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Arguably England’s greatest ever cricketer and perhaps even England's greatest sporting hero Sir Ian Botham captured the hearts of the public during the 1981 Ashes series. Not only was Botham a fantastic all-rounder at cricket he was also a very talented footballer. At a very early age Botham had to make the choice between playing professional football and cricket. He elected cricket and the rest entered folklore, now he is considered as one of the greats of the game having captained his country and set numerous records along the way. However during his career, in an attempt to recover fitness following an injury, Botham joined Scunthorpe United FC. Playing as a centre forward, he made 11 appearances for the club in the Football League in the year 1980. Prior to his time at Scunthorpe, Botham enjoyed a spell at Yeovil Town FC. Notably Botham is also an avid Chelsea fan. Since his retirement from the game, Botham has also been a prominent fundraiser for charity undertaking numerous long-distance charity walks. His efforts have raised more than ten million pounds, with the charity Leukaemia Research among the causes to benefit. What can you remember most about your time at Scunthorpe? I have to say, I think the game I remember most was when I defied the authorities, well, in those days, it was the TCCB. The Test and County Cricket Board said I couldn’t play for Scunthorpe on Boxing Day against Hull and I said, “Well my contract doesn’t start with you until three days later, I’m playing.” I played at Boothferry Park, the old ground at Hull, and I marked Billy Whitehurst, who went on to play with Sunderland and various other clubs - it was an absolutely amazing experience - it sold out. We sadly lost 1-0, rotten decision, penalty which was never a penalty. I think that game will always stand in my memory; there are a few of them but that one’s at the top of the league. How did you come to play for Yeovil Town? Well, it was pretty logical because I was there living in Yeovil and Ron Saunders was my first manager. I went away back up north to play for Scunthorpe and then came back for a short period with Yeovil. We’ve seen money play a huge part in modern football, for example with Chelsea, what is your opinion on money in cricket including the upcoming $20 million game and especially the Indian Premier League? I welcome seeing big money coming into the game for the players. Cricketers are like all sportsmen and have short careers. They should be able to earn the big figures while they can - just like golfers or footballers or any other top sportsman. It’s the cricketers that are out there doing the business and they should get a share of the prize money. The Twenty20 game is exciting and draws big crowds - the money on offer definitely adds to the excitement. However, we shouldn’t forget that Test cricket is still the major force in the game. The Indian Premier League (IPL) last six weeks, which I think is too long. You can’t keep all that excitement up for that length of time. Twenty20 is a few hours of fun for the whole family and I think the IPL is in danger of saturating the market and people will get bored. Test cricket will always be the main focus where players make their names and their reputations, no matter how much money is out there in competitions like the IPL. What was the greatest achievement you attained in cricket? I have had so many wonderful moments from the time I was first picked for Westland Helicopters at the age 12 to play in their first team and to be registered with Somerset at the age of 14, to win tournaments with the likes of Ed Groar and with people like Viv Richards, you know, I’ve had so many memorable points, it would be impossible - I couldn’t pick anyone of them because everything has its own significance. How did your recent fundraising walk for Leukaemia Research go? Were you happy with what you achieved? The walk was a fantastic success and I’m told that we’ve raised over£500,000 for Leukaemia Research so far and the money is still coming in. This was my twelfth fundraising walk and this time I covered over 140 miles, taking in nine towns in nine days. The public response was overwhelming which was a great encouragement for me to keep going. People were stopping their cars to give money and a pensioner even emptied her purse into the collection buckets! When I first started walking, the survival rate for children with leukaemia was just 20% and now it is 87% - so yes I am happy with what I’ve helped to achieve but there’s still more to do. I’ve already started planning for another fundraising walk in 2010. I won’t stop till there’s a 100% survival rate and with research improving treatments all the time, why shouldn’t there be? TF90M would like to thank Sir Ian for his time and urge all of you to support such a worthy cause as Leukaemia Research.
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