Published: Jan 29, 2016, 06:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 29, 2016, 04:56 PM (IST)
June 1, 1976. For all his brilliance, Ian Botham was on the receiving end of a miracle. The same sort of miracle he himself would carry out at Headingley five summers down the line. Gloucestershire had followed on, trailing by 254 runs, and at one stage Somerset required 22 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand. Arunabha Sengupta remembers the day Mike Procter produced a sensational burst combining pace and spin to engineer an impossible win.
The Botham Brilliance
Perhaps the trait of defying impossibility was moulded on that summer day in Taunton.
Ian Botham, a 20-year-old swing bowler, had been pushed into the role of the spearhead of the Somerset attack due to the absence of Hallam Moseley and Tom Cartwright.
He was not yet the all-rounder he would grow into. In some 40-odd First-Class matches, he averaged considerably less than 20 with the bat, having passed 50 on only three occasions. As for his exploits with the ball, so far they had been decent but not spectacular. There had been only two five-wicket hauls.
Just before the Taunton match against Gloucestershire, the touring West Indians had taken on Somerset on the same ground. Botham, along with the other bowlers of his team, had been taken to the cleaners by Gordon Greenidge, Lawrence Rowe and Collis King.
Yet, he had risen to the challenge against this strong and stylish Gloucestershire batting line-up.
Brian Rose had struck an elegant century to put the home team in charge. Skipper Brian Close, surprisingly recalled to the England side in his ripe old cricketing age, had fallen for a duck, but the veteran Mervyn Kitchen had struck the ball well for 69. The menace of Mike Procter with the ball had been curiously absent.
Having notched up 333 for 7 in 100 overs, Close had astutely declared the innings with a bit more than an hour left in the day.
And then Botham struck.
Sadiq Mohammad was the first prize scalp, and then Nick Cooper’s stumps were knocked askew. After Bob Clapp had castled Zaheer Abbas, Botham made Procter fish around for a while before getting him to snick one behind the wicket.
Gloucestershire ended on a tottering 43 for 4.
The Zaheer Zest
The following morning, only David Shepherd, a few years before his umpiring days and just about starting on his way to his magnificent girth, manged to stay at the wicket for some time. Botham made short work of first Andy Stovold and then skipper Tony Brown. Finally, he bowled Jack Davey to end the innings at 79. His figures read 6 for 25 from 16.1 overs. It was his most inspired performance to date.
Close had no hesitation in asking Gloucestershire to bat again. True, Clapp had strained his side, and Graham Burgess had not bowled after retiring hurt during the Somerset innings. But the Gloucestershire men did not look like putting up much of a fight. Indeed, when Sadiq hit one back to Keith Jennings early, the end seemed in sight in spite of the depleted bowling attack.
But, there was the little matter of Zaheer Abbas to negotiate. Carrying on the exquisite tradition of cover drives for Gloucestershire in the lines of Wally Hammond and Tom Graveney, Zaheer got into his stride and essayed a vital and characteristically pleasing innings. By the time Botham knocked down the stump of Cooper to claim the second wicket of the innings, Gloucestershire had fought back to 126.
Procter batted sensibly, with occasional flourishes of aggression while Zaheer continued towards a gem of a century. The wily off-breaks of Close got rid of both, but by then Zaheer had scored 141 in less than three hours, the innings studded with 23 glittering boundaries. The visitors had almost ensured that the hosts had to bat again.
Stovold and Shepherd now got together in a useful stand. But late in the day Botham produced a magnificent burst of swing bowling with the second new ball. Stovold and Brown fell and the score at stumps read 325 for 6. Gloucestershire seemed quite some distance from safety.
The following morning, the Gloucestershire innings folded for 47 additional runs. 30 of them came from the industrious hitting of Julian Shackleton. Botham bowled David Graveney and then, as he had done in the first innings, swung past the bat of Davey to strike timber to end the innings. That made it five for him in the second innings, all bowled. His match figures read 11 for 150, and it was evident to all that a new star was emerging on the horizon of English cricket.
Somerset needed just 119 to win. They had ample time, nearly four and a half hours.
The Procter Punch
It did seem a regulation chase. Rose was striking the ball with élan once again, and Phil Slocombe helped him put on 43 for the first wicket.
There were indeed some indications that things would not be so easy. With Procter unable to break through, and Davey ineffectual, captain Brown took the ball himself and struck quick and crucial blows. He trapped Slocombe leg before to make the first dent. Four runs later, Peter Denning was caught by Sadiq at leg slip to give Brown his wicket number 1200 in First-Class cricket.
Yet, there were only a few runs to get and plenty of men to get them.
In walked Close, and for a while the chase rode on experience. 26 runs were added, and the score stood at 73 for 2 when the persevering Brown ran in again. Close drove on the up and was brilliantly caught by a diving Shackleton at cover.
The success stories of the first innings, Rose and Kitchen, were now together. And both looked solid. Runs came easily and it was soon 97 for 3, just 22 runs needed for victory.
Only a miracle could prevent Somerset from cruising to victory. And a miracle is what took place.
Procter, none for 22 from 7 overs, now took the ball and produced one of the most amazing spells ever witnessed, alternating between quick balls and off-breaks. He changed style frequently, sometimes multiple times during an over. Perhaps only something of such audacious nature could turn things around.
Kitchen drove at an off-break and once again an alert Shackleton held the catch. 97 for 4.
Wicketkeeper Derek Taylor hung his bat at a quick delivery and it flew to Sadiq at gully. 97 for 5.
The steadfast Rose drove at a fast paced delivery and could not keep it down, and it was juggled almost comically at mid-off before Shepherd held on to it. 100 for 6. By now the result was no longer a foregone conclusion.
It was time for a duel between great all-rounders. However, Botham had not yet graduated to that category. And Procter would never be able to ply his trade in international cricket after the four Tests he had played in 1969-70.
On this day, Procter ran in fast and bowled, as was characteristic, off the wrong foot. The ball spit up and struck the young man on his face. Botham checked for blood and bruises and took guard again. This time he was dished up an off-break. He drove outside the line and was bowled. 101 for 7. The match had been turned on its head.
Jennings struck a boundary to relieve the pressure, and Dennis Breakwell produced the staunchest of dead bats. For a painstaking period of over 20 minutes, 7 were added. 11 runs were required, 3 wickets to go.
Now David Graveney tossed up his left-arm slows, and Breakwell drove too early. Shepherd held on. 108 for 8.
Procter ran in again, bowling fast, and Jennings snicked. Behind the wicket, Stovold, sharing the gloves with Andy Brassington during the innings, pouched the catch. 108 for 9.
Burgess and Clapp, the two injured men, were now required to score the remaining 11 runs.
They tried.
Burgess pushed for a single. Clapp nudged for another. And then Procter bowled to Clapp.
The ball was an off-break. Clapp pushed forward, and managed to edge it onto the pad. It lobbed up, and Sadiq, close in on the off-side, flew through the air and held on to it.
Gloucestershire, 254 runs behind and forced to follow on, had won the match. From 43 for no loss, Somerset had lost the last 10 wickets in an hour and a half for just 67 runs. Procter had 6 for 35 from 14.3 overs. In his last 45 balls, he had 6 for 13. Three wickets were taken with off-breaks, three with fast deliveries.
In the Somerset dressing room, young Ian Terence Botham sat dumbfounded. He had taken 11 wickets in the match, had almost won the match on his own, but had still seen it whisked away from the grasp of Somerset.
Perhaps this was when he came to know that being asked to follow on did not really shut out all doors of victory. The world would witness his own similar miracle in Headingley five years down the line.
Brief Scores
Somerset 333 for 7 decl. (Brian Rose 104, Mervyn Kitchen 69, Derek Taylor 41) and 110 (Brian Rose 48; Mike Procter 6 for 35) lost to Gloucestershire 79 (Ian Botham 6 for 25) and 372 (Zaheer Abbas 141, Andrew Stovold 58; Ian Botham 5 for 125) by 8 runs.
(Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history of cricket, with occasional statistical pieces and reflections on the modern game. He is also the author of four novels, the most recent being Sherlock Holmes and the Birth of The Ashes. He tweets here.)
