The Botham Report. Ian Botham
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HarperNonFiction
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Copyright © Mannez Promotions Ltd 1997
First published in hardback in 1997 by CollinsWillow
Photographs supplied by Allsport, Patrick Eagar and David Munden
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780002187718
Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2017 ISBN: 9780007582044 Version: 2017-01-18
To my long-suffering family: Kathy, Liam, Sarah, Becky, and the equally long-suffering supporters of English cricket
CONTENTS
2 Ted Lord and his Brave New World
How Not to Run English Cricket
19 Marking Time: The Nicholas Affair
22 Pills and Ills: The Burn Out Factor
‘English cricket is in crisis, of that there is no doubt’
On Saturday 28 December 1996, the third day of England’s second Test against Zimbabwe in Harare, English cricket celebrated a bittersweet tenth anniversary.
It was ten years to the day when, on the 1986–87 tour of Australia, under captain Mike Gatting, England last won the Ashes; ten years to the day when England’s descent to the bottom rung of international cricket began.
I remember the moment we achieved what Englishmen regard as the ultimate cricketing goal as though it was yesterday. One-nil up in the series with two matches to play, we arrived at Melbourne for the Christmas Test, confident that we would achieve the result