and were 500-1 to win. Botham scored 149 not out and they won by 18 runs — the greatest sporting comeback in Ashes history.

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Career Honours

  • 1981 Ashes (Botham's Ashes)
  • 102 Tests, 5,200 runs, 383 wickets