Ex-cricket star Ian Botham puts more than 200 mementoes up for auction

Former cricketer Lord Ian Botham is putting more than 200 mementoes from his illustrious playing career up for auction.

The England all-rounder, and leading wicket taker until Jimmy Anderson surpassed his 383 wickets in 2015, is said to have decided to sell the items as he is downsizing.

Among the items, offered by Knight’s Sporting Auctions of Norwich, is the ball with which he took five Australian wickets in an Ashes win in 1981.

The ball, from the match played at Edgbaston, has a pre-auction estimate of £15,000 to £25,000.

A stump from the previous match at Headingley, with a pre-sale estimate of £12,000 to £15,000, is also among the collection.

The original Douglas Fearnley stump was taken as a souvenir after the match by Botham and has been marked in ink “Headingley 81” to the base.

His BBC Sports Personality Of The Year award from 2004, for lifetime achievement, is also offered for sale with an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000.

Other lots include Botham’s Somerset 1st XI cricket cap, an England home navy blue Test blazer and signed cartoon artwork by Stanley ‘Mac’ McMurtry.

The sale comes after Botham clashed with former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell, a long-time rival, in an exchange aired on Australian TV.

The pair, whose mutual hatred stretches back over four decades, hurled insults at each other, with Chappell branding his rival a “coward” and Botham hitting back that he was “sad and lonely”.

The auction will take place at The Oval cricket ground in south London on July 15.