Crowe again entangled in Botham feud

Press, 15 July 1987, Page 76

Crowe again entangled in Botham feud

The New Zealand batting star, Martin Crowe, tonight (N.Z. time) finds himself again unwittingly entangled in a bitter feud between the fiery British all-rounder, lan Botham, and his former county side, Somerset. It was Crowe’s selection for the Somerset team which led to the swashbuckling British cricket hero, Botham, quitting last year. The Somerset team management decided to drop the long-serving West Indian players, Viv Richards and Joel

Garner, to retain Crowe in the team, and Botham then resigned from the side in protest But tonight right on Somerset’s home pitch in Taunton, Botham’s new team, Worcestershire, will confront Somerset for the first time sincethe breach. Already the British tabloid newspapers have sensationalised the clash, quoting Botham as saying he is out to “rub Somerset’s nose in the dirt.” Botham’s brazen personality and equally flambouyant style of play

appeals to the British popular press, which gives him banner headlines whenever he says something outrageous. By building up such a personality cult, Botham has managed to secure lucrative promotional contracts, said to be worth several hundred thousand pounds to him a year. In addition Botham must take every opportunity he can grab to prove to the English selectors that he should retain his place in the test team to play Pakistan, to be announced this

week-end. The former English captain has enjoyed sporadic success at the wicket this season, and his lack of consistency could see him dropped from the team. In contrast, Crowe has managed to develop a reputation in Britain as a rising cricket star, who avoids the personal publicity which i surrounds Botham. When the row over Crowe’s appointment to Somerset in place of Botham’s long-time friends erupted last year, the New Zealand player

avoided aggravating the situation by refusing to be drawn Into the controversy. Instead the flak has been directed by Botham and his fans towards the Somerset team management, including the captain, Peter Roebuck. Roebuck is a studious law graduate, who could also have once counted himself as being among lan Botham’s friends, but last year’s ructions strained the friendship, and now Botham says Roebuck “has a lot to answer for.” Fearing a revenge

match, Roebuck has tried to calm matters before tonight’s match. “It is no secret there is a certain feeling between us, but I am treating this as just another game despite the buildup,” said Peter Roebuck. Crowe, meanwhile, continues to emerge as a rising star of English county cricket He scored a useful 56 runs in Somerset’s game against Surrey at The Oval last week-end, and earlier became the first county cricketer to reach 1600 runs for the season. Again in contrast to

the outspoken Botham,. Crowe is described -by < the British press as being ' “serious-minded.” A cricket correspon- J dent, Matthew Stacey, , last week-end tipped - Crowe as a likely re- ' placement for Roebuck < as Somerset’s captain. ' “Crowe, as potential captaincy material, is already of notable benefit * to Somerset,” wrote Sta- '■ cey in the “Daily Tele- ’ graph.” “He takes painsi with the young players. * He helps them to iron out t the mistakes and he encourages them to talk cricket.” 4