Product Description

A completely revised and updated edition of the bestselling autobiography of cricketing legend Ian Botham, including his first-hand insight into the 1999/2000 winter tour to South Africa. Ian Botham's bestselling autobiography is an intriguing cocktail of sex and drugs allegations, personal upheavals, confrontations with his peers, and remarkable achievements both on and off the field. From his heroic deeds against the Aussies art Headingly in 1981 through to the dark clouds surrounding the court case with Imran Khan, from battling in the mud for Scunthorpe United FC to walking half the length of the country for Leukaemia Research, it's all here in this unforgettable story of a truly larger-than-life character. In an extra chapter for this revised edition, Botham digs deep to unravel the reasons behind the sorry state of English cricket, and provides a compulsive insight into the 1999/2000 winter tour to South Africa where England attempt to recover from a traumatic year under the new leadership of Nasser Hussain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #416658 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Review
'The cricket book of the year' The Times 'Plenty of indiscretion, malice and comedy' Daily Telegraph

Plymouth Sunday Independent
'This unique book tells the story of his life in words and images,
covering his career at Somerset, Durham and Worcestershire, his unsurpassed
England outings and ascendancy to the captaincy, and his many other
interests, including his charity work and conservation trips and not
forgetting his incredible stint at Scunthorpe United.'

About the Author
Ian Botham was the most thrilling sight in sport for nearly two decades at the top of international cricket. He retired from the game in 1993 and has since acted as coaching advisor to the England team on the 1997/98 Zimbabwe and New Zealand tour, a commentator for Sky TV, and has a newspaper column in the Daily Mirror. He continues to be a keen analyser of the game. Peter Hayter is the cricket correspondent of the Mail on Sunday. Formerly football correspondent of Sportsweek magazine, he has also written for the Observer and the Independent. He has collaborated with Botham on his bestselling autobiography, and the Botham Report.

Customer Reviews

Great Cricket Bio
I had this book sitting on my shelves for a number of years before I picked it up recently and absolutely churned through it.

Why did I wait so long?

Botham writes candidly about his life, both on and off the pitch - of the great highs and considerable lows.

Botham lives/d life to the full.

His cricket exploits were simply incredible.

What was even more surprising was the quality of this autobio. It reads fantastically well. All the major issues of his life are examined, and Botham writes candidly about these moments with refreshing clarity, truth and depth.

It's great to read a sporting bio that achieves all this. So many sporting bios are simply merchandsing tie ins. However, 'Botham' is one of the few cricket bios that stand alone as cricket history, but also a terrific bio of a true individual.

Great cricketer, Great book
A great biography of the life of a true sporting legend. It covers both high and lows, good and bad times that he has encountered. It catches his no-nonsense attitude to life and sport. Even if you're not a massive cricket fan (like myself), this book will not disappoint.

An honest account from a Cricketing Legend
I recently read "Botham: My Autobiography" and wish to demarcate a few vital points for all reviewers wanting to buy the book for personal perusal; keeping in mind the following two important points:

1) Ian Botham is definitely one of my all time favorite cricketing icons, but I write this account without taking into consideration this and other related personal biases (as this account shows).

2) I personally consider Ian Botham as one of the finest all-rounders in the history of cricket; along with Sir Sobers, Imran, Kapil and Sir Hadlee.

The most important point of the book is absolutely honesty. All readers agreeing or disagreeing with Botham's life-style, his attitude on and off the field and so on however cannot refuse to acknowledge the fact that nearly all sections of the book has been written with absolute honesty. Where Botham did commit a mistake or a series of mistakes, he mentions that he said something blatantly, or did what was reported instead of either denying it simply (as most modern-day icons choose to do) or not agreeing with the matter.

His early career, life-long friendship with King Viv and his cricketing days are all described in superb finesse. The legal dispute of Botham-Lamb against Imran Khan is also delineated in great detail. One of the sections which I read and re-read for a few times is where Botham illustrates the happenings of the 1992 World Cup final against Pakistan where Wasim Akram's over (in his second-spell) (producing Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis' wickets in two successive deliveries which sealed the fate of England in the finals); I consider this section to be a bit "blown out of proportions". I wouldn't call it an "untrue" or "dishonest" account (because: 1) Pakistani fast-bowlers and swing bowlers have the tendency of picking the seam for movements and 2) As final footage shows, the ball was moving way too much all the time in the 2nd spell), but my greatest objection lies in the manner Botham describes the whole affair. After reading this section, a reader who has not happened to follow the 1992 World Cup Final closely will resort thinking that Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup simply owing to ball tampering and thereby producing the deadly reverse swing. As is evident from the videos of the Final (which can be bought online from any major vendor), Akram was swinging the ball from the very first delivery, and Akram's over (producing Lamb and Lewis' wickets) is considered by many experts as one of the best ever over bowled in ODI history. One can swing a lot by tampering with the seam, but to know how and where to pitch it with the seam upright is a talent from within. Especially Lewis' delivery (which I watched a million times over and over again clearly shows that the ball when hit the ground was seaming in, and Akram pitched it well outside off-stump with the rough side (as seen in the videos) being on the inner side. So, Akram definitely knew or had a faint idea that after hitting the seam the ball with do a reverse and dip in. Guessing this is not everyone's cup of tea). Botham does not mention any of this, but simply blatantly calls the Lewis' delivery a "banana" delivery (and one of the strangest deliveries he had ever seen in his career) thereby concluding that Akram won Pakistan the World Cup because of reverse swinging the ball at wrong time (Botham's exact words are: "The delivery came out of the blue") which Akram did only by picking at the seam. This I found a bit offensive in terms of description of events and a few other statements related to this matter leaving aside the fact that Akram is considered by many as one of the greatest swing bowlers in both versions of International cricket (Test/ODI).

Other than this above-mentioned matter, nearly everything else mentioned within is of superb quality, written in great style and in detail. Whether Botham was right or wrong in mentioning that Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup only by resorting to ball tampering under the auspices of the legendary Imran Khan; is a highly debatable issue. Leaving that out of frame, this is an excellent account of the one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game. If you're a cricket enthusiast, or a cricket player or just looking for a good read for a vacation ahead; pick this up. It's highly recommended without any reservations whatsoever. 5 stars overall!!!