Ian Botham at Brisbane in 1986/87: 138 from 174 balls; 13 fours; four sixes
By the winter of 1986, England have turned into a rabble. It’s actually quite impressive. From the point of the series-clincher at The Oval in 1985, they will play 11 Test matches and win precisely none of them.
Gower will be replaced by Mike Gatting. Botham will be banned for a few months for smoking dope. The team that arrives in Australia is a wreck, and nothing in the pre-series practice games suggests otherwise.
In one of them, against Western Australia, a profoundly hungover Botham strides purposefully out to t...
