Background
He is the son of English Test cricketer Ian Botham. Botham initially followed in his father"s footsteps, playing county cricket for Hampshire.
He is the son of English Test cricketer Ian Botham. Botham initially followed in his father"s footsteps, playing county cricket for Hampshire.
His godfather is the former West Indian cricket captain Viv Richards. 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. However he was ultimately never capped at this level
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. 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. Since retiring, Botham runs a sports travel company, and lives in London.