On the first day of his libel action against Imran Khan, the former England captain - whose 5,200 runs and 383 wickets in Tests are unsurpassed by any England all-rounder - denied that he had ever tampered with a ball. Dressed in a grey double-breasted suit, and wearing a Robin Smith testimonial tie, Botham, 40, held the ball up to the jury to demonstrate how a fast bowler could position the seam to direct its position in flight.
The court heard that on some occasions bowlers had altered the ball, either by lifting the seam with a fingernail or ``virtually peeling the ball'' with an object, such as a bottle top, to give it an unexpected swing - acts prohibited under Rule 42 of the Laws of Cricket. Answering questions on whether he had ever tampered with a ball, he replied: ``I've never lifted a seam, not even in the nets. I've never, as far as I am aware, broken the rules against tampering. I've never felt it necessary.''
Botham and the South African-born former England batsman Allan Lamb are suing Imran, former captain of Pakistan, over articles in which he allegedly claimed they were racist, and lacked class and upbringing. Botham is also suing over suggestions that he cheated.
Opening the case, Charles Gray, QC, for Botham and Lamb, said the comments by Imran were made after the Pakistani tour in 1992, which was marred by allegations of ball tampering by Pakistan. Shortly afterwards, Imran admitted in a biography that he had once used a bottle top in 1981 when he was playing for Sussex. He defended Pakistan's actions.
His admission provoked anger from Botham and Lamb. In retaliation, the court heard, Imran gave two interviews which contained ``offensive and personal attacks'' on the two. ``Firstly he claimed they were racist, secondly they were uneducated and thirdly he accused them of lacking class and upbringing,'' said Mr Gray.
In the first article, printed in the magazine India Today in June 1994, Imran stated that the ``English media and a certain section of cricketers'' had been motivated by racism when they kicked up such a storm over the Pakistan bowlers.
``There's a lot of racism in this society. Look at people like Lamb and Botham saying, 'I never thought much of him anyway. Now he's been proved a cheat','' the Oxford-educated Imran wrote.
He continued: ``Look at people who have taken a rational stand on this. Tony Lewis, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Derek Pringle. They are educated Oxbridge types. Look at the others, Lamb, Botham and Trueman. Class and upbringing makes a difference.''
Mr Gray told the jury: ``That is a libel. Each of them were called racist, their lack of education was sneered at by Mr Khan and their class, their supposedly inferior upbringing, was supposed to be the reason why they said what they did about ball tampering and cheating.'' He added the racist slur was particularly invidious for Lamb, who was born in South Africa - where ``mud sticks''.
In the second interview, in the Sun, Imran said he had ``copied'' ball tampering techniques from England players. He said: ``I started to copy them because it was seen as accepted practice. The biggest names in English cricket have all done it. And when I say big names, I mean as big as you can get.'' Plainly, said Mr Gray, this implied Botham.
To prove his comments, Imran had had someone trawl through footage of all Botham's games. He would be submitting two examples to the jury. ``The first is during Pakistan's first innings at the Test at Lords in 1982 when the score was 363 for four wickets. Ian Botham interfered with the ball by using his thumbnail to pick the seam and or scratch it,'' said Mr Gray. ``The second is whilst Ian Botham was bowling at the beginning of India's first innings at The Oval in July 1982. He interfered with a new ball by throwing it to wicket keeper Bob Taylor so he could scuff one side with his gloves.''
He said both incidents took place 14 years ago and had never been complained of until last week when Imran submitted them as his defence. Witnesses, including David Gower and Bob Taylor, would say they were trying to get a mis-shapen ball into shape. Botham told the jury: ``I didn't think class came into sport these days. My mother and father will be very upset.''
He added that he had been unaware of tampering until the Pakistan tour in 1992 when their bowlers were gouging the ball to give it a reverse swing - an unexpected turn caused by one side being scuffed and the other shiny. ``It all came to a head because the England side were getting to 220 for 1, and then 270 all out. Our middle order was constantly getting rolled over with a ball of 80-85 overs when the ball should have been in the batsman's favour - older and softer. But it wasn't.'' The case continues.