Australia dominated the early proceedings and were in the comfortable position of 1-0 up after the first two Tests.

 One commentator remarked "The question is not ‘can England save the game’, not even ‘can they hold the game’, but ‘can they last till lunch time?’. They are 91 runs behind with three wickets remaining". Botham came to the crease with England on 105 for five, requiring 122 runs to avoid defeat. He played an incredible, unbelievable innings of 149 not out, setting Australia a target of 130. Bob Willis was switched to bowl downhill and did so superbly, achieving eight for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111. These late actions from Botham and Willis meant that England became only the second team in history to win a match after being made to follow on.This test match is widely viewed as one of the greatest innings of test cricket of all time, due to the back and forth nature of both of the games and of the series as a whole.

Botham would go on to achieve the impossible and inspire England fans in the fourth Test at Edgbaston, this time with the ball in his hand. With Australia only needing 151 runs in the fourth innings, Botham took five for 11, including a spell of five wickets for a solitary run, to give England the victory by 29 runs. England also went on to win the fifth Test at Old Trafford to retain The Ashes. Botham hit 118 from 102 balls, including 6 sixes. This was an Ashes record until the 2005 series, where Kevin Pietersen hit 158 at the Oval. Botham had begun the Ashes as team captain but after losing form in the second test, he resigned the captaincy. Despite much controversy and negative press, for the remainder of the series, Botham let his cricket do the talking and finished being named man of the series. He scored three man of the match performances, 399 runs and took 34 wickets.