Sir Ian Botham won the Ashes almost single-handed, squared up to the most hostile West Indies bowling attack in history and marched across the Alps with elephants to raise money for charity. But he drew the line yesterday at having to climb around 100ft to commentate on England's one-day international against New Zealand.

The former all-rounder, who was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours last summer, suddenly felt jelly-legged when he arrived at Seddon Park in Hamilton to discover that the Sky Sports commentary box was located in a fourth-tier portable building supported by scaffolding above similar boxes for radio, newspapers and photographers.

“I do not do heights,” Botham said. “I will go up in helicopters and aeroplanes but they are meant to fly - commentary boxes are not.”

As winds rose and rain fell heavily in the afternoon, Nasser Hussain, a fellow commentator, admitted that the box became “a little wobbly”. Botham helped with reports to the Sky studio in London from a position in the main pavilion and provided commentary for New Zealand television. Sky will try to secure a more stable box for the first Test match at the ground, which begins on March 5.