After Pakistan’s win against Australia, it kept on winning all the way to the World Cup final against England in Melbourne. The only Aussie to make an impact on that game was comedian Gerry Connolly, who offended the English playing group with his impersonation of the Queen at the official pre-match function. Connolly, performing in front of both teams, officials and sponsors, had barely started his act when Ian Botham and Graham Gooch downed their cutlery and left the room. Connolly was perplexed.
‘I wasn’t murdering babies.’
Botham felt he had a reason to be upset, and probably still does. When he was interviewed about it 15 years later, he said he had no regrets about leaving the dinner. ‘I’m there and some poofter gay guy comes on stage in drag with a stuffed corgi under his arm and takes the piss out of the Queen,’ Botham told UK sports history website sportsasylum.co.uk. ‘Why should I put up with that?’
On the day of the final, Pakistan made 249 batting first, Imran Khan starring with an elegant 72. Gooch and Botham opened for England and put on six runs together before Botham fell to Wasim Akram. The rest of the team didn’t fare much better, with England all out for 227.
After the match, Imran donated his entire World Cup earnings to his cancer hospital, which would finally open two years later. Today, 75 per cent of patients at the hospital are treated for free. The 1992 World Cup remains an unpleasant memory for everyone involved in the Australian team. They were thrown off balance against New Zealand and weren’t able to right themselves till the end. Australian officials also learned the hard way not to burn out their team with a bunch of meaningless matches before such a big tournament. All these lessons were heeded in 2015, when we hosted the Cup again and finally got it right.
Years after the tournament, journalist Daniel Brettig interviewed Ian Healy about the keeper’s penchant for collecting the different uniforms from his many series and tours. When asked if he’d kept his 1992 World Cup shirt, Healy looked in his wardrobe and couldn’t find it.
‘It shows how little I wanted to remember it,’ he said.
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The poms love to take the high ground until they have the piss pulled out of their own bullshit. Botham really is a sook.
Maybe they had forgotten the lessons re meaningless warm up games before WC's - see current T20 WC.
Heals might not have kept his, but I do have a soft spot for the 92 WC shirts. They will never beat the early 80s side panels, but a lot better than some others..