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Ian holds the record of hitting a century and bagging 5 wickets in the same match in 5 instances. As of 2008, no one has done the same more than twice.
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Ian held the word record for test wickets for a brief time. As of 2008, he remains the highest wicket-taker from England.
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Other than England, the other teams Ian has played cricket for professionally: Durham, Somerset, Durham, Queensland and Worcestershire.
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In 2004, Ian was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Ian became the first player to get the 'triple' of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. While others have equalled the feat, as of 2008, Ian remains the fastest to have achieved this, in just 72 matches.
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Ian became the first player to score a century and take more than 10 wickets in a test match. He did so against India in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1980.
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Ian was named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year for 1981, due to his heroics in the Ashes series that year.
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Ian reached the 'double' of 2000 runs and 200 wickets in just 42 tests, a record that still stands as of 2008.
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Ian reached 1000 runs and 100 wickets in test cricket in just 21 tests, a record which still stands as of 2008.
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Ian's nickname is "Beefy."
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In recognition of his sporting career and his subsequent charity work, Ian was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. The official ceremony took place on October 10, 2007.