Botham steps out in Brum

Saturday 14th October 2006, 9:01PM BST.

Known to fans as Beefy, the former England cricketer set off on the 11th leg of a national fundraising walk to collect cash for Leukaemia Research and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Joined by other celebrities including Olympic champion Daley Thompson and Warwickshire cricketers Neil Carter, Jonathan Trott and Dougie Brown, Ian set off from the city’s Marks & Spencer store in High Street at 9am.

Ian said he was delighted with the reception he received this morning. “We are really happy to be here and it has been great,” he said. “We had a lovely send off.”

He is walking through 17 cities as part of the fundraiser which will run until Tuesday.

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