'Beefy' Botham had an illustrious career in sport during the 1980s, but at the pinnacle of his talent on the ground — he revealed he nearly left it all behind for Hollywood Cricket legend Ian Botham could have had a very different career path (Image: PA)

Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham reckons he could have been 007 had he chosen the big screen over cricket. The 70-year-old cricketing legend , who made more than 5,000 test runs and took 383 test wickets, said his name was put forward to be James Bond at the height of his fame in the mid-80s.

The former Question of Sport captain — given a life peerage in 2020 — said his agent Tim Hudson reckoned he should swap cricket to be a Hollywood superstar. He persuaded Beefy to go for a screen test at Universal Studies in LA.

Once there, Hudson int

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