Liam Botham
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| Full name | Liam James Botham | ||||||
| Date of birth | 26 August 1977 | ||||||
| Place of birth | Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 15 st (95 kg) | ||||||
| School | Rossall School | ||||||
| Relatives | Ian Botham | ||||||
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| Position | Second row, Wing | ||||||
| Current club | Retired | ||||||
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* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only. | |||||||
Liam James Botham (born 26 August 1977 in Doncaster) is a former rugby player who played rugby union and later rugby league. He is the son of English Test cricketer Ian Botham. His godfather is the former West Indian cricket captain Viv Richards.
Career
Botham initially followed in his father's footsteps, playing county cricket for Hampshire. He took the wicket of former England captain Mike Gatting on his County Championship debut. However, he left the sport in 1997 after just one season to play rugby union for West Hartlepool. He made his debut for the England under-21 team the same year, before successive moves to Cardiff and Newcastle Falcons.
Botham was first called up to the senior England squad by Clive Woodward for the 2000 England rugby union tour of South Africa.[1] However he was ultimately never capped at this level.
While at Newcastle the club won the 2001 Tetley Bitter Cup (in the final of which he was a replacement)[2] and reached the final of the European Shield. In 2003, he switched sports again, signing for Super League club Leeds Rhinos. Although playing well for the Rhinos, the 2004 Superleague Champions, Botham signed for struggling Wigan towards the end of the season, feeling he could not get a regular place in the Rhinos team.
In 2005, he announced his retirement aged 27 after a neck injury. Towards the end of the 2006 season, there were signs that he might return to playing competitive cricket: he played a significant role in an England XI victory against Lancashire in a testimonial match for Andrew Flintoff at Old Trafford. In 2006, Botham set up a company, Botham & Miller, with his friend James Miller, which offered executive sporting trips to South Africa, Australia and other destinations.
Between 2006 and 2008 he played for, and was latterly captain of, Northallerton Town 1st XI in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier League before moving on to Middlesbrough in the same league in 2009.
Post-playing career
Since retiring, Botham runs a sports travel company, and lives in London.
Personal life
Botham married Sarah-Jayne, with whom he has three children, Regan (22), James (18) and Imani-Jayne (15); the couple divorced in 2011. Their son James, born in Cardiff whilst Botham was playing rugby there, is a student at Sedbergh School, and in March 2016 was selected at flanker for the Wales under-18 rugby team against Scotland.[3]
Botham married Northern Ireland socialite Lisa Harrison on the Caribbean island of Mustique in 2013. She gave birth to their son Benji in July 2015.[4]
References
- ↑ "Johnson reclaims England captaincy". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 June 2000. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ↑ "Newcastle snatch Cup glory". BBC. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35895714
- ↑ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/lisa-harrison-and-liam-botham-bowled-over-by-birth-of-baby-son-31400296.html