Ian Botham smashes Australia at WACA Perth Jan 1st 1987

Botham hit 68 runs off 39 balls.
The Benson & Hedges Perth Challenge was a one-off one-day international tournament held at the WACA Ground, Perth in late December 1986 and early January 1987. It was part of the celebrations marking Australia's defence of the America's Cup yachting competition which was taking place simultaneously in nearby Fremantle.

[@stuartphillips822]

Had the pleasure and privilege of having a pint with this legend at Darlington golf club in the late nineties while he was playing for Durham. He is a top bloke in every sense.

[@erniescullion8452]

I loved watching Ian Botham. I voted for him when he won sports personality of the year 1981. Ian was terrific.

[@macman975]

Beefy transcended Cricket in England. He was the David Beckham of his time. I think people forget just how popular he was. Brilliant player and there's just something special about seeing players without Helmets. Balls of Brass in those days.

[@Wally-H]

Yeah, he did wear one sometimes later in his career but only against the quickest seamers. He was always more comfortable without it.

[@brizzyoz2462]

Nothing like Beckham... Botham was world class not just good.

[@bobbyhanly3466]

Amazing crowd at the WACA. I think even Botham was surprised at the reception he got coming off. One of the all time truly great sportsmen.

[@angelacooper2661]

I was 16 1/2 YTS trainee at the time and remember it well, especially the coloured clothing. Beefy was my hero, hitting those massive sixes!

[@miteshchauhan2819]

Now you completed your fifty 😜😜

[@angelacooper2661]

Yes, I am now 52 (celebrated my fiftieth two years ago during the Covid lockdown!)

[@PrasadVignesh1982]

Excellent hitting by Botham. WACA was one of the biggest cricket grounds one would have seen

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

An icon. Can you imagine how hard Botham would hit the ball, with modern bats, and modern fitness regimes 🤣

[@cquilty1]

@Planet of the Deaf Ha! You'd have to convince Botham 1st to embrace modern fitness regimes - or any kind of fitness regime. Good luck with that:)

[@jimb9063]

Yep. Raw power. Different technique these days, but I imagine he'd have been at the forefront of working out how to adapt to T-20 had he been playing. 68 off 39 is good now, back then it was ridiculous. Over 250 was a pretty good score in 50 overs back then too!

[@stuartgold3602]

and modern short boundaries.

[@macman975]

Beefy playing hook shots with no helmet on is absolutely iconic :)

[@chefblanc]

@@cquilty1 probably adapted with the times.. just as they did from the previous era..

[@andrewwilkins6553]

Bill Lawry i miss you so much. I remember going to my first test match as a kid back in 2006 miss his voice:(

[@cricketlaunch2405]

Yes my favorite

[@hyena131]

Andrew Wilkins lawry has a very silly high voice and uttered the tritest of platitudes when he used to commentate. Thank fukkcc he retired.

[@irfanbardgujar8612]

@@hyena131 I am also Miss this three legend

[@erniescullion8452]

I lived in AUSTRALIA it's great and emotional to see then standing to applaude Ian Botham off

[@twyscape]

Ah those were the good old days when beefy was smashing that ball around. Cricket was so exciting back then and a lot of great players on all the international sides. West Indies were a joy to watch. Richards, Marshal, Garner, Lloyd, Richardson, to name a few.

[@vijayguhanpadma5105]

The same day on my 16th birthday - I too scored 52 runs not out in a local.match. great memories

[@CountMackula]

Beefy the legend. No helmet, with the old bats.

[@jrudresh1]

Can never forget Botham's ashes and Bob Willis's legendary spell ❤❤❤❤❤

[@davidbrooks187]

Totally agree that Botham at his best was the greatest all rounder of all time. No one had his presence when batting or bowling. He was truly different class. He provided all-time great bowling performances and batting performances when it was needed time and time again in that era Single-handedly winning games for England. At his best he is unsurpassed.

[@ghplayer1992]

no imran khan was

[@davidbrooks187]

@@ghplayer1992 Not according to the ICC world rankings he wasn’t.

[@ghplayer1992]

@@davidbrooks187 it doesn't matter when the world says he is and was also in icc rankings to no.1 for a long long time no fight i love beefy to but Imran khan was the real deal back t hen

[@TotalImpacteSportsNetwork]

@@ghplayer1992 Beefy at his best was incomparable.....either bat or ball, he blew teams away, ask any captain who was the one opposition player they feared could change a match during the late 70's & 80's it was either Viv Richards or Beefy. Statistics are rendered meaningless, it was his ability to change matches....Imran was a great cricketer and had probably better stats but he didnt change the course of games like Beefy

[@davidbrooks187]

@Shabda Sound Botham & Sobers definitely the two greatest all-rounders ever. Different eras, both very complimentary of each other.

[@davidreid5672]

Best all rounder ever to play for England!

[@brendanroberts4866]

yes - have to agree. We are lucky these days too with Stokes etc - it will be a while before it gets this good again

[@Wally-H]

Actually statistically, it's close between Beefy and Stokes now. Botham was the better bowler by far, but Stokes the better batsman. In-between these types of heroic innings, Botham actually had quite a lot of failures and his batting averages weren't great and certainly nowhere near as good as Stokes.

[@CJArnold-hq3ey]

As a Aussie I'd have him in my tesm

[@mark.lawrence]

ben stokes.

[@alanobrien1696]

Do you mean Gatting?

[@bubbamacks4896]

Duncan Fearnley!!! Great bats 🏏 good hitting Botham!&@@ luv from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@tenburywellsmartin7576]

Ian Botham,greatest all rounder of all time,it will be a long,long time before any one will come anywhere near him,if at all...!!

[@toonarmy8524]

Ben Stokes is heading that way

[@mrstamp5121]

Freddie ffs!

[@henguspod3899]

dont forget gary sobers

[@joedennehy386]

Gary sobers, and jaque Kallis think differently

[@toonarmy8524]

@@joedennehy386 they can think differently all they want they were great players no doubt. Botham owns them hands down if you think otherwise you dont know cricket.

[@comeonman8191]

Perth Challenge in 86/87. It was a competition held in tandem with the Americas Cup held in Australia for the first time.

[@WarriorsSon]

Reid with that angle and the extra bounce undid Lamb. Great Knock Sir Ian.

[@leviackerman5692]

*IAN BOTHAM WAS A GOOD BATSMAN* ✌🇮🇳❤

[@davidbradshaw3303]

Simon Davis couldn't have put the ball more in the slot if he tried. Botham was a machine

[@simonhill1590]

who is Simon Davis?

[@anonymousilluminati5717]

@@simonhill1590 🤣 A daft Aussie bowler at the time. Go Google it, stupid. No wonder that you're so daft‼️.. The bloke was the one who got smashed by Beefy head in this match. Beefy destroyed Davis's economy rate from his previous season against India in Oz during the 1986/87 WSC.

[@faizanreporter6038]

He was the Street Fighter in a cricket field.

[@raviarcot3145]

Botham would turn the table single handedly.

[@andrew7440]

Good to see, thanks. would be nice to see more of the game. Looked like a good innings from Lamb too.

[@johnarch6876]

Raised in Cape Town.

[@ianreynolds9733]

Imagine him in today’s T20 set up.

[@Wally-H]

Botham's old Somerset side, with Viv Richards and Joel Garner, would have been pure box office at 20/20.

[@ianreynolds9733]

@@Wally-H absolutely!

[@hashirsiddiqui4227]

Imran Khan's Charisma And Personality In Today's Era Then Imran Khan ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Now Pat Cumminz ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@edwardburek1717]

Magnificent batting masterclass from Beefy. I dare say that there was some smoke coming out of that Duncan Fearnley when the innings finished. Fantastic shirts too.

[@caeserromero3013]

I was in Perth at the time visiting relatives. Didn't make it to the ground, but knew it was on. I was even given a hat by my uncle (Though it was an Aussie one! couldn't bring myself to wear it). I remember my dad going down to Perth harbour to try and watch some of the Americas cup that was also on at the time. Dunno how much he could see. I wasn't remotely interested in sailing. I do remember getting really sunburnt on that trip, and also having some of that pink total sun block put on my nose and it taking about 3 days of scrubbing to get it off!!

[@robertdevan4123]

Wonderful batting ian Botham

[@paulb5680]

He did this in the days where the fields weren't roped off as much and the bats were lighter

[@scottfletcher9134]

Usual standard comment from a member of the 'It was so much better in my day' brigade. The game evolves. players like Buttler and Stokes would have been successful in Botham's era as well

[@paulb5680]

@@scottfletcher9134 I didn’t say that the players of today aren’t as good as those from the past. The players today are brilliant and hit some amazing shots. I was just making the point that Botham hit the ball that far with a thinner bat with bigger boundaries. Today’s players would probably do the same thing in that era but he was amazing for his time.

[@markwakeman6282]

@@paulb5680 Beefy used a big hefty bat so if they are even bigger now it would be scary what he would do. Likewise Viv Richards in T20 would have been total carnage

[@danielmartinbowen3844]

Actually he used a 3lb bat. Most of todays players use much lighter bats, but because the bats haven't been 'pressed' they look just as big as the one he used plus they have a bigger sweet spot as well.

[@Wally-H]

That's the biggest difference these days - the ball can fly over the ropes if you miss-time it and don't get it in the middle. In Botham's day you had to middle it@@danielmartinbowen3844

[@nasirmahmood7874]

One of the best cricketers of yore years despite his dependence on inhaler due to his asthmatic problem.

[@karthikks82]

One of the best and most popular cricketing all-rounder

[@georgep9059]

Will never forget simom davis getting hammered and bill saying what a hit what an over

[@brksk4309]

Cricket is today because of players like Botham and Richards.

[@KimFrost-nk7hn]

Haven't things changed since 1987 - 27,000 at the WACA - now only holds around 10,000 and they are struggling to get 15,000 to watch one day cricket at a 60,000 seat stadium.

[@ayushmansaha9540]

Botham Kapil dev and Imran Khan were perfect defination of allrounders

[@ScratchyBaws]

Khan the guy who liked tampering with a cricket ball.

[@janakiiyer9149]

Greatest English allrounder the world will ever see

[@timjones9962]

Ah the good old days of proper one dayers, when everyone had a good team. I dont know how many times it used to go down to the last over or the last ball. Brilliant stuff. Obviously i dont bother watching today, not even close for excitement and entertainment.

[@AnalogTVMainChannel]

Can we please have another Perth Challenge, it would suit us a lot because we probably won’t have any restrictions by summer

[@AnalogTVMainChannel]

@zach gavelton and it is a shame Perth hasn’t had any international cricket since 2019

[@AnalogTVMainChannel]

@zach gavelton it certainly is a Great ground

[@Ingens_Scherz]

@@AnalogTVMainChannel Yeah, unique in the world really. Or was!

[@sovietonion72]

@@AnalogTVMainChannel Was a great ground, even after the renovations are complete it won't have that waca charm.

[@jpip1382]

A truly great, charismatic sportsman.

[@robkane7186]

Innings like this a 10 a penny nowadays but not back in 1987. Botham, Richards etc set the bar

[@syednafiunnoor2600]

Sir ian botham was the second most successful alrounder after the great andrew flintoff of england.

[@theram4320]

Beefy seemed to have been quite popular down under?

[@silentdogfart4892]

Very!

[@saganspirit]

Played for Queensland for a few seasons down there

[@garypotts7120]

He was brilliant

[@ianjarrett2724]

Bruce Reid was a beer and burger boy. He worked with a sporting trainer called Websdsle who also helped Steve Waugh. He said of Reid "I couldn't get through to him".

[@anirbanmaity9948]

Best all rounder ever to play for England.

[@jrudresh1]

Good old days ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@user-ls2ro1bk7i]

The best there will no one like him again ever

[@indranilmukherjee459]

My childhood Hero.

[@viratsunny6979]

Without helmet on aussi pace attack unbelievable one of the best💯

[@AnkitSingh-xl6pt]

You should watch Beefy smacking Lillee for multiple sixes in his century during Botham's Ashes, again without a helmet.

[@angelacooper2661]

@@AnkitSingh-xl6pt I was eleven at that time and had just left junior school!

[@AnkitSingh-xl6pt]

@@angelacooper2661 Probably you saw it in that case. And more importantly, enjoyed the euphoria.

[@terranceparsons5185]

Fantastic hitting back then, ho hum now.

[@hashirsiddiqui4227]

Botham Haydlee Viv Richards And Imran Khan ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ !!!! Best Of The Best ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!!!!

[@JohnnyCameo]

1987: That shot isn’t in the coaching manual 2022: Hold my beer…

[@avatharamveeraraghavan3001]

Played today's T20 innings in 86-87 itself.

[@faisalsaifi717]

back in days cricket was more fun

[@mansurbaig]

Legendary Botham

[@DilipKumar-vu1eh]

Great player ian I see highlights India england test mach 1982 83 series in England 2 hundred great battling agrresive batting great player

[@katspray]

And look how thin his bat was! Imagine how good he would have been with todays tech!

[@andrew7440]

Those old Fearnley bats were and still are superb. I've got a couple of the Old Magnums they are excellent, and a Graeme Hick 405. Just need a decent Botham Attack.

[@waseemchaudhry2933]

Another Brilliant Upload Keep It Up

[@zengrishfauhi4694]

Botham is beauty of cricket still . Unfortunately he did not come Asia

[@watgaz518]

Top cricketer and man is Beefy 🏆

[@sunilkumarkandinapalli2856]

His hair style,body language ,approach ,nice to watch him playing like a Hero.I think this hair style was copied by Abdul Qadir, wasim & some more Pakistani players.Ofcourse Botham was all time favourite cricketer of late legendary leg spinner Qadir.

[@dilipmacbookssaparamadu3522]

Lovely Cricket All round ...!

[@judgementravi480]

Allrounder 💪👍👌😃 not only very 1st played with steel batting 😃👌

[@ashokrajan5275]

Simon Davis tormented India in 86 who gave him too much respect. Finally beefy showed what an ordinary bowler he was.

[@PaulRoneClarke]

I love the way Bill says Bruce Reid's name "Brews Rood"

[@alanjm1234]

You can see how much better bats are today. He really had to belt those balls to get six. These days a thick edge goes for six.

[@Vinodkumar-fg1qm]

Not only Richards but Botham too used to play without helmet quite often.

[@davel4708]

How the thwack sound when he hits the ball. Don't seem to hear it like that these days. It's either the bats or the microphones I guess.

[@angloaust1575]

Australia had their day with lille Now England's turn with botham!

[@clivem24]

Botham, Lamb , Gatting we had some talent then ! Botham batting with no helmet! Could not see that happening today.

[@blooter6360]

Oh yes !! Remember it well watching live here in 🇬🇧 England wiped the floor that summer with Aussie ( ashes) Wsc And Perth challenge cup Happy days

[@mvubu6823]

could never understand the lack of a boundary rope in Aus

[@macca8562]

He put bums on seats, i can't think of one player today i would pay to see.

[@user-uy3rc6jf1w]

Imagine a middle order of ... 4. Pieterson 5. Stokes 6. Botham. 7. Flintoff

[@tommyhassan3545]

Botham is up here with the very best

[@anirbanmaity9948]

❤L❤E❤G❤E❤N❤D Sir Ian Botham.

[@MrDunkiep]

0:54 Bill goes full 'twelfth man' and big Maxy gets in on the act. It's a shame he wasn't a Victorian!!

[@itookallthenames]

Get him up here!

[@user-xg4td3gg7e]

Good enough to be Australian. 😉

[@paulmurray5730]

What’s with the boundary rope brought in so far?!

[@AussieTVMusic]

It's an oval

[@anirbanmaity9948]

Huge Six

[@ghplayer1992]

Imagine if t20 was invented then how crazy would imran khan ,botham,hadlee,border the classic wendies player would have been and the commercial value this big players would have brought like miadad,asif iqbal,kapil dev,gavasker etc

[@chrisstyles7095]

Memories

[@brymorian]

Chapel never had an ovation like this off an Australian crowd

[@adamturnbull7826]

Imagine this with a modern day bat!!

[@garethjones3806]

Duncan Fearnley must have loved him.

[@markarnold8160]

Those were the days!!

[@FPKelly]

So, in His Prime, does I T Botham get in THE All Time 11?

[@copferthat]

Poor Ian, he’s advertising how clapped out his legs are now

[@simonhill1590]

sad to see, right!

[@copferthat]

@@simonhill1590 Well not really, as an old git miself It's understandable. as he's hardly in a position to advertise 'stick with it all night? erection pills, now is he? Going back to the late 70's onward I had a very bad accident which confined to home for months. The tele in those days was a joke and when I switched it on, horror of horrors, it was cricket, but I watched it anyway, no choice. and a fella arrived at the crease and blasted a quick century before dinner and I remember thinking, I could get to like this sport. That man was Botham. a fully deserved national hero.

[@evo5349]

My cousin had trials for Fast bowler in the 80's but couldn't quite do it and shoulder injuries finished it.

[@HKB-1]

Genius.

[@barrykay2684]

Was there

[@philardern6923]

BEEFY. Englands greatest ever cricketer. End of

[@charlespring5296]

Beefy would tear things up in the IPL

[@vickyvirk4424]

He would more likely fight with an owner of an Ipl team and be banned

[@markhughes7927]

‘this is a batting exhibition 0f a top order…’

[@venugopalgnanthancode41]

A superman on a super day, it's bothom

[@stewartbrown6869]

He s the man along with viv richards dean jones to . Best 3 ever

[@rockysoft2227]

Maverick

[@campbelldawes3584]

Beefy at his best!

[@matthewdrake9699]

No helmets can’t believe it!

[@kaushikganguli1091]

England were very good those days. Oz were a poor team but won the WC later in the year.

[@bikramjit2230]

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