Botham’s belter

Personally, I was in Dartmoor Prison with Prince Charles about 10 days before his wedding to Princess Diana and the Press corps had half an ear on the radio as events unfolded.

Now a reminder of that glorious July 30 years ago has surfaced with the sale at Bonhams in Chester on Wednesday (June 1) of the Duncan Fearnley bat used by Botham – now Sir Ian Botham, of course – to club Australia towards unexpected defeat. It is estimated at up to £2,500 but I wouldn’t be surprised if the historic bat – offered with a stump, cut in half and signed by 13 players from the series – fetched a bit more.

England were 500-1 to win the match after being bowled out for 174 in their first innings – 227 runs behind Australia, who looked set to wrap up an easy win to go 2-0 up in the series. Then up stepped Botham with a gung-ho 149 to make Australia at least bat again and Bob Willis bagged eight wickets for 43. It sealed a remarkable 18-run victory and signalled a dramatic reversal of fortunes, with England winning the series 3-1 in what has gone down in cricketing history as Botham’s Ashes.

On the subject of sport, my note a few weeks ago about Graham Budd’s sale prompted Yorkshire Post reader Peter Harvey to write to me about the value of a programme from the 1955 FA Cup Final, signed by most of the Newcastle United players after their 3-1 win over Manchester City.

It was given to him by George Bilton, then manager of Frickley Athletic and friend of Newcastle manager George Livingstone. One of the signatures is that of the great Jackie Milburn, scorer of one of the Newcastle goals that day. Apparently, Livingstone didn’t want him in the team and he only played at the insistence of the board. Mr Budd says that it should be worth about £150. The City team on that day included German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann and centre-forward Don Revie, while United, with Milburn at inside-right, had future managers Jimmy Scoular and Bob Stokoe in their ranks.

Writes Mr Harvey: “I am 72 and I’ve kept this programme safe all these years. I feel that there must be a fanatical Newcastle collector who would like to purchase it.”

Vendors and collectors might find the prices realised at the Graham Budd sale for old football programmes illuminating: York City v Accrington Stanley in 1930 – £180; Sheffield United v Blackburn Rovers in 1899 – £100; Rotherham County v Stockport County in 1920 – £280; Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers in 1903 – £80; Doncaster Rovers v Southport in 1938 – £160; Bradford Park Avenue v Swansea Town in 1937 – £130; Halifax Town v Southport in 1937 – £170.

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