Beefy received hate mail for being my pal
Sir ian Botham and Sir Viv richards are chatting on Zoom like the old friends they are. They discuss their families, their golf, the Yeovil laundrette they used during their time at Somerset — and racism.
The conversation, which is taking place because the ECB and Cricket West indies have decided that the Wisden Trophy will henceforth be called the richards-Botham Trophy, is never dull. At times, it feels like the good-natured partnerships they shared at Taunton, trying to out-hit each other over the river Tone.
Botham is 64 now and richards 68. Between them, they have seen it all, racked up 223 Test appearances, 13,740 runs and 415 wickets (most of them, admittedly, Botham’s).
Yet they are both clearly touched by the honour, which means Wisden’s 57-year association with the England-West indies series will end after the decisive third Test, starting today in Manchester.
richards calls Botham a ‘dear friend’, Botham describes richards as a ‘blood brother’. Only one team came out on top when they met in Tests, but the mutual respect never dimmed. Actually, it’s more like love.
‘We were sending the message long ago that you can get along,’ says richards. ‘ian got a lot of hate mail at times for being my friend. That was coming from some nasty folks who never quite believed in togetherness.
‘What can i say to ian? i can thank him for being in my corner. We just represented what i think people should be representing: that we’re all human beings and that’s the most important thing.’
Botham jumps in: ‘i don’t care if a guy comes from Mars and he’s blue. it’s the person you meet and bond with.’
When Botham tells Sportsmail that ‘all lives matter’ — a line with which richards agrees — he does so not out of disrespect for the Black Lives Matter movement, but because he simply can’t envisage a world in which one race places itself above another. For him, the very discussion seems a ‘bit alien’.
Botham declined to take part in either of English cricket’s two rebel tours of apartheid South Africa — another defining moment in his friendship with richards.
‘The thing that finished me with all that was when they turned round to Viv and said: “We’ll make you an honorary white man”. i said: “Hang on, where’s this going?”. He’s black, proud, magnificent and a great guy. He doesn’t want to be an honorary white man any more than i want to be an honorary black man.’
it is no coincidence the timing of the trophy’s redesignation chimes with the mood of West indies’ visit. Both teams took a knee before the first Test in Southampton, while the tourists wore black gloves on their right hands in a nod to the Black Power salutes by sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics.
For richards, who used to bat wearing the green, yellow and red rastafarian wristband, the subject has always been close to his heart. ‘i most certainly agree with ian when he says all lives matter,’ he states.
‘it’s been highlighted now because of the events we’ve seen played out in America — this hate towards our colour. if we have respect for one another, these things wouldn’t come into the equation. Look at Covid. We are not in control. This warfare is hitting everyone — not just black or white, but every race and country on earth. We should sit back and reflect on where we’d like to be.
‘When we look at some of the more powerful countries with these huge bombs — can they attack Covid with these destructive weapons? No! Let us put our energies into things that matter when it comes to human beings. When we do that, we’re going to have a better world.’
Forty-six years on from the morning in May when the two men made their County Championship debut together against Lancashire at Taunton, Botham and richards are playing as many shots as ever.