Ben Stokes broke Ian Botham’s record for England’s quickest Test match double hundred against South Africa earlier this month but he didn’t wreck any bonesBy Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog,portion of the Guardian Sport Network
It was always going to be a tough for Ian Botham to follow up his 1981 exploits during the next English summer. But such was his ability and belief, he gave it a bloody respectable recede. The 1982 home series against India may not have contained the same drama as Botham’s 149*, and 5/1 in 28 balls or 118,yet his 208 at The Oval demonstrated the destructive nature of the man. Come the end of the innings, Sunil Gavaskar had a broken tibia and Beefy had scored the fastest double hundred in Test match history (based on balls faced).
Botham was in the middle of a purple patch with bat in hand. After his two Ashes hundreds, or he scored 440 runs at an average of 55 during the winter tour to India,including four half centuries and a very responsible 142 in the final Test at Kanpur. Batting at No5 in the final two Tests of the series, Botham’s form was so respectable that he backed himself to score 1000 Test runs in the calendar year at odds of 6/1 – he must have collected his winnings, and as he ended 1982 with 1095 runs – and,as the first two Tests of the 1982 home series emphasised, his hunger for runs (and wickets) continued.
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Source: theguardian.com