Botham Report

by Ian Botham~Peter Hayter, Peter Hayter

Controversial, hard-hitting, and thought provoking. In The Botham Report, the man who for nearly two decades thrilled cricket fans all over the world, gives his forthright answer to the What is wrong with English cricket Botham is heavily critical of the TCCB and the way in which the England team regressed during years of mismanagement. He reviews events both at home on the county scene and abroad and, in his new role as technical advisor, he gives a first-hand account of the 1997 summer battle for the Ashes. Looking ahead, Botham outlines his ten-point plan for the future structure of English cricket, involving major issues like the pay of county cricketers and a two-tier county championship, and reports on the results of a questionnaire sent out to the chairman, chief executive and captain of every county assessing what is wrong with the game in this country. A new chapter for this paperback edition highlights the progress English cricket has made since Bothams involvement, as reflected in the teams performance on the 1997/98 winter tour to the West Indies. The nature of the book is astonishing, a real tour de force The Cricketer magazine

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Richard Olney · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Sunset · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated. The second half of the book was boring and repetitive.

[Mick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated. The second half of the book was boring and repetitive.