The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouth’s city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
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Ian and Viv
Interview with International and Somerset cricketers Ian Botham and Viv Richards
From the collection of:
Overview
Ian Botham and Viv Richards are interviewed together at County Ground Taunton at the end of the domestic season in September 1980. A flary, fiery, flamboyant player, on and off the field, Botham could turn a match. Viv Richard’s unique batting style earned him a top five place in Wisden’s Cricketers of the Century.
Botham began his first class career in 1974 with Somerset Cricket Club and went on to an England career but his captaincy of the side was short-lived. In the mid-1980s, new Somerset cricket captain Peter Roebuck sacked the overseas stars Viv Richards and Joel Garner and brought in the New Zealander Martin Crowe in an attempt to renew an ageing team. Ian Botham resigned in protest and moved to Worcestershire and Durham before retiring from the game in 1993. Botham was also a talented footballer and played for Scunthorpe United but turned down an offer to play with Crystal Palace FC. Viv Richards made his first class debut in 1972 for Leeward Islands and moved to Taunton in 1974. He went on to captain the West Indies.
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