Knighted in 2007 for services to charity and cricket, Sir Ian Botham is widely regarded as one of the finest all-rounders in the history of cricket. Born in Oldfield, Cheshire on November 24, 1955, Botham made his first-class debut for Somerset against Lancashire in the County Championship in May, 1974, at the age of 18. He made his Test debut for England in the third Test against Australia at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in July, 1977 and just over two years and 21 matches later, on August 30, 1979, became the fastest player to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in Test cricket.
A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast medium bowler, ‘Beefy’, as Botham was popularly known, scored an aggregate of 5,200 runs in Test cricket, at an average of 33.55, and took 383 wickets, at an average of 28.40. He achieved his highest Test score, 208, against India at the Kensington Oval, London on July 8, 1982 and his best bowling figures in a single innings, 8/34, against Pakistan at Lord’s, London on June 15, 1978.
However, Botham will always be best remembered for three match-winning performances, two with the bat and one with the ball, in the Ashes series in 1981, subsequently dubbed ‘Botham’s Ashes’. After losing the first Test at Trent Bridge and being out for a pair in the drawn second Test at Lord’s, Botham resigned the England captaincy and was replaced by his predecessor, Mike Brearley, who had been tempted out of retirement.
At Headingley, England followed on and were quoted at 500/1, at one point, to win the third Test. However, Botham produced a remarkable display of hitting, scoring an unbeaten 149, off just 148 deliveries, towards at second innings total of 356, setting Australia a total of 130 to win. In an inspired spell, England fast bowler Bob Willis produced figures of 8/43 in the second innings, reducing Australia to 111 all out, and the home team scored the unlikeliest of victories. In the fourth Test at Edgbaston, Botham took five wickets for one run in 28 balls, to put England 2-1 ahead in the six-match series, scored 118 in the second innings of the fifth Test at Old Trafford, which England also won, and took ten wickets in the drawn sixth Test at the Kensington Oval.
Known in his heyday as the ‘golden boy of English football’, Bobby Moore will always be best remembered for the iconic photograph of him being held aloft by teammates Geoff Hurst and Ray Wilson, Jules Rimet trophy in hand, at the end of the World Cup final at Wembley Stadium on July 30, 1966. Indeed, manager Sir Alf Ramsey later said of Moore, ‘Without him England would never have won the World Cup.’
Born in Barking, Essex on April 12, 1941, Moore was outstanding centre-half, renowned for calmness, composure and intelligence on the pitch and humility, modesty and integrity off it. He made his senior debut for England in a friendly against Peru at Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima on May 20, 1962 and impressed manager Walter Winterbottom sufficiently to play in every game of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, where England reached the quarter-finals.
The following year Sir Alf Ramsey replaced Walter Winterbottom as England manager and, on the first anniversary of his first senior cap, on May 20, 1963, Moore captained England for the first time in a friendly against Czechoslovakia at Tehelne Pole Stadion, Bratislava. All told, Moore made 108 appearances for England, including 90 as captain.
At club level, Moore made his professional debut for West Ham United at Upton Park on September 8, 1958, at the age of 17, against Manchester United. He was appointed captain for the first time on April 20, 1962, having just turned 21, and subsequently led his club to victory in the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965. All told, he made a then record 544 league appearances, and 642 in all, for West Ham United, nefore being sold to Fulham in 1974. Thereafter,
he spent short spells in America, with San Atonio Thunder and Seattle Sounders, and in Denmark, with Boldklubben Herning Fremad, before finally hanging up his boots in 1979.
Sir Gareth Edwards, knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2015 for services to sport and charity, was arguably the greatest scrum-half in the history of rugby union. Born on July 12, 1947, in the former mining village of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, near Ammanford, in South West Wales, Edwards made his international debut, at the age of 19, in a Five Nations Championship match against France at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, near Paris in 1967. The following season, at the age of 20, he became the youngest ever captain of the Welsh national team, against Scotland at Cardiff Arms Park in the same competition.
All told, as arguably the best player in a back division that included John Peter Rhys ‘JPR’ Williams, Gerald Davies, Phil Bennett and Barry John, Edwards would win 53 consecutive caps for Wales. Remarkably, for a scrum-half, he scored twenty tries for Wales in Test matches. He also won ten caps for the British Lions, notably in New Zealand in 1971, when they lost only one game and won a Test series against New Zealand and South Africa in 1974, when they were undefeated for the entire tour.
Edwards also scored what has been described as the ‘greatest try ever’ when playing for the Barbarians against New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park in January, 1973. In the first few minutes of the match, Barbarians’ fly-half Phil Bennett retrieved a kick from New Zealand winger Bryan Williams inside his own 22-metre line, sidestepped three opponents and passed to full-back JPR Williams. Twenty-five seconds later, Edwards capped a sensational handling move by diving over in the corner, leading commentator Cliff Morgan to exclaim, ‘A dramatic start! What a score!’
George Best, who died in November, 2005, was one of the most naturally gifted players in the history of football. Genuinely two-footed, quick and elusive, he was equally effective on the left or right flank and garnered worldwide acclaim for his technical ability and flair. Indeed, in his heyday in the mid to late Sixties, his celebrity transcended football, so much so that he was dubbed the ‘Fifth Beatle’.
Handsome, stylish and extremely well-paid, by ordinary standards, Best enjoyed a playboy lifestyle, of which he once said, ‘ I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.’ Sadly, though, Best suffered from lifelong alcoholism, which overshadowed his brilliant playing career, led to a controversial liver transplant in 2002 and, ultimately, resulted in his premature death, at the age of 59.
Born in Belfast on May 22, 1946, Best was scouted by Manchester United as a 15-year-old and made his first team debut against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford on September 14, 1963. Two First Division titles, in 1965 and 1967, and a European Cup, in 1968, followed, but Best did not stay long at the top of the game.
In 1972, beset with problems with alcohol, which led to erratic form and behaviour, not to mention weight gain, Best announced his retirement, more than once, before changing his mind. Nevertheless, he failed to recover his previous level of brilliance and made his final appearance for Manchester United in 3-0 defeat by Queens Park Rangers on January 1, 1974. Still only 27, played for 11 different clubs, including Stockport, Fulham, Hibernian and Bournemouth, without any notabel succcess, before finally retiring in 1983.