lan Botham three, Australia one

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 46

lan Botham three, Australia one

NZPA Manchester lan Botham three, Australia one. Not even the victorious England captain, Mike Brearley, could argue with that appraisal of the Ashes series. Since he resigned from the captaincy after the second test. Botham has dominated j the series in a manner which ! is surely without precedence. 1 In the third test, at HeadI ingley, he made 50 and 149 i not out and took seven wick- ; ets.

1 In the fourth test, at Edgbaston, he took six wickets, including the last five in the match for one run. In the fifth test, at Old Trafford, he scored 118, took five wickets, and held four catches. His innings at Old Trafford on Saturday is considered by no less an authority than John Woodcock, editor of

"Wisden" and cricket corres-pondent-of “The Times,” perhaps the greatest of its kind ever played. “The only difference between the-two sides is lan Botham,” said the Australian captain, Kim Hughes, after his team had been beaten by 103 runs and surrendered the fight for the Ashes. "Botham as a captain would not play the-same as Botham as a player.

“When he was captain he probably did not have the full support of every member of the team.

Brearley was drawn out of his usual reticence to discuss individual players and echoed the thoughts of Hughes.

"If you took him out of our side and put him into another one, the other side would become a good one and we would become an ordinary one," Brearley said. He also spoke of the difference in Botham, not only since the former captain resigned but also since Brearley was able to influence him again. "I suppose he is good for me and I’m good for him.. If you like, he needs a father figure and I need a little brother,” said Brearley, who will step down after the sixth test to concentrate on a career in psycho-analysis. The England selectors will choose another captain to take the team to India. The most likely man is Keith Fletcher, of Essex, who has not played a test for four years. Alan Border was the hero of the losing cause. His 123 not out was scored in six

hours 55 minutes — and he batted with a broken finger. The scoreboard: ENGLAND First innings 231 Second innings 401 AUSTRALIA First innings 130 Second innings J. Dyson, run out 5 G. Wood c Knott b Allott . 6 K. Hughes lbw Botham .. . 13 G. Yallop b Embury 114 A. Border not out . 123 M. Kent c Brearley b Emhurey 2 R. Marsh c Knott b Willis. 47 R. Bright e Knott b Willis . 5 D. Lillee e Botham b Allott . 28 T. Aiderman lbw Botham. . 0 M. Whitney c Gatting b Willis 0 Extras (159 w2 nb!8) ... 29 Total 402 Fall: 7, 24. 119, 198, 206, 296, 322, 373, 378.

Bowling 0 M R W R. Willis 30.5 2 96 3 P. Allott 17 3 71 2 I. Botham 36 16 86 2 J. Emburey 40 9 107 2 M. Gatting 3 1 13 (1