London, May 22 (ANI): Cricket commentator Ian Botham has said that England's opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will make the Ashes series even more difficult for the Australians.

London, May 18 (ANI): English legend Sir Ian Botham has said that he is confident that James Anderson will surpass him as England's leading Test wicket-taker after the fast bowler took three more Test wickets against New Zealand to reach 301, 82 short of Botham's England record.

London, May 16 (ANI): Former England Test captain Sir Ian Botham has warned England not to underestimate New Zealand during the Tests series starting on Thursday, saying that the English can count themselves lucky that they did not have slink away with their tail tucked between their legs in the last Test series against the Kiwis.

London, Mar 28 (ANI): Legendary Sir Ian Botham has rubbed more salt on Australia's current cricketing wounds, claiming the young New Zealand side would provide much sterner challenge to England in their return Test series than the bleak Oz team in Ashes this year.

Sydney, Mar 20 (ANI): Australian vice-captain Shane Watson's consideration for the captaincy post for the Delhi Test in the event of captain Michael Clarke's dropping out has been criticised by the Australian media, with many reports saying that the vice-captain is not committed enough to take the reins for the final Test.

Wellington, Mar 14 (ANI): Former England captain Sir Ian Botham has said that it is not just the Australian team which has fallen victim to coaching jargon or gimmicks, labeling them as 'mumbo-jumbo'.

Johannesburg, Mar 8 (ANI): England legends Sir Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan have unequivocally slammed team's embarrassing performance against New Zealand in the first Test match in Dunedin.

Wellington, Mar 7 (ANI): Legendary Sir Ian Botham is fully enjoying his stint in New Zealand after he arrived here for the England series.

London, Feb 20 (ANI): Swing bowler James Anderson has confessed he never expected to become England's highest wicket-taker when he first started playing international cricket.

London, Feb 19 (ANI): England legend Ian Botham has said he would be the first one to congratulate James Anderson if he breaks his record of most wickets by an English bowler in Test cricket.

London, Feb 18 (ANI): Test captain Alastair Cook has ordered the 'rusty' English team to pull up their socks after they lost to New Zealand despite James Anderson taking his 529th international wicket, breaking Sir Ian Botham's record of 528.

Johannesburg, Dec 30(ANI): Former players Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain have paid tributes to the legendary England captain and renown commentator Tony Greig after his sudden demise due to a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 66.

London, Dec 10(ANI): Test great Ian Botham has claimed the current England side is the best among previous English teams to tour India, and added the host would find it very difficult to stop Alastair Cook's men in the final Test match at Nagpur.

London, Nov 30(ANI): Former England batsman Ian Botham has said the world of cricket would miss a great cricketer in Ricky Ponting after the Tasmanian great announced retirement after the Perth Test against South Africa.

London, Nov 22(ANI): England batsman Jonathan Trott has urged players to put up better performances in the remaining three Test matches of the India series, which would be a befitting reply to all the ex-players who have criticised them heavily following their Ahmedabad Test thrashing.

London, Nov 20(ANI): England fast bowler Stuart Broad took to Twitter to aplogise to fans for their nine-wickets thrashing at the hands of India in the Ahmedabad Test, but the vice-captain also slammed former player Sir Ian Botham for his negative analysis of the players during the match.

New Delhi, Nov 19(ANI): England captain Alastair Cook, who played an innings of stature to resist an Indian win for nine-and-a-quarter hours in what proved to be a hopeless cause, is under pressure, as he faces widespread holler for major changes to the side following their nine-wicket defeat at Ahmedabad in the first Test of the four-match series.

London, Nov 14(ANI): Legendary batsman Ian Botham has said England batsmen need to step up and deliver special performance right from the first innings of the first Test match at Ahmedabad to get a good result in their series against sub continental giants, India.

London, Oct 4(ANI): Former England batsman Ian Botham has said the protracted row between controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen and the management should have ended a long time back, and both parties are responsible for blowing the issue out of proportion.

London, Aug 31 (ANI): Former Test captain Sir Ian Botham has saluted Andrew Strauss for his contribution to the England team, saying that he can leave the game with his head held high and with a sense of satisfaction that he has given it everything he could.

London, Aug 8 (ANI): Concerned over focus shifting from winner-takes-all clash at Lord's next week between England and South Africa, former all rounder Ian Botham wants Kevin Pietrsen issue to be sorted out quickly as it is hogging all the limelight.

London, Aug 4 (ANI): Former Test captain Sir Ian Botham has come down heavily on the England team management for their tactics in the second Test against South Africa, even suggesting the bowlers had been "brainwashed" into accepting a policy of negative field placings and lack of good catchers.

London, July 18 (ANI): British archer Simon Terry has revealed that he looks to legendary cricketer Sir Ian Botham for inspiration as he prepares to compete in the 2012 London Olympics.

London, Jun 11 (ANI): England legend Ian Botham has criticized West Indies stumper Denesh Ramdin for picking a public fight with ex-batting great Sir Viv Richards.

London, June 7(ANI): Former England all rounder Andrew Flintoff has said Tim Bresnan shouldn't be compared with him, and added that one should appreciate the fact that he is just Bresnan.