Ian Botham Hailed As England's Greatest All-Rounder By Nasser Hussain And David Lloyd

Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, and Ben Stokes. English cricket has been blessed with world-beating all-rounders in the past 40 years. While Ian Botham enthralled the folklore and captured the imagination of fans and pundits during his celebrated 16-year-old career, Andrew Flintoff and Ben Stokes have successfully taken over the mantle in the 21st century.

But who is the greatest among the three? The debate has raged on for the longest time but former English cricketers in Nasser Hussain and David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd have reckoned that it is none other than Sir Ian Botham, who trumps his successors in Andrew Flintoff and Ben Stokes.

Botham established himself as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game back in the 1980s. The legendary all-rounder scored more than 7000 runs besides claiming 528 International wickets and was the major reason in England winning the 1981 Ashes in what is famously remembered as ‘Botham’s Ashes’.

Commenting on the same, Nasser Hussain, former England captain hailed Sir Ian Botham as the greatest-ever English cricketer besides stating that Ben Stokes has the potential to surpass the legendary all-rounder by the time he calls curtains on his career.

“Ian Botham is the greatest cricketer to have played for England. ‘Ben Stokes may end up taking over by the end of his career if he carries on the way he has done but Beefy is No 1 for the extraordinary things he did.’ Nasser Hussain was quoted as saying by metro.co.uk.

Also Read: Don’t Push MS Dhoni Into Retirement: Nasser Hussain

Ian Botham the best English all-rounder: David Lloyd

David Lloyd echoed Nasser Hussain’s words and hailed Beefy Botham as the best all-rounder among the four, adding Late Tony Grieg into the mix.

“You have given me four fabulous cricketers [with the great Tony Greig also in the mix]. But who’s the best? It would have to be Ian Botham. Ben can turn a game on its head with the bat and Freddie could do it with the ball but they would do for Beefy,” David Lloyd said.

Coming back to Andrew Flintoff and Ben Stokes, while Freddie was instrumental in England regaining the urn back in 2005 where he racked up more than 400 runs and claimed 24 wickets, Stokes, on the other hand, had a memorable 2019 summer where he not only helped England win their maiden World Cup besides scripting a miraculous turnaround at Leeds in the Ashes.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Is The Best Player To Come Out Of India: David Lloyd