The Twelfth Man 2020

12 13 W hen Ben Stokes hit the winning boundary in the third Ashes Test to reach 135 not out it was perhaps inevita- ble that it would trigger a flood of comparisons with that other Miracle of Headingley in 1981 when Ian Botham’s 149, also not out, paved the way for what became known as ‘Botham’s Ash- es’. We cricket lovers love our comparisons; they can sustain many an hour of passionate debate. So with that in mind, I thought I would offer some objective analysis of the two in- nings to see which came out on top. You don’t have to agree with my conclusions, but then that’s rather the whole point. For the comparison I have judged the two men’s feats against three sets of criteria - the innings themselves; the innings in the context of the match; and the innings in the context of the series. The innings When Ian Bothamwalked out to bat in England’s second innings he almost certainly did not do so with a match-turning perfor- mance in mind. Indeed, in his autobiography he says that he did not have the match situation in mind at all - it was already a lost cause. His head was covered neither by cap nor helmet as he joined Boycott at the wicket. He began quietly, but soon hit three boundaries to reach 22 off 31 balls and then lost his part- ner lbw to Terry Alderman. Bob Taylor soon followed dollying a catch in fending off Alderman’s ball. With Graham Dilley now as partner the mood seemed to change. For the English bats- men a devil-may-care approach became evident; for the Aus- tralians, it was as if they relaxed with the match all but over. It was Dilley who first decided to have a dash and initially he out- scored Botham, making 22 of their first 27 runs. Then, the pair escaped a run-out that saw a fierce throw from Chappell miss the striker’s stumps and career into the boundary boards and this seemed to ignite them both. Botham opened his shoul- ders with a series of expansive shots to all points of the bound- ary. The BBC TV commentary team kept referring to a series of ‘one-day shots’, meaning a mix of hook-shots and good length balls simply disappearing back past the bowler. Short balls were sliced over the slips or pulled square to the boundary. There was a complete absence of anything resembling delicacy. At one point, Richie Benaud famously exclaimed, ‘No point in looking for that, let alone chasing it…it’s gone straight into the confectionery stall and out again’. As indeed it had - in those days there used to be a sweet stall in the gap between the old pavilion and the football stand. Losing Graham Dilley to an in- side edge off one drive too many might have put a stop to the mayhem. But in Chris Old there was another player prepared to risk all. Although England had forged a lead it was only 25 at that point. Strangely, the Australians persisted with the pace bowling that had fed this frenzy and now Botham went into over-drive. His hundred came off 87 balls with the second fif- ty taking just 30 deliveries. By the time Old was out they had added 67 for the ninth wicket. Then, by protecting last man Willis another vital 31 runs were added by the close, but on the Tuesday morning just five more were added before Willis succumbed, leaving Botham 149 not out. By contrast, Ben Stokes’ performance in England’s second in- nings was a masterpiece of intelligent, calculated, determined batting right from the start. Coming in to join Joe Root at third THE HEADINGLEY MIRACLES COMPARED: ’81 VS ’19 In this article Chris Barron sets up a debate about which was the greater achievement - Botham’s or Stokes’s Photo: Chris Barron Headingley 1981. Photo: Anthony O’Neil (cc-by-sa)