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Ian ‘Botham’ was the most thrilling sight in sport for nearly two decades at the top of international cricket. He retired from the game in 1993 and has since acted as coaching advisor to the England team on the 1997/98 Zimbabwe and New Zealand tour, a commentator for Sky TV, and he has a newspaper column in the Daily Mirror. He continues to be a keen analyser of the game.

Peter Hayter is the cricket correspondent of the ‘Mail on Sunday’. He collaborated with Ian Botham in writing his bestselling autobiography and, most recently, ‘The Botham Report’.

De la contraportada

Ian Botham thrilled crowds all over the world with his magnificent exploits during nearly two decades at the top of international cricket. Since his retirement from the first-class game in 1993, he has watched England lurch from bad to worse, a decline that culminated in a disastrous 1995 World Cup campaign, a home series defeat by Pakistan in 1996, followed by another lost Ashes campaign in 1997.

What is wrong with English cricket? In 'The Botham Report', the great all-rounder comes up with some typically forthright answers. He confronts what he regards as one of the biggest scandals in international sport, the enslavement of professional cricketers to their county clubs and the English cricket Board. He also points the finger at the men he believes must take the blame for England's low standing in international cricket.

Backed by several leading counties Botham narrowly failed to win election to the national selection committee, but through his appointment as coaching advisor to the English team he has been given the chance to play a part in shaping the future of English cricket. In his report, he explains precisely how he would set about galvanising England's top cricketers. Interviewing a range of sportsmen at the top of their profession, he will demonstrate the ideal psychological approach and what is needed to become a winner in sport.

Botham has invited the chairman, chief executive, and captain of every county club to participate in a survey to identify the deep divisions threatening to tear cricket apart. It will be controversial, hard-hitting and thought provoking…and Botham's revolutionary ideas to save a game in crisis will create a blueprint for the future structure of the game.

As a player, Ian Botham was renowned for his ability to change the nature of a game by his sheer force and presence. This is a book that is set to shape the face of English cricket for the next generation.

Peter Hayter, who collaborated with Ian Botham in writing this book, has already worked with the great all-rounder on his autobiography, which was the biggest selling UK sports book of all time. Cricket correspondent of 'The Mail on Sunday' for the past seven years, Peter was formerly football correspondent of 'Sportsweek' magazine, and has also written for 'The Independent' and 'The Observer'. His other books include 'England's Cricket Heroes' and 'Great Tests Recalled'. He lives with his wife and two children in rural Shropshire.

“The amazing Ian Botham had the mourners dancing in the aisles with the greatest comeback since Lazarus”
PAT GIBSON, 'Daily Express', at Headingley during the 1981 Ashes series

“Thanks to his efforts, today seven out of ten children stand a real chance of hitting their leukaemia for six”
DOUGLAS OSBORNE, 'Executive Director, Leukaemia Research Fund'

“The prospect of Ian's involvement would be more than welcomed by players for whom 'Beefy' has long been a figure of worship”
BROUGH SCOTT, 'Sunday Telegraph', on Botham's role as technical advisor

“He's a man who understands present day cricket”
BOB WILLIS, on why English cricket needs Botham