As we filed out through the drizzle that Saturday evening the scoreboard flashed up those famous odds, 500-1, set by Godfrey Evans. It made a good picture for the cover of Mike Brearley's su
bsequent book, Phoenix From The Ashes, but all that spectators could manage that day was derisive laughter. 'Here we go again,' people thought. That unhappy situation supplied the context for what happened next, which will never be forgotten so long as cricket is played. Botham's impersonation of a blacksmith on a spree turned the match on its head, England claimed the most extraordinary victory in the game's history, and went on to win the series 3-1 amid scenes of unprecedented revelry. Can we ever hear or read too much about Headingley '81? Never! Monday, July 20, 1981 was the feast day of the greatest cricketer this country produced in the second half of the last century. It was not Botham's finest innings – that came two Tests later, at Old Trafford – but it is the performance that made him immortal as the man who single-handedly beat the Aussies. That is not the literal truth. Bob Willis played a fairly significant role, taking eight for 43 on that final afternoon, as he ran in, hypnotised, from the Kirkstall Lane End, with a point to prove (he was nearly dropped after Lord's) and Mr Dylan in his ear: "Beauty walks a razor's edge, some day I'll make it mine!" But legends are not hammered into shape on the anvil of cold facts. Count them if you like – six first-innings wickets, a half-century in England's feeble total of 174, and then that 149 not out. No, legends are made by men who know no fear.
For further details visit as : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/theashes/5984229/Michael-Henderson-Ian-Bothams-Headingley-1981-Ashes-Test-still-resonates.html
bsequent book, Phoenix From The Ashes, but all that spectators could manage that day was derisive laughter. 'Here we go again,' people thought. That unhappy situation supplied the context for what happened next, which will never be forgotten so long as cricket is played. Botham's impersonation of a blacksmith on a spree turned the match on its head, England claimed the most extraordinary victory in the game's history, and went on to win the series 3-1 amid scenes of unprecedented revelry. Can we ever hear or read too much about Headingley '81? Never! Monday, July 20, 1981 was the feast day of the greatest cricketer this country produced in the second half of the last century. It was not Botham's finest innings – that came two Tests later, at Old Trafford – but it is the performance that made him immortal as the man who single-handedly beat the Aussies. That is not the literal truth. Bob Willis played a fairly significant role, taking eight for 43 on that final afternoon, as he ran in, hypnotised, from the Kirkstall Lane End, with a point to prove (he was nearly dropped after Lord's) and Mr Dylan in his ear: "Beauty walks a razor's edge, some day I'll make it mine!" But legends are not hammered into shape on the anvil of cold facts. Count them if you like – six first-innings wickets, a half-century in England's feeble total of 174, and then that 149 not out. No, legends are made by men who know no fear.For further details visit as : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/theashes/5984229/Michael-Henderson-Ian-Bothams-Headingley-1981-Ashes-Test-still-resonates.html
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