How did you get yourself in the right frame of mind as a player?

In 1977, I got quite heavily into hypnotherapy, which relaxed me. I also did a lot of long-distance running. I’d sing Bob Dylan songs to myself while waiting for the traffic lights to change.

Ah yes, the famous Dylan fixation. How did you get into him?

I played football as a schoolboy in Guildford and our centre half was a big Peter, Paul and Mary fan. He went to get their autographs after a concert and they told him to listen to this young New York folk singer called Bob Dylan. The next time we met, my friend lent me The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and I was hooked. Everyone was into She Loves You and this had a bit more to it.

Did music lift the spirits in the England dressing-room?

In those days before Walkmans and iPods I wasn’t allowed to take a stereo in, but I used to listen to Dylan in my room every evening and probably woke most of the guys with it every morning. I went to every gig I could. I took Botham to one in Auckland in 1978. Sadly, the last time Dylan toured Europe I was covering the World Cup and couldn’t go.

Were you a bit of a strummer?

My dad bought me a guitar but Bert Weedon’s Play in a Day didn’t work for me.

What were you thinking before you took eight for 43 to beat Australia at Headingley in 1981?

“Lose with dignity” seemed to be our ultimate inspiration. Some of the players were talking about how their careers would be over if we lost. I was bowling up the hill and told Mike Brearley [the captain] that I was too old for it, so he swapped me. I started with a lot of no-balls but he told me not to worry, saying: “Just bowl as fast as you can.”

Any particular rituals?

I wasn’t that superstitious, but there were small things, such as if I’d got a few wickets in a particular pair of trousers then I’d get an extra day out of them before they went in the wash.

Bob Willis, who is providing studio analysis for Sky during England’s tour to the West Indies, was such a fan of Bob Dylan that he added Dylan as a second middle name, after George, by deed poll. He says that his favourite Dylan song is Positively 4th Street.