‘Forgotten man’ Old happy to recall his vital Headingley supporting role in Botham’s Ashes

THINK of Headingley ‘81 and you immediately think of Ian Botham swashbuckling his way to an unbeaten 149.

You think of him tearing into Australia’s fast bowlers and of Richie Benaud’s famous comment – as another six cleared the boundary rope – “it’s gone straight into the confectionery stall and out again.”

You think of Botham’s eighth-wicket stand of 117 with Graham Dilley – the latter all blond curls and booming drives – as the pair helped England from 135-7 (92 runs behind) to 356 all-out.

And you think of Bob Willis charging in from the Kirkstall Lane end – a look of glazed intent on his face – to take 8-43 as Australia were dismissed for 111 in pursuit of 130 for victory.

What you tend to forget, however, is the vital part Chris Old played in the 500-1 triumph.

The former Yorkshire pace bowler came into bat at No 10 after Dilley was bowled for 56 with England, effectively, 25-8.

Old helped Botham add 67 in just under an hour, scoring 29 from 31 balls with six fours before being bowled by Geoff Lawson, after which Botham and Willis added 37 for the final wicket.

Old then took the key wicket of Allan Border – bowled for a duck – as Australia slid to 65-5 in pursuit of their slender target.

Now aged 62 and living in Falmouth, Old is the forgotten man of Headingley ‘81.

While the books and DVDs laud Botham, Willis and Dilley, Old’s name is consistently overlooked.

It is a huge disservice to a man who took 647 first-class wickets for Yorkshire between 1966 and 1982. Without his unsung contribution, there would have been no real target for Australia to chase and nothing for English cricket fans to celebrate 30 years after the most famous comeback the game has seen.

Old, however, does not begrudge them the limelight.

“Whenever you see anything about Headingley ‘81, I suppose it’s always about how Dilley and Botham put us into the position to win the game before Willis bowled them out,” he smiled.

“The attention tends to revolve around those three people and they are the ones who seem to get a mention. Obviously they did have a huge input but it was a brilliant achievement by the team as a whole. Lots of others had little bits to do with it, but those three guys were absolutely brilliant.”

Old had more than a little bit to do with it. Not only did he score important runs after joining Botham on the fourth afternoon, he made sure the 25-year-old all-rounder did not get carried away by the drama of the occasion.

“The big thing for me was to stick around, keep Ian going and try to keep him on an even keel,” reflected Old, who captured 143 Test wickets at 28.11.

“I told him not to try and hit everything out of the ground and that, as the field spread back, he had to be a little bit more selective in what he was trying to do.

“Once or twice there were signals to that effect from Mike Brearley, the captain, on the dressing room balcony.

“I could see him motioning me to talk to Botham and to make sure Botham used his head as much as possible.”

This need became more pressing after Botham reached his century. Old – sensing victory was within England’s compass – successfully impressed on his partner the task was not finished.

“When Ian got to his hundred, it became even more important that he knuckled down and kept going rather than thinking he’d done the job,” said Old. “It was one of those situations when, as Boycott would say, you take guard after reaching three figures and start all over again.

“Ian was able to do that and, the longer we kept going, the more you could start to see the Australians’ heads dropping.

“All of a sudden, three or four people seemed to be captaining the side instead of just one, and we started to believe we could actually win.”

After Willis was dismissed on the final morning, Australia lost the early wicket of Graeme Wood.

They rallied to reach 56-1 before Willis began his deadly burst by having Trevor Chappell caught behind, Australia losing three more quick wickets before lunch.

“Border had come to the crease just before lunch and the discussion in the dressing room at lunchtime was that he was the key man,” said Old. “We said if we could get Border out reasonably quickly, we would have a great opportunity.

“I got him out with my third ball after lunch, and those three balls I bowled to him straight up after the break were the best I ever bowled in Test cricket.

“The first one pitched outside off-stump, came back in sharply and went just over the stumps, with Bob Taylor taking it as he moved down leg-side.

“The next one pitched middle-and-off, cut away from Border, and Bob took it in front of about second slip. You could see Border looking around, wondering what on earth was happening.

“The next ball was like the first one, came back in, and Border wasn’t sure whether he should play at it or not.

“In that moment of indecision, he decided to leave it and get his bat out the way, but it hit his bat and went on to the stumps.”

Ray Bright and Dennis Lillee offered brief resistance before Willis sealed ‘mission impossible’ by bowling Bright.

The crowd swarmed the field after England – 227 behind on first innings – had become only the second team in Test history to win after being made to follow-on. However, there was not much time for the England players to celebrate.

Most were back on duty for their counties next day – including Yorkshire captain Old.

“We were playing the Sri Lankans at Abbeydale Park,” he remembered. “I was physically and mentally drained, and I remember thinking ‘I hope I win the toss so we can bat’ because all I wanted to do was go to sleep.”

Old played the last of his 46 Tests in the next match at Edgbaston, which England won by 29 runs, en route to a 3-1 series triumph.

He is proud of his part in a Headingley Test that echoes down the years.

“Looking back, the country was in quite a difficult situation at that time, we hadn’t played well in the first two Tests of the series and we went into the Headingley game 1-0 down,” he said. “On the fourth day, it looked like we’d gone and there was no way back.

“To suddenly have everything change around – and the way it changed around – was quite incredible really.

“I think it made everyone proud to be British again.”

Botham: We were screwed and the game was as good as over

I CAN’T quite believe it is 30 years since that summer of ‘81 and the match that changed my life. Those who know me will appreciate that I’m not really one for looking back at what things were like in the “old days”.

So many years on I can see it for what it was and I’m so very proud to be a part of British sporting history. People ask me whether I remember what it felt like to be in that situation at Headingley, whether I had a plan or a feeling that something was about to happen. There was no feeling at all. We were screwed and that was about all there was to it.

The game was as good as over by the time I went out to bat at 105-5 following on and there was no magical wave of the wand that turned things around, as I said to Graham Dilley when he came out to join me, ‘Let’s give it some humpty’, and we did. The Aussies hated it, and with every blow that hit the boundary boards we enjoyed it that little bit more. But we’d only given ourselves an outside chance.

There is a photo of me with my pads on about to have a smoke. I’m looking off into the distance. I’m told it looks like I’m being thoughtful and reflecting on what I had just done. Truth is I was knackered and couldn’t have thought of my own name.

Bob Willis then ripped through the Aussies with the greatest spell of fast bowling England had ever seen. How he didn’t get a shared men-of-the-match I will never know.

1981 Ashes Series: Facts and figures

1st Test, Trent Bridge:England 185 (Gatting 52) and 125 (Lillee 5-46, Alderman 5-62) lost to Australia 179 (Border 63) and 132-6 by four wickets.

2nd Test, Lord’s: England 311 (Willey 82, Gatting 59; Lawson 7-81) and 265-8dec (Gower 89, Boycott 60) drew with Australia 345 (Border 64) and 90-4 (Wood 62*).

3rd Test, Headingley: Australia 401-9dec (Dyson 102, Hughes 89; Botham 6-95) and 111 (Willis 8-43) lost to England 174 (Botham 50) and 356 (Botham 149*, Dilley 56) by 18 runs.

4th Test, Edgbaston: England 189 (Alderman 5-42) and 219 (Bright 5-68) bt Australia 258 and 121 (Botham 5-11) by 29 runs.

5th Test, Old Trafford: England 231 (Tavare 69, Allott 52*) and 404 (Botham 118, Tavare 78, Knott 59; Alderman 5-109) bt Australia 130 and 402 (Border 123*, Yallop 114) by 103 runs.

6th Test, Oval: Australia 352 (Border 106*, Wood 66, Kent 54; Botham 6-125) and 344-9dec (Wellham 103, Border 84, Marsh 52) drew with England 314 (Boycott 137, Gatting 53; Lillee 7-89) and 261-7 (Knott 70*).