In a week of England cricket triumph, we begin this hopefully long-running series by reminiscing upon a particularly famous Ashes victory past with Botham's Ashes: The Miracle of Headingley '81. Hard to imagine it was almost thirty years ago that England's talismanic all-rounder Ian Botham would provide the impetus for an incredible comeback the likes of which we will be lucky to see again in our lifetime.During the fallow period of the 1990s, all us England fans had to keep us sane were our ageing video tapes, and my old VHS player definitely received a good battering to the point of death from an endless barrage of Ashes 1986/87, Mike Atherton's 1995 Johannesburg heroics and, of course, Headingley '81. As you can imagine, I am quite familiar with this series, later dubbed 'Botham's Ashes', and could probably recite the match commentary word for word. Well not quite, but it's fair to say I've seen that old tape more than most, if not all others in my collection.
It's undoubtedly a classic match and well worth a watch if you're a cricket fan in general (unless you're Australian, perhaps). We're talking about the days of Border, Boycott and Lillee, the legendary bandanna-clad, banana chomping(!) Aussie quick. Thanks largely to he, Kim Hughes and John Dyson, the tourists would amass a considerable first innings lead of over 200 and force England to follow on. On a less than favourable batting wicket at the day 4 lunch break England seemed destined for defeat, and a heavy one at that.
Enter the Beefster, ably assisted by some competent tail end batting –Willey, Dilley and Old managed to survive almost thirty overs and score 118 runs between them– to bring a semblance of respectability to the score. Even as Both shot past 100 and towards an eventual 149 not out, England's lead was still only slender. But this time yesterday they would have been happy just to avoid an innings defeat, and thanks to a remarkable turn of events, the hosts were in with a shout of a somewhat incredible victory.On a day five Headingley pitch, the required 130 must have seemed more like 250. In the feature interview, Botham recounts how he advised Graham Dilley to go out and play some shots, because sooner or later you'd surely get a ball with your name on it and find yourself back in the pavilion. Indeed, Beefy himself eventually succumbed to such a ball in the first innings, a real 'brute of a delivery'.
The perfect pitch, then, for England's quickies to go out there and slaughter 'em, but things didn't start off too well, the tourists compiling a hard fought 56-1. The stage was set for the day's true hero, Bob Willis, who proceeded to run through the Aussie XI who, before you knew it, were 75-8 and looking down and out. Though the late order rallied to add 35, Willis would take the final two wickets and complete a memorable victory. So memorable, in fact, they would make a DVD of the match in 2005 - the very one I'm reviewing right now.That was the match, but how good is this release? I've said it before, but it really is fantastic to view these old highlights in DVD rather than VHS quality for the first time, and you can certainly tell the difference. Virtually free of flicker and the effects of tape degradation, it's almost as if you're watching live cricket on the BBC once more - alas, something I doubt we'll ever see again.
Game footage is taken from the Test Match Special highlights shows presented by Richie Benaud and runs just under two hours not including bonus features. Everything is here, from when Kim Hughes was almost dismissed by his cap falling on his stumps to the humorous moment when Dennis Lillee was presented with a 32nd birthday banana and chorus of 'Happy Birthday to You' by members of the crowd.
Extras include full match statistics and a gallery of photos from the six-match series. Wonderful though it is, it makes you wonder if this release was ever planned as an Ashes '81 full series highlights compilation and leaves you tempted to see what happened in the other matches.The best added feature, however, is the interview with Beefy himself which, while fantastic in itself, could perhaps have been a bit longer. Still, in the twenty minute segment you're treated to a nice little assessment of the match from one of its leading protagonists. Although Robert Willis appears briefly at the end of the main TMS 1981 feature, he does not return to give his thoughts for 2005, something I would liked to have seen. Then again, considering his contract with Sky Sports, I don't know if BBC would have been able to afford such a thing. The license fee only goes as far as Dancing on Ice and Top Gear, you know!
These are minor criticisms. For what it is, namely highlights of the third Ashes Test of 1981, it does its job rather well. Unfortunately, those who remember the series will note that it wasn't just this match that made the tour so memorable and wish there were more coverage akin to the 1981 VHS release.
You can pick up a decent used copy of this DVD for only a few pounds, so the price is perfect and can't really be quibbled about in 2011. Perhaps for its 30th anniversary we might get a full series release to complement Botham's Ashes, which would benefit from the input of other series participants. In the meantime, this DVD is still a top notch, widely available commercial release you'd do well to pick up, if you haven't already.- Botham's Ashes: The Miracle of Headingley '81 on Amazon
- Botham's Ashes: The Miracle of Headingley '81 on eBay
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