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First published in 1989 by William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd
Reprinted 1989, 1990
© Newschoice Ltd and Ian Botham 1989
Photographs courtesy of Adrian Murrell/All-Sport and Patrick Eagar
Illustrations by John Scorey
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Some images were not available for the electronic edition
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780002183153
Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2017 ISBN: 9780007513086
Version: 2017-01-18
Table of Contents
Part One: How I Play My Cricket
2. The Start Of An Innings And How to Build It
1. Bowling Techniques – An Introduction
1. Why I Play The Game The Way I Do
‘Give me a challenge and I’ll take it on.’ In this instance against the Australians – perhaps my favourite opponents.
The Headingley electronic scoreboard of 18 July 1981 flashed that historic bookmaking quotation of 500–1 against England beating Australia – and that is why I am writing this book. Not just to re-hash that famous England win, but to try to explain to all cricketers why they should never ever accept the result of any match as a foregone conclusion.
Cricket is just not like that, and although that Test match provided a once-in-a-lifetime fairy story ending, I have played in plenty of other matches where a game has suddenly been tilted unexpectedly because one player had the guts to attack against all the odds.
My approach to cricket is simple. Give me a challenge and I’ll take it on. If there’s no challenge, then I try to find one. I know my strengths – and weaknesses – and I have always set goals for myself from school right through to Test cricket. And when I’ve achieved something I set out to do, I immediately re-set the goalposts. That is the best way I know to sustain enthusiasm, and no matter at what level you play the game,