100 THE WEEK • JUNE 30, 2019
WORLD CUP
ICC
2019
FOR INDIA,
FROM ENGLAND
A fundraiser for underprivileged children on
the sidelines of the World Cup raised £60,000BY KARTHIK RAVINDRANATH
SIR IAN BOTHAM was a giant of the
game. One of the best all-rounders in
cricket history, he was also a darling
of the tabloids. The younger gen-
eration may remember him for his
role as a commentator. In England,
Botham is also known for his charity
work. The altruistic spark was lit early
on. In 1977—the year he made his
Test debut—Botham took a wrong
turn in a hospital in England. He was
being treated for a broken foot, and
he found himself in a children’s ward
where four boys were playing cards.
He waved them goodbye and said he
would see them when he returned for
assessment. He was shocked when
the nurse told him that the boys had
leukaemia and would not live long.
Since then, Botham has raised
over £13 million for leukaemia and
lymphoma research. So, it was notsurprising to see him at a chari-
ty event. But the onlookers were
perhaps surprised at how he walked
into the InterContinental, a five-star
hotel about 10 minutes on foot from
the Buckingham Palace, on June 7
for The AWARE Foundation’s Cricket
Legends Gala Dinner 2019. Dr Philip
John, who was a general practitioner
and lecturer in King’s medical school,
London, before retiring a decade ago,
was one of the 370 guests. He said
that Botham was relying on crutches
because of bad knees and hip. But the
England great looked just as imposing
as ever on stage. In a video shared
with THE WEEK by Dr John, Botham,
63, could be seen congratulating the
organisers. “Good luck and raise lots
of money tonight,” he said.
Katie Jarrett, events coordinator,
The AWARE Foundation, said approx-imately £60,000 was raised from the
event. “Money was raised through ta-
ble sales, but mainly auction lots,” she
said. The articles auctioned included
India’s 2011 World Cup jersey signed
by the players and Sachin Tendulkar’s
autographed final Test match shirt.
But, interestingly, the highest price
was fetched by a bat signed by the
members of the India team from
the 2003 World Cup. It was sold for
£6,000. The fundraiser was organised
to support the UK-based founda-
tion’s aim of providing education and
shelter to disadvantaged and vulner-
able children in India. Jayesh Patel,
managing trustee of the foundation,
is a UK-based entrepreneur. He said
he wanted to give something back to
India and he chose education as it
had given him financial security.
While the guests and the 20 crick-
eters, including legends like David
Gower, Mike Procter, Mike Brearley,
Barry Richards, Clive Lloyd and Sunil
Gavaskar, were well aware of the im-
portance of the evening to deprived
children in India, the mood was by no
means sombre. Dr John, now settled
in Kochi with his wife, said West Indi-
an greats Courtney Walsh and Curtly
Ambrose were on stage together and
“relived great times” (read hard times
for batsmen). Gavaskar was confident
that India would win the ongoing
World Cup and Lloyd spoke of how
difficult it was as captain to keep the
West Indies team together given that
they came from different islands.
But the highlight of evening was un-
doubtedly the surprise appearance of
the greatest all-rounder of all time. Sir
Garfield Sobers, one of the five Wis-
den Cricketers of the (20th) Century.
“I never played for my fame,” he told
the gathering. “I always played for
the team. My success was the team’s.”
Sobers, 82, also had a strong message
befitting the mission behind the gala:
“I felt that I should always encourage
the weak players rather than focus on
the strong.”LIVING
LEGEND
Sir Garfield
Sobers at the
fundraiser