Ian Botham Birthday Special: Quick Facts About the Former England All-Rounder As He Turns 65
Ian Botham celebrates his 65th birthday on November 24. He is widely celebrated as one of the greatest all-rounders of all-time and is a giant figure in cricket's history. He represented England in 102 Test matches and 116 ODIs and scored over 7000 runs while also taking more than 500 wickets in international cricket.
One of the best England cricketers and among the greatest of all-time, Sir Ian Botham celebrates his 65th birthday on November 24, 2020 (Tuesday). Botham, a former England captain, is widely celebrated as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket’s history. He made his England debut at the age 20 in ODIs against West Indies in 1976. Botham was then England’s youngest debutant in One-Day Internationals. He went on to make his Test debut a year later in the 1977 Ashes and in time established himself as one of the greatest in the game. As Ian Botham celebrates his 65th birthday, take a look at some lesser-known facts about him. England to Tour Pakistan for Historic T20I series for First Time in 16 Years, to Play Two-Match Series in October 2021.
Born in 1955 in Cheshire, Botham developed an interest in sports as his parents were both cricketers. He initially played both cricket and football and even captained his school’s U-16 football team before shifting his focus to cricket. Botham started out with Yeovil Cricket Club before joining Somerset and then going on to play for the national team. Take a look at some interesting facts about Ian Botham.
- Ian Terence Botham was born to Herbert Leslie and Violet Marie in Heswall, Cheshire on November 24, 1955
- At the start of his career, Botham played both cricket and football. But by the age of 12, he had shifted to cricket and occasionally played for Yeovil Cricket Club’s second team
- Botham made his debut for Somerset County Cricket Club U-15s at the age of 13
- He became the youngest player at 20 years to make his ODI debut for England on August 26, 1976. A year later he made his Test debut against Australia
- In February 1980, Botham became the first cricketer to score a century and also take 10 wickets in the same Test. He achieved the feat against India in Mumbai
- Botham was the fastest cricketer to achieve Test doubles of 1000 runs and 100 wickets, 2000 runs and 200 wickets and 3000 runs and 300 wickets
- Ian Botham was the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket for England (383) until he was surpassed by James Anderson in 2015
Botham represented England in 102 Test matches and 116 ODIs. He scored 5,200 runs in Tests with the help of 11 hundreds and 22 half-centuries while in ODIs, Botham scored 2,113 runs. He also took 383 wickets in Tests and 145 in ODI cricket.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 24, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).