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With England’s 1000th Test being played at Edgbaston this week, it has been a joy for a cricket nerd like me to wallow in the numerous articles taking a look back at the best matches and players that have been part of 141 years of history. Naturally, I am drawn to the decade of my childhood, and I started to recall the highs and lows of English Test cricket in the 1980s. Sadly, there were far too few of the former and rather too many of the latter. Read more »

There can be something almost enjoyable about a cricketing tour that slowly comes off the rails. As the injuries mount, the defeats follow, and off-field allegations begin, you can develop a gallows humour towards your team, as you ponder whether new levels of rock bottom can be reached. England’s tour of Australia in 1994/95 is one of my personal favourites of this genre. But the 1983/84 ‘Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll’ tour to New Zealand takes some beating. Read more »

After losing to India and New Zealand during the summer of 1986, hopes were not high for England's Ashes tour to Australia. But inspired by the brilliance of Ian Botham, an unexpected win at the Gabba laid the foundations for a wonderful winter. Even by his standards, Ian Botham had crammed a lot into the twelve months before the start of the 1986/87 Ashes tour. A charity walk from John O'Groats to Land's End ; an eventful and harrowing trip to the Caribbean; a two month ban in the English summer after he had admitted smoking cannabis; and his resignation from Somerset, after he felt betrayed at the treatment of his close friends Viv Richards and Joel Garner, who had been sacked by the county. Read more »

I've recently started the process of converting a number of my classic videos to DVD. So this week I'm taking a look back at some of my favourite sports videos of the 1980s. If you have any other suggestions, then please feel free to add them to the comments section. Read more »

Something slightly different for my final blog before Christmas, as I take a look back at some great sporting photos of the 1980s. This may be something I come back to in the future, so any suggestions for Part II are very welcome. Please note: I have stated the photo source where this has been possible. Read more »

There were many great winners of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award in the 1980s, but also a few sporting figures who never had their names engraved on the shields housed on the famous old trophy. This week I am taking a look back at some of the unlucky SPOTY losers, including a couple of snooker stars, a Grand Slam winning captain, and a golden boot winner who would probably be a cert for the SPOTY trophy in the current age. Read more »

A look back this week at some television adverts featuring some sporting stars of the 1980s. Including a lot of milk, Ian Botham and Daley Thompson demonstrating their all-round manliness, and an insight into the eating habits of Frank Bruno and Steve Davis. Read more »

Looking back this week at Ian Botham's 1985 charity walk from John O'Groats to Land's End, in aid of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. If you would like to donate to this great cause then please visit the following link: https://bloodwise.org.uk/be I'm not sure the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu ever knew that a journey of a thousand miles could begin with a single step on a cricket ball. When Ian Botham decided to use one of his size 10½ boots to prevent a boundary in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley in August 1977, little did he know that it would change his life forever. Had he fielded it in the modern era, Botham may have employed a sliding stop. In 1977, it was more of a Sliding Doors moment. Read more »

It was supposed to be a consolation victory coming at the end of a demoralising summer for England in 1984. A single crumb of comfort to digest before David Gower's physically and mentally damaged team departed for a tour of India in the winter. Yet the famine stretched on. The one-off Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's ended up leaving more questions than answers. Read more »

Ben Stokes recently set a new English record for the fastest double century in Test cricket, so this week I am taking a look back at the previous record set in 1982 by Ian Botham.   Read more »

This week I am taking a look back at some of the objects that featured in sporting events of the 1980s, including a certain confectionery stall that has gone down in Ashes folklore, an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, a lucky mascot, an unwanted golfing obstacle, and a much maligned football trophy. Read more »

If the 1981 Ashes series was seriously good, and the 1989 version distinctly bad from an English perspective, then I would argue that the 1985 series was far from the ugly relative in comparison. Above all it was the series that made me fall in love with the game, during a summer when I didn't have a care in the world, and I found new heroes in Botham, Ellison and Robinson. So I hope you enjoy some of my favourite memories of the 1985 Ashes, starting with the day cricket found me.   Read more »