Liam Botham

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 début 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.

While at Newcastle the club won the 2001 Tetley Bitter Cup (in the final of which he was a replacement) 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 which offered executive sporting trips to South Africa, Australia and other destinations.

Post-playing career

Since retiring, Botham has run a sports travel company.

Personal life

Botham married Sarah-Jayne, with whom he has three children. They later divorced and he married again in 2013 to Lisa Harrison. She gave birth to their son Benji in July 2015.