Sir Ian Botham is getting the 1981 gang back together

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Friends are reuniting now that lockdown restrictions are being lifted, and later this summer a particularly special gathering will take place.

It is 40 years since ‘Botham’s Ashes’, and Sir Ian is getting the gang together again.

The team that defeated Australia 3-1 in that epic series will be at four dinners at Headingley (July 15), Edgbaston (August 5) and Old Trafford (August 19) to reminisce about those specific Tests in 1981 that England won, as well The Kia Oval (September 9) to recall the series as a whole (that one was drawn).

“I sincerely hope everyone still with us will be there and nearly everyone has said yes,” Botham told The Cricketer. “It will be a great celebration. Some of the guys I have seen quite a bit of, while others live all over the place, like Knotty (Alan Knott) who is in Cyprus. Geoff Boycott and I are in touch – he has always been a loyal friend, and he is really looking forward to it.”

Of course, that summer did not start well for Botham, who was captain for the first two Tests. He had endured what was surely the most intense baptism of fire that any England captain had ever faced – five Tests at home to West Indies, and five against them away, with their belligerent batsmen and quality quicks.

“And remember it wasn’t 5-0 and 5-0 – it was 2-0 and 1-0,” he points out. “To be honest some people are made to be captain. I was only 24. Maybe with hindsight – and a lot of people seem to live in hindsight these days – it was a couple of years early. You don’t turn it down, though. I was in great form that year, scoring runs heavily. 

“I don’t remember much about Trent Bridge, except it was tight. But come that Test at Lord’s I made my only pair in cricket, and all things changed. I was trying to accelerate it in the second innings and was bowled by Ray Bright. You don’t get bowled around your legs often.”

Botham famously returned to the pavilion in silence, with MCC members striving to remove imaginary soup stains from their ties and absorbing themselves in The Times crossword.

“What happened, happened – the way I was treated by the members is never forgotten, but the relationship has been mended since. At the time it was my lowest point in cricket, but I’m a positive-thinking person. I enjoy going to Lord’s now, it’s a special place to watch cricket. I don’t bear the members grudges. They regretted it. It was nice to get invited back for a celebration when I got knighted. I’m a great believer that things happen for a reason and I moved on.”

Botham’s mentor Mike Brearley was back in charge, and famously he brought the best out of him. At Headingley, England clinched their most famous Test victory, only the second time in Test history that the side following on won. Botham came in at 105 for 5, with England still 122 shy of avoiding an innings defeat. 

“Technically it was not a great innings and I had a bit of luck here and there, but in the context, it was very good,” he says with ludicrous modesty of his seventh Test ton (of 14). 

“It came at the right time. It wasn’t a great pitch and people have to remember that. I recaptured my form with 50 in the first innings. A couple of lucky edges flew over the slips, and that was mixed with some good batting as well. It was a great partnership with ‘Picca’ (Graham Dilley). We had a lot of fun and we dragged each other through it. We then handed the reins over to Bobby (Willis, 8 for 43) who was incredible.”

At Edgbaston, Botham’s weapon of mass destruction was the ball, with a spell of 5 for 1. “I didn’t want to bowl. Again the pitch was dying a bit, turning a bit, with uneven bounce. Brears said: ‘It’s time for you to have a bowl’, but Embers (John Emburey) had got a couple to bounce and turn so I said to Brears: ‘Why don’t you give him another one’, and he got Allan Border out. Brears then threw it to me. The Edgbaston crowd in the ‘Bull Ring’ definitely intimidated the Australians – they got me three of those five wickets.

^{Proceeds from the dinners will go to eight charities}

“At Old Trafford, I had one of my favourite partnerships – Chris Tavaré was magnificent [they put on 149 in the second innings]. We were in a strong position [205 ahead with five wickets remaining] but we couldn’t afford to lose a couple of quick wickets. It was hard work for the bowlers, a good pitch to bat on. Tav played extremely well, and then the new ball was the trigger and we took the game away (“West Indian-style,” says Tom Graveney about Botham hitting on the up on the commentary. “He hooks it like he’s swatting a fly,” says Richie Benaud).

“Border’s performance should be mentioned. I actually broke his hand in the first innings. He batted on but didn’t get many, but in the second innings he faced 356 deliveries for 123 not out and was magnificent. I hit him on the hand again. We learned what a tough competitor he was going to be against us, and he has also gone on to be a great friend.”

The draw at The Oval in Brearley’s final Test allowed him to retire from international cricket with a brilliant captaincy record – 19 home Tests undefeated (seven draws). And after the summer of his life, there was no chance for Botham to put his feet up – he bowled 89 overs, taking 10 for 253.

“It was never easy getting the ball off me to be fair, and the haul of 10 wickets was worth it.”

Now he will be able to share the memories with his old mates again, with proceeds going to Beefy’s Charity Foundation, raising money for eight charities including Prostate Cancer UK, in honour of Bob Willis. For the dinners go head to Botham’s Ashes page.

That summer of 1981 made him suddenly astronomically famous, his game magnified by exposure on the front and back pages of The Sun, and reflections in The Mirror.

“It changed my life and we weren’t geared up for that as a family, but it was mostly for the good. Those sort of performances only come along once a lifetime.”  

I can’t believe I missed it!

Where were you?

^{England got the better of Pakistan at Headingley to secure a 2-1 series win, having gone behind at Lord's}

England played their first cricket match on August 12 1982. At Lord’s. It was a dreary day of toil. Pakistan racked up 295 for 3.

Not really. It was actually England’s 584th Test, but the first one I watched on telly. I didn’t pick a good one. Pakistan won by 10 wickets. If I had selected Edgbaston before or Headingley straight after, I’d have seen a home win. I was nine that summer. 

Ridiculously, maddeningly, while I was playing cricket in my mate Neil’s garden in 1981, I wasn’t really aware that it was also on the gogglebox. Oh, life can be cruel. 

What on earth was I doing when Sir Ian Botham was captivating a nation, with a little help from his friends (especially Mike Brearley and Bob Willis)? On Monday, July 20, the day Beefy battered the Aussies with the first 145 of his 149 not out? Schools had broken up by then, so there was really no excuse. Well, I definitely wasn’t one of the half a million who claim that they were in Leeds that day.

I feel fairly safe in saying that some of the day was spent playing football, reading about Doctor Who, and eating either fish fingers and chips or ham and chips (I was incredibly fussy). On the telly that night I’d put money on the fact that I watched the Blake’s 7 episode Terminal (Blake returns… or does he?). There would also have been lots on the news about the wedding of Charles and Diana taking place nine days later, and Michael Heseltine’s tour of Merseyside, eyeing a regeneration of the area with his garden festival.

The only person in the world who can be excused for not watching the cricket that day by the way was Irene Sáez, a former Venezuelan presidential candidate, who was crowned the 30th Miss Universe.

Ah, 1981 – that great, lost summer (for me, anyway).