A Lifetime Love Affair with Cricket's Greatest Rivalry

Botham's Book of the Ashes

Cricket icon Sir Ian Botham recollects his many Ashes experiences

Sir Ian Botham OBE is a former England  Test cricketer and Test team captain whose playing career lasted from  1976 to 1993, and he still holds the record for the highest number of  wickets taken by any England bowler. Widely known by the nicknames  'Beefy' and 'Guy the Gorilla', Botham was knighted in 2007 and has  authored several books, including two autobiographies. He is now a  writer and cricket commentator and is regularly involved in charity  work.

Sir Ian Botham and the Ashes are as closely intertwined as willow and leather or Merv Hughes and his moustache. You simply cannot think of one without the other. In this book, Sir Ian takes you on a ride through a lifetime's relationship with cricket's oldest and most treasured prize, revealing just how it has shaped his life and how he has helped to turn it into the contest it is today. 
 
From the moment he first watched the likes of Ken Barrington stride to the wicket in jaw-jutting defiance to the day he flayed Australia's bowling attack around Headingley as if playing with his mates in the park, and then onwards to his role in commentating on what was arguably the finest series of the lot, in 2005, Sir Ian has a rich and varied connection with the Ashes, and he tells all here. 
 
The Ashes is a series that has provided incredible highs and heartbreaking lows for English and Australian fans alike over the past 35 years. Sir Ian has often been at the centre of the roller-coaster ride. Whether it is his account of his days as England's dogsbody in 1977 in Melbourne or the story of his refusal to let Bob Willis bowl downwind until he was angry enough to skittle the Aussies in 1981, all is revealed in depth in Botham's Book of the Ashes.

Head On - Ian Botham: The Autobiography

The definitive autobiography of by far and away English cricket's greatest living legend

He was, and remains, a working-class hero ... the game's nearest answer to George Best

In an age of empty memoirs, Ian Botham reminds us how big an inspiration a sporting hero can be

You want to learn about a living legend of the game than I can highly recommend Head On

Sir Ian Botham started his first-class career in 1974 with Somerset, leaving in protest at the sacking of his friend Viv Richards. He then played for Worcester (1986-91), Queensland (1988) and Durham (1992-3). He made his debut for England in 1977 and played 102 tests, including 12 as captain in 1980-81. Since retiring as a player, he has become a cricket broadcaster for Sky Sports and has set out on a number of long-distance fundraising charity walks. He has raised more than £5,000,000 for Leukaemia Research and was Knighted in recognition of his good work in 2007. When not touring the world commentating, he lives with his wife Kath in Yorkshire.

Voted the greatest English cricketer of the 20th century by the fans, Sir Ian Botham is the English game's one true living legend and his story both on and off the pitch reads like a Boy's Own rollercoaster ride. 
 
Born with a natural genius for cricket, Botham began breaking records with bat and ball from a young age and soon became the man English cricket expected most from. After a troubled period as England's captain, Botham rose once again to become a national hero with his display in the Miracle Ashes of 1981. But, with his confrontational nature and wild streak, he began regularly making the wrong kind of headlines. With accusations of drink and drugs, affairs and ball-tampering, he became hounded by the tabloid pack, never sure whether they wanted him to triumph or implode. Now a Knight and just as famous for his tireless charity work, Beefy gives us the definitive story of his never-dull life and times in his own no-nonsense words.

Ian Botham

Botham's insights and personal anecdotes put the seal on a light, informative and often humorous read, which undoubtedly deserves pride of place on any sports-buff's bookshelf

If you've ever wondered what it would take to excel in a sport, this book will give you a fair indication

His 50 Greatest from Britain and Ireland

In My Sporting Heroes, one of the country's great sportsmen, Sir Ian Botham, draws up his template of what he believes makes a true sporting hero. 
 
Botham singles out the ten qualities he believes are the basic elements in any true sportsperson - bravery, passion, composure, determination, skill, leadership, instinct, dedication, humour and compassion - then highlights the sportsmen and women who he believes best demonstrate each quality, backing up his selection with personal anecdotes of his time spent with them or watching them in action. 
 
Covering a wide variety of sports and discussing admired athletes of both the past and present, from Ian Woosnam, Paul Gascoigne and Jonathan Davies to Joe Calzaghe, Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray, My Sporting Heroes is a lively celebration of exactly what makes a true sporting legend - from someone who knows a thing or two about it!

My Sporting Heroes

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Ian Botham

Praise for My Sporting Heroes

A genuinely absorbing read

Botham's insights and personal anecdotes put the seal on a light, informative and often humorous read, which undoubtedly deserves pride of place on any sports-buff's bookshelf

If you've ever wondered what it would take to excel in a sport, this book will give you a fair indication

A genuinely absorbing read

Botham's insights and personal anecdotes put the seal on a light, informative and often humorous read, which undoubtedly deserves pride of place on any sports-buff's bookshelf

If you've ever wondered what it would take to excel in a sport, this book will give you a fair indication

A genuinely absorbing read

Botham's insights and personal anecdotes put the seal on a light, informative and often humorous read, which undoubtedly deserves pride of place on any sports-buff's bookshelf

If you've ever wondered what it would take to excel in a sport, this book will give you a fair indication

Books by Ian Botham

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