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The Botham Report by Ian Botham
The Botham Report Botham, Ian and Hayter, Peter
- GenresNonfiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Ian Botham
34 books10 followersSir Ian Terence Botham is a former England Test cricketer and captain, and current cricket commentator.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 24, 2023
Published around 25 years ago, this reads as Mr (now Lord) Botham's record of his exasperation at the mistakes made around the direction of professional Cricket in England, specifically the England test team, the limited overs team is hardly mentioned if at all. There's a lot he's not happy about, and while there are suggestions of bias, even bad blood against some people i would say he's mostly even handed and fair with his views.
What i found especially interesting, reading it again after all these years is considering which problems persist, what progress has been made and what new concerns there are. I would say that the tides of the global game have much more influence on the game in England is probably the biggest change, that county cricket, both first-class and what we used to call limited overs but is now called List A has become marginalised seem to me to be the biggest changes.
By far the biggest part of the book is devoted to what the author considers was wrong, with a final chapter with the suggestions to fix it. Most of the recommendations have been taken up, though it's debatable that this book was the sole impetus for the change. Importantly, most importantly i would say, the performance of the test team, and indeed the limited overs team though again that is hardly mentioned in this book, has improved out of sight.
This is not as full of fun and good times as Botham's other works, but then, given the brief i don't suppose it ever could be. If nothing else it shows that he cared deeply for the game while he played, still did just after he'd stopped which is when this was written and i'm sure he still does now.
What i found especially interesting, reading it again after all these years is considering which problems persist, what progress has been made and what new concerns there are. I would say that the tides of the global game have much more influence on the game in England is probably the biggest change, that county cricket, both first-class and what we used to call limited overs but is now called List A has become marginalised seem to me to be the biggest changes.
By far the biggest part of the book is devoted to what the author considers was wrong, with a final chapter with the suggestions to fix it. Most of the recommendations have been taken up, though it's debatable that this book was the sole impetus for the change. Importantly, most importantly i would say, the performance of the test team, and indeed the limited overs team though again that is hardly mentioned in this book, has improved out of sight.
This is not as full of fun and good times as Botham's other works, but then, given the brief i don't suppose it ever could be. If nothing else it shows that he cared deeply for the game while he played, still did just after he'd stopped which is when this was written and i'm sure he still does now.
October 1, 2017
On one level there is all the self justification that would be expected in a sporting great's money spinner, however I remember seeing that for all the public persona of Botham, there was a real brain here and that really should have been put to use by the stuffy old hierarchy of English cricket
October 9, 2019
Outdated. The second half of the book was boring and repetitive.
September 10, 2016
Outdated. The second half of the book was boring and repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews