The Botham Report - Softcover

Botham, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000218771X ISBN 13: 9780002187718

Publisher: Willow, 1998

Synopsis

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 question: “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 Botham’s involvement, as reflected in the team’s 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

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In his new hard-hitting best-seller, Ian Botham examines what is wrong with the English game and outlines his plan to resurrect its fortunes.

'The Botham Report' features scathing criticisms of Keith Fletcher, Graham Gooch and, in particular, Ray Illingworth, alongside some of the most controversial issues that have afflicted English cricket over the past ten years, from ball tampering and dirt in the pocket to the xenophobia in Zimbabwe and the drug-taking by top English bowlers suffering from burnout.

In an extra chapter for this paperback edition, Botham reports on England’s 1998 winter tour to the Caribbean and the extent to which the job of rebuilding English cricket has progressed following the 1997 Ashes defeat and adoption of the ECB’s ‘Raising the Standard’ blueprint.

“Adapt or die. That is the stark and only choice facing English cricket today.”
IAN BOTHAM

“There is much to admire here... it is so unbelievably up to date. As ever, Botham is too big a figure to be ignored”
THE CRICKETER

“A big-hitting swagger through the past ten years of English cricket history... told with exuberance and a good deal of passion”
THE TIMES

“Part beef, part manifesto, part political thriller... the instances of insensitivity, arrogance and incompetence [in English cricket] over the last decade are breathtaking”
WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY

Synopsis:

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 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 Botham's involvement, as reflected in the team's performance on the 1997/98 winter tour to the West Indies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Willow
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 000218771X
• ISBN 13: 9780002187718
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352