Botham's Controversies!

Botham's Controversies
Thu 24 Nov, 6:09 AM


Ian Botham was both brilliant on the field and controversial off it throughout a colourful career as one of England's greatest all-rounders. Even now, at the age of 50, he remains one of cricket's most forthright commentators.

Advertisement
Here, we look at Botham's controversies.

IAN CHAPPELL CONFRONTATION

Botham was a volatile character in his youth and lost his temper when he overheard former Australia captain Chappell boasting of his country's superiority over England in a bar. The incident occurred after the centenary Test in Melbourne in 1977, when Botham had been playing Down Under on a youth scholarship programme. Botham was angered by Chappell's remarks and ended up punching him, knocking him over a table and then chasing after him outside, hurdling the bonnet of a car in the process. Later stories exaggerated the incident, claiming Botham ran after Chappell with a bottle but he always denied this.

BOYCOTT RUN OUT

England were trying to set a target for New Zealand in the second Test in Christchurch in 1978 but Geoff Boycott was batting too slowly for vice captain Bob Willis' liking. When Botham went in, Willis told him to run Boycott out. He did as told, calling Boycott for a ridiculous run after the Yorkshireman had compiled a painstaking 26 in 120 minutes.

SCUNTHORPE SCRAPE

After training with Scunthorpe United to keep up his fitness, Botham, the talented sportsman that he was, actually impressed the coaches enough to make two first-team appearances in March 1980. He also enjoyed some nights out with the Scunthorpe players and one of them spilled over into trouble and resulted in assault charges against him. There were fears that the resulting trial would interfere with his duties as England captain but he was able to lead the tour to the West Indies in 1980-81 and the charges were later dropped. He played for Scunthorpe again during the winter of the 1984-84 season.

RESIGNATION AS ENGLAND CAPTAIN

Botham endured a torrid time as England skipper, losing in 1980-81 to the West Indies before matters came to a head in the Ashes series the following summer. He was unhappy with the match-by-match basis by which he had been appointed and after the first Test against Australia was lost decided the job was not for him. He continued for the second Test at Lord's, but it proved a personal disaster and he made a pair, the second of his ducks coming after he had moved himself up the order. He resigned soon after the match, only to be told he would have been sacked anyway.

CANNABIS BAN

Allegations of drug-taking first emerged after the 1984 tour of New Zealand. Botham had smoked a little cannabis in the privacy of his own room but the affair blew into a major scandal with tabloid reports of the team smoking cannabis at a concert and in the dressing room. These were way off the mark and a New Zealand police investigation cleared them. Botham at the time denied he had ever taken drugs but admitted it two years later and was banned by the Test and County Cricket Board for two months for bringing game into disrepute.

NOT A PLACE FOR MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

Funnily enough Botham will spend his 50th birthday in Pakistan, a country he once described as "the kind of place to send your mother-in-law for a month, all expenses paid" in an off-the-cuff remark in a radio interview in 1984. Botham had returned home early from a tour of Pakistan for surgery but his comments soon reached Asia. The Pakistan authorities were angered and staff at the Hilton Hotel in Lahore, where the team were staying, threatened to strike.

MISS BARBADOS RUMOURS

Beauty queen Lindy Field sold a story to a newspaper about a night of passion with Botham, involving a broken bed and cocaine, in Barbados while the team toured in 1985-86. The pair had actually met at a party hosted by Mick Jagger but the story proved fanciful. Botham had gone to the party with his father-in-law and it later transpired that the bed had been broken because his room-mate Les Taylor had been ill with a virus and flopped onto it.

SOMERSET MUTINY

Somerset's decision to take on New Zealand's Martin Crowe as overseas player in 1987 meant that popular West Indian pair Viv Richards and Joel Garner would have to leave. At the time registration rules were changing, allowing counties only one new overseas player. Botham was angered and refused to play for the county again. He later joined Worcestershire.

QUEENSLAND FRACAS

Another storm blew up after Botham, playing state cricket for Queensland, was charged with assault on a flight to Perth for the Sheffield Shield final in 1987. A row had broken out between the players on the plane and another passenger nearby stood up to complain. Botham told him to mind his own business and pushed him back down into his seat. A complaint was later made and criminal proceedings instigated. Queensland cut short Botham's three-year contract after the incident.

IMRAN KHAN LIBEL CASE

Botham and former England team-mate Allan Lamb lost a libel action against ex-Pakistan captain Imran Khan in 1996. The pair had claimed Khan had defamed them by attributing their attitudes to a lack of education and class, and therefore effectively racist. Botham also felt Khan's claims that all top bowlers were technically guilty of ball-tampering were a slur. Botham and Lamb appealed against the High Court ruling but later dropped the case.

MEDIA CRITICISMS

Despite retiring 12 years ago, Botham still casts a huge shadow over the English game. He is now an outspoken media pundit and has courted controversy with strong remarks about former chairmen of selectors Ted Dexter and Ray Illingworth.

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/051123/4/f4bw.html