In Conversation with Ian Botham

Sir Ian Botham OBE is an English former cricketer and current cricket commentator. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. He chatted with Ali Bacher on this episode of In Conversation.

[@shankariyer8378]

Great listening. Ian Botham is an all time great.

[@shankariyer8378]

It was great to listen to Ian Botham about his mother. Mothers are so happy about their children that they cannot keep the news to themselves. So well said.

[@irfansheikh2846]

Cricketers like him are born in hundred years. Those who don't know him and seen him don't know what they missed. He was a magnet a magician. A mega super duper star . I am from Pakistan but he is my all time favorite cricketer. its player like him that keeps cricket alive. People go to stadium to catch glimpse of guy like him. Thank you SIR for wonderful entertainment you provided to millions of people.

[@theradgegadgie6352]

You shock and surprise me, but in a very pleasant and welcome way. Ian Botham is not the most popular British person to most Pakistanis.

[@gregorypalamas4998]

Dr. Ali Bacher is a natural interviewer. One gets so frustrated with constant interruptions of TV hosts when they keep butting in during an interview. I think it was late Larry King who said “Never interrupt a good story”.

[@sudiptabandyopadhyay6041]

I love respect Iany from my childhood as a great cricketer and a person holding that huge personality on & off the field ... be fit & fine Iany .. God bless ...

[@subhamsingh8524]

Love how they show footage of all the incidents described.

[@flash8854]

Ian Botham is our greatest modern day cricketer. WG Grace is the original and then came Botham. Botham is an icon like WG. Stokes and Flintoff are both very good and have had great moments, however, they never had the impact on England the nation like Botham did. Botham at his best was mercurial. True all-rounder, great bowler, at times a great batsman and always the greaest fielder. Botham is an all time great as a slip fielder. He could do everything.

[@vantheman1238]

Botham’s five wickets for one run at Edgbaston to win the Test was the greatest bowling I’ve ever seen in a Test Match.

[@standenberg]

Words like 'Legendary' & 'Hero' are all too overused in sport...but Ian Botham is all of these things and more. He's achieved so much on & off the cricket pitch... and he's always good value to listen to his views & recollections etc. Thanks for uploading this gem 👍🏼

[@Bernie8330]

Tell me about it ... so irritating when someone is referred to as a cricket legend or cricket great when they played 20 odd tests in the modern era and averaged 30 and were found out at the highest legend.

[@Lowis1947]

Proper cricketer and proper bloke. A true legend.

[@arunminnas]

People forget that in addition to his obvious skills in the batting and bowling departments, he was a superb fielder and nobody talks about that.

[@mrkipling2201]

There’s not many players who have an ashes series named after them. That just shows how good he was. My cricket hero growing up. Also what he did in fundraising for leukemia research and treatment was incredible. The amount of charity walks he did the length and breadth of Britain makes him an all round hero in my eyes.

[@ravindersingh4122]

None can emerge champion like Great Ian Botham. I salute him

[@AE-Rugby]

A legend of this wonderful Sport !!

[@chasey2327]

Always stood up to be counted and lived and died by his cricketing instinct. After the dull 2 runs an over dross of the 1970s he was a breath of fresh air in England with his all action style. Had the backbone to stick it to Chappelli which was a bonus.

[@thadtuiol1717]

RIP Dr. Ali Bacher. He was a good interviewer.

[@cquilty1]

@thadtuiol1717 < < < Silly troll...:)

[@martinharvey3990]

Great interview. Botham was one of my heroes growing up, but that 94% stat he just told us is what he should be remembered for! Wow! He used his celebrity to help the lives of others who probably have no clue who he was... #legend

[@vantheman1238]

Well said 👍

[@assassinsunite3434]

Their's only one Ian Botham

[@yoginion]

Awesome interview...!!!

[@sayyamzahid505]

I live in Karachi Pakistan I like your comments if you don't mind

[@VenkateshNair]

Absolute legend

[@devan9585]

My childhood hero Botham n we loved him much more than any Indian cricketers 💖

[@brentinnes5151]

He is in my best all time world test team as one of two allrounders batting at 6

[@wobblertv8083]

Cricket IQ off the charts ...such a clever player .

[@sufghangametheory99]

Legend

[@richardgordon2855]

He was very good even better when he joined Worcestershire, some good all rounders in that team, but basil dolivera was my favourite just because I liked watching him as a kid.

[@drommie]

I was at Newlands in 1974 when Brian Close toured South Africa with the Derrick Robins X1- as a 10 year old kid I remember patting him on the back when he was on the way back to the pavilion after gettimng out. He barked " F-off kid" so don't have happy memories of him.

[@vantheman12welshman66]

kellicorrr great story. You should be happy.

[@peternagy-im4be]

No he didn't.

[@peternagy-im4be]

I prefer to remember him as a player and a man of action. His books and commentary lack a certain something. He's at his best on the greatest stage.

[@sunilkumarkandinapalli2856]

He is the only cricketer of whom i still love to watch videos. Ball or Bat Dance or Dine.......everything was so splendid. I don't know to how many degrees english crickets stastics will reduce minus the career of the great SIR IAN BOTHAM.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Mr Iron Bottom

[@darylcrosland]

impossible to omit sir 'Beefy' from a world 11 team even in this modern era.

[@brentinnes5151]

no 6

[@markturpin5667]

The W G Grace of the modern game.

[@reggieguiseguise2953]

botham the man

[@NageshKV-r4t]

He was like a Lionel Messi of cricket

[@nikunjsardhara2701]

Bald sent me here

[@Graham-qz1sh]

Best commentator ever Tony Grieg

[@chasey2327]

'He's murdering Hughes' - Greigy after Both smoked 26 off an over in 1986 Ashes

[@syedmehdi497]

Ian Botham was good player in the beginning of his career,he put on lots of weight and he lost his outswinger later in his career but was a better Batsman than blower. Overall he was an average Allrounder compared to Imran Khan & Kapil Dev.

[@boymeetsbush8232]

Average compared to Imran and Kapil? Really You just heard 5 times 5 wickets and more and a century. How many did Imran and Kapil have combined. Not to mention he own moree test on his own that Imran, Kapil and Richard Headley combined

[@abhaspandia2221]

please bring indian cricketers too

[@BlueSkiesAbove39]

Why? They are very poor cricketers in comparison.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Moaners

[@hughfranklin4002]

Not all super heroes wear capes.

[@cquilty1]

@hughfranklin4002 That was original...

[@GeorgetheArchitect]

“Not the man from Sri Lanka?” Really Ali Bacher, WTF?

[@mazharhussain7983]

Beefy best all rounder

[@invernessfan3017]

Botham is well known in cricket circles. He is famous for playing for England against Australia in the Ashes. I know cricket is popular in Australia, England, India and Pakistan. I think cricket should grow. I think that Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man should copy the West Indies and have a composite international side. A Celtic Nations side could play teams like Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, and England. A Celtic Nations International side would cover a region of 20 million people and could grow cricket.

[@johnedwards7899]

The way England treated Botham was shameful, stupid and short sighted He was a great, great player, a true champion. Handed the captaincy far too early, expecting him to still be a great all rounder and a great captain too. How ridiculous. As an Aussie, I regarded Botham as one of the all time greats, and I wished he played for us. I always believe it was a disgrace the way he was treated and I always thought that the powers that be were completely stupid. They still display the same stupidity today.

[@krishnar3493]

Come on , Ian. Still hard feelings on Roebuck

[@mrkipling2201]

Loyalty to his mates I would think.

[@anwarahmed7123]

Did he suffer from Leukemia

[@naeemahmed5599]

HSV. Cricket. Hamburg

[@sayyamzahid505]

Belo

[@mrkipling2201]

21:17 what a way to go to a 6?? A hundred you mean mate!!

[@vantheman1238]

Hey don’t criticise Jim Laker. We all know what the great man meant. Anyway is was a wonderful way to go to a six.

[@oliverdesvaux]

31:22 HAHA what a fantastic story!

[@RealistVK]

No matter how magnificently you played at some occasions (rare in 16+ year long career) Ian Botham ! You can't stand against Ian Chappell's knowledge, clarity & mental strength. He is an institution and you were just a cricket freak. There is big difference

[@skint26]

average cricket and a bully

[@theradgegadgie6352]

Beef, the rest of the world calls it football, too. It's only the septics and upper-class Brits (who say football to mean rugby) who call it soccer.

[@mrkipling2201]

Americans call it soccer. Beefy certainly isn’t upper class!!

[@theradgegadgie6352]

@@mrkipling2201 Well, he is now. He's a bleeding lord. "Septics" means Americans. It's cockney rhyming-slang.

[@mrkipling2201]

Septic tank-yank. They’re having a bubble calling it soccer!!

[@mrkipling2201]

@@theradgegadgie6352 plus they ain’t got a scooby over there.

[@theradgegadgie6352]

@@mrkipling2201 A bubble? Bubble & squeak = Greek.

[@VVS167]

Alec who? Buffoon😡😡

[@hudson7354]

And now he’s a silly brexiteer, even though he doesn’t appear to have a clue about politics.

[@bobbythomas5357]

Never understand what was so great about him. Viv was a great. Being friends with the greatest doesn’t make you one by osmosis.

[@martinharvey3990]

Clown... nothing more needs to be said.

[@shamirpatel3569]

Wtf, the man was great in literally every aspect as a sportsman and as someone that average man could identify with.

[@standenberg]

Bobby Thomas....I'll tell you what was great about Ian Botham....he inspired many Working-Class people from the UK to have passion for the game of cricket, in a country that traditionally has a love affair with other sports (mainly Football, Rugby & Boxing). He was a born winner who could single-handedly dictate the outcome of matches with his batting, bowling and even his catching. If you don't like him, that's your call...but his record is there for all to see & anyone around in the 1980's will testify he wasn't just one of the best cricketers, he was one of the best sportsmen to dominate that decade. I saw him play many times & he always gave 200% even in County Cricket. He was always the player the opposition feared the most....enough said!!

[@Bernie8330]

@@standenberg yes, apparently, Viv Richards told Botham years later, that in england v wi tests, Botham was always the one they wanted out of the firing line ... the west indies bowlers all played county cricket and they had seen first hand what Botham could do as a batsman. Richards went on to tell Botham that he was discussed at length in pre test match team meetings more than any batsman in the world, let alone England batsmen ... quite a compliment, and it had to at least some sort of comfort for Botham himself in never scoring a century against the west indies.

[@Bellocks1]

Looking at it objectively, the end part of his career was terrible compared to his first half. His appetite for alcohol and drugs dulled his talent as time went on, but that’s what the British public love, a character. Same with Flintoff. And I’m British saying that. If Beefy would’ve carried on the same trail as he did at the start of his career, put the pints and weed down, he would’ve been an all time great.