November 24: Ian Botham 60 not out

AS the irrepressible Sir Ian Botham prepares to toast his landmark 60th birthday, there’s a case to be made for his swashbuckling century against the Australians at Headingley in 1981 being named as cricket’s most influential innings.

Although other batsmen have scored more runs, this bravado, straight from the annals of Boy’s Own, not only galvanised a nation worn down by industrial strife and social disorder, but it proved to be the catalyst for a series of gruelling long-distance charity walks which continue to this day.

Not content with raising millions for charity, most notably Leukaemia Research after being touched by a youngster’s plight during a hospital visit, Sir Ian is now preparing for a 100-mile walk across South Africa that will combine three of his great passions – cricket, walking and fine wine.

It’s an extraordinary legacy – the world would be a much poorer place if Sir Ian, who now lives in North Yorkshire, had not hit the tiring Australian attack to all parts of LS6 on that defining afternoon for British sport when the impossible suddenly became possible.