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As Mike Gatting trawls through his Lord’s memories, he dwells on the phoenix moment in Ian Botham’s career.
Forty years ago on Wednesday – stung by the jeers from the MCC blazers, after being dismissed for his second nought in an innocuous, rain-hit Ashes Test – Botham resigned the England captaincy after 12 winless matches in charge.
What followed in the third Test in Leeds endures in British sporting folklore.
Mike Gatting says Ian Botham's (pictured) horror run as captain in 1981 was good for him
‘Sadly, the membership here at Lord’s weren’t very generous to Beefy when he got his pair, somebody shouted something at him as he was walking through the pavilion and it became a match memorable for the wrong things,’ recalls Gatting, one of four England ever-presents in that fabled 1981 series.
‘Although, it certainly spurred him on to Headingley, so they did some good in that respect.’
Freed from captaincy’s manacles, a 25-year-old Botham produced the performance that would define his career – inspiring England
