Cricket: Botham joins Eden Park's hall of fame

One of cricket's great allrounders, Ian Botham, has been chosen as the first International Cricket Legend of Eden Park.

The naming of Botham comes after the induction of legendary former Lions winger Tony O'Reilly as the inaugural Rugby Legend of Eden Park in July.

Botham, widely acclaimed as one of the finest allrounders in the history of the game, first played at Eden Park on England's 1977-78 tour.

The match was drawn and was most notable for New Zealand batsman Geoff Howarth's pair of hundreds. Botham hit a half-century and took five wickets in the first innings.

A larger-than-life character, Botham inspired England to beat Australia for the Ashes in 1981, gaining a place for himself among the pantheon of England's greatest players.

He was a regular visitor to New Zealand with England sides for tests and one-dayers until his final tour in 1992 when, at the Basin Reserve, he became the fourth Englishman to play 100 tests.

His test career, which began with a five-wicket bag against Australia in 1977, ended in 1992. By then he had played 102 tests, scored 5200 runs at 33.5, including 14 hundreds, and taken 383 wickets at 28.4.

On 27 occasions he took five wickets in a test innings, four times taking 10 in the match. He also played 116 one-day internationals.

He captained his country, largely unsuccessfully in the late 1970s-early 1980s, but was always capable of turning a game on its head with his lively fast-medium swing bowling, or big hitting.

The secretary of the Friends of Eden Park, Terry Dunleavy, said: "The concept of International Legends of Eden Park focuses on truly great international stars who have become legends in their own right and also, importantly, have played on Eden Park.

"When it comes to cricketers in this category it's hard to go past Ian Botham, who was our unanimous choice,"

Botham's induction dinner will be held on March 27.