England cricket legend Lord Ian Botham has said he is frustrated by people who question why his grandson, James, represents Wales in rugby. The comments came as Botham, 70, discussed his grandson's career, with James, 28, having been born in Cardiff and earning 24 caps for Wales as a flanker.
Lord Botham is widely considered one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket, with more than 5,000 Test runs and almost 400 wickets for England. His grandson plays for the Cardiff city rugby team, and Botham said he regularly has to explain James's international choice to fans.
Speaking about the criticism, Lord Botham said people often asked him why James plays for Wales, replying:
“I tell you why he's playing for Wales, because he is Welsh.”
Lord Botham and James appeared together on Beefy & Beaumont 'Old Boys New Balls!', a podcast presented by Lord Botham alongside England rugby legend Sir Bill Beaumont.
James's father Liam played as a wing for Cardiff RFC in the late 1990s. Liam was called up for the England rugby squad in 2000 but was never capped at senior level.
James said he idolised Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny when he was young and always wanted to play for Wales.
“I think just watching Wales play at the time as a kid, I enjoyed playing it, and dad obviously played down here and always spoke so highly of it – and I think his biggest regret was leaving Cardiff,” he said.
James Botham has played 24 times for Wales.
England's cricket team also represents Wales, although Lord Botham – known as “Beefy” – is closely associated with his English connections, including playing for Somerset.
In 1981, he played an instrumental role in England retaining the Ashes, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets in what became known as “Botham's Ashes”.
He was knighted in 2007 in recognition of his cricketing achievements and long-distance fundraising walks, before joining the House of Lords in 2020.
Lord Botham said he was watching a recent Wales rugby game when someone in the crowd came up to him and asked why his grandson was playing for Wales.
“I looked at this guy and said, 'Well first and foremost, he was born in Cardiff. That's not a bad start',” he said.
“I said he came down, he went through the academy… he only ever wanted to play for Wales.”
“I wish people… would understand that a bit more. I just don't get it.”
James admitted he often gets criticism for playing for Wales given his grandfather's close links with English sporting greatness, adding that he once put on “the worst Valleys accent” in an interview to try and highlight his Welsh credentials.
The podcast episode also addressed some of the generational differences between current professional James and Lord Botham, who was known for his partying lifestyle as a player throughout much of the 1980s.
Lord Botham said he watched current players warming up for matches, viewing it as an “utter waste of time and energy”.
“I watch them, they go running around for about an hour, and I'm thinking that's an hour of running around and you've got to kick off in 10 minutes time,” he said.
