5. Botham’s Ashes

Explicit content warning

06/14/23 • 39 min

In 1981 Ian Botham became a national sporting hero.

From the depths of despair after being sacked as England captain, he fought back to lead a remarkable resurgence. All while playing some of the most scintillating cricket the game had ever seen.

In this episode you'll hear from the key protagonists of one of English crickets finest moments. Botham himself explains how he managed to transform his mindset after being unceremoniously stripped of the captaincy.

His replacement as captain, Mike Brearley, reveals how he used his training as a psychologist to recapture the best from Botham. Bob Willis takes us into that incredible game at Headingley, the turning point for the series, and England batsman Mike Gatting recalls how Botham found a cheeky way to rub salt in the wounds of the Australians - by commandeering their champagne.

In 1981 Ian Botham became a national sporting hero.

From the depths of despair after being sacked as England captain, he fought back to lead a remarkable resurgence. All while playing some of the most scintillating cricket the game had ever seen.

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4. Bodyline II: The Rivalry Turns Nasty (Again)

The Australian batsman Vic Richardson played in the first Bodyline series and was terrorised by the English bowlers. His grandson was the gimlet-eyed Australian captain Ian Chappell. Having heard so many of his grandfather’s stories, he vowed revenge.

In 1974/5 he unleashed the marauding Dennis Lillee and the supersonic Jeff Thomson on England – the fastest, nastiest pair of bowlers in history. England were battered to a chastening defeat.

We hear from Ian Chappell as he explains the joy he took in exacting revenge for his grandfather whilst David Lloyd tells a hilarious story of being hit in the box and knocking the ‘dints’ out in the changing room before his next innings.

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6. The Ball of the Century

No-one has burst onto the Ashes scene as dramatically as Shane Warne did in 1993. With his first ever delivery in an Ashes contest he dramatically clean bowled Mike Gatting with a ball that turned and bounced ferociously.

It became simply known as “That Ball”. It transformed not just Ashes matches but the way spin was used worldwide.

The tales of Warne’s words and deeds are legion, and in this episode we reveal new insight into his impact and tricks with the people who had to unravel them, including Mike Gatting, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. We also hear from those that had the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with him - Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath.