What do you do when you return to the England Test squad after a ban? You make history of course. At least that’s what Ian Botham did on this day 30 years ago.
After serving a ban for admitting to the use of marijuana, Botham joined his team-mates to take on New Zealand at the Oval.
He was only two wickets away from being the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and he walked off the field that day as the world record holder.
He took his 355th Test wicket to equal the then world record and he soon got the 356th, Jeff Crowe lbw, and followed it up with a rapid fifty.
What a way to come back from controversy.
1931: Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hits his 600th home run, off St. Louis Browns’ George Blaeholder at Sportsman’s Park.
2000: Tiger Woods wins his second straight PGA Championship and fifth major in a three-hole playoff over Bob May. Becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win 3 majors in a calendar year.
2008: A Carli Lloyd winner gives US A the women’s football gold medal in Beijing with a 1-0 victory over Brazil.
