Botham keeps Wharf fans happy despite the rain
Rain didn't stop play for Sir Ian Botham when he put in an appearance in Canary Wharf today.
The ex-England cricketer was putting pen to paper to sign copies of his latest book, My Sporting Heroes, at Waterstone's in Jubilee Place mall, with plenty of Wharfers queueing up to meet him.
The book is a personal selection of 50 sportsmen from Britain and Ireland who Sir Ian has identified as typifying the 10 key qualities, such as bravery and leadership, needed to succeed at the highest level of sport.
The poor weather failed to dampen Sir Ian's spirits and he spoke to The Wharf about how the idea for the book came up.
He said: "One of the questions that crops up all the time is what makes someone such a good sportsman?
"There are a lot of qualities and I think all the guys that are in the book would have somewhere in there each of the qualities but there are certain players who stand out.
"Alex Ferguson stands out for me for leadership. Then you've got someone like Ryan Giggs for durability. Determination for Geoffrey Boycott.
"Lewis Hamilton has composure. Andy Murray, with the way he is accelerating as a person and a world figure and the way he's handled it, also shows great composure.
"They've all got little bits of it in there but some guys come forward in different ways."
And Sir Ian's own best qualities?
He said: "I think humour, it's so important. Sam Torrance was a great Ryder Cup captain because of his humour. He relaxed everybody with a few old stories or whatever.
"I think humour is a part of it and I'd say it was probably one of the big factors in my game, plus my enthusiasm."
My Sporting Heroes by Sir Ian Botham is published by Mainstream, priced £18.99.
Read more of Sir Ian's thoughts - including his predictions for England's forthcoming tour to South Africa - in this week's issue of The Wharf, out on Thursday.
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