Читать книгу A League of Their Own - The Book of Sporting Trivia: 100% Official - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 21

BORN: 24 November 1955, Oldfield, England

PLAYER: Somerset, Queensland, Worcestershire, Durham and England

1) Despite having an offer to play football for Crystal Palace, Botham had his sights set on a career with his beloved Somerset and made his début in 1974. He famously took an Andy Roberts bouncer in his mouth, spat out some teeth and carried on his maverick batting.

2) His Somerset years alongside West Indian pals Viv Richards and Joel Garner harvested five trophies, while he also found time to play football for Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United. As for England, he demolished bowlers and batsmen alike from 1977 to 1992.

3) Botham has been a long-standing charity fundraiser. He rafted down the Rhône and crossed the Alps with a troop of elephants in his widely publicised 1988 Hannibal Walk. He also allegedly unfurled a trunk of his very own in a controversial Twitter image during 2014.

4) ‘Beefy’ and Aussie Ian Chappell have an infamous feud dating back 36 years. The pair once nearly came to blows in a car park after Chappell muttered an obscenity to his English nemesis. Botham apparently said, ‘Just ******* wait till I get him on my own in a lift.’

DID YOU KNOW: In 1985 a Hollywood director touted Botham as the next James Bond. They asked him to live in California for six months and hang out with the likes of Rod Stewart. Botham, however, didn’t want to miss an important three-dayer at Scarborough.

It was definitely sexier when Daniel Craig did it

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