Covering a recent England cricket tour to Sri Lanka for television, Bob Willis spent 36 consecutive nights in the company of fellow commentator, Ian Botham. It was touch and go, but Willis's liver survived its encounter with one of the world's great trenchermen. 'Beefy's constitution is unbelievable. I can't scoot it down like he does. I just can't keep up.' Botham likes to choose the wines at lunch, dinner and quite possibly breakfast too. And when he does, it's usually an expensive experience. 'You've got to get to the list first,' adds Willis. 'Beefy is a man of instinctive behaviour.'

For Willis, wine and cricket go together like bat and pad. He first took an interest in wine as a young bowler playing for Warwickshire in 1972. The wine bar scene was just taking off in England and Willis loved it. 'We used to train hard in the morning, then retire to a wine bar for lunch,' remembers Willis. 'In those days, most people were drinking Niersteiner and Yugoslav Riesling, but there were some good things on the list from France and Spain, too.'

Australian wine hadn't made it as far as Warwickshire back then. Indeed, in most people's minds, it was still the stuff of Monty Python sketches: Perth Pink and Côtes du Rod Laver, both 'ideal for hand to hand combat'. Australian beer was even less palatable for Willis, so he was less than delighted when, on a tour down under with England in the late 1970s, he was invited to a reception sponsored by Southwark Premium. 'I thought: "I can't drink this piss",' says Willis. 'I was on my way back to my room to get a bottle of English beer when I heard this voice booming across the lobby: "Don't like our beer, mate? Then you'd better try our wine."'

The voice belonged to Geoff Merrill, one of the great personalities of the Australian wine scene. With his luxuriant, Merv Hughes-style moustache and pranksterish sense of fun, Merrill was 'quite a shock to the system'. Two days later, Willis was invited out to Château Reynella, where Merrill then worked, for an even bigger tasting. 'Alec Bedser, Derek Underwood and I spent most of the day in McLaren Vale.' Merrill introduced Willis to the full-throttle delights of Australian wine and remains a great, if dangerous, friend.

Many of Willis's England team-mates developed an interest in wine at the same time. Drinking good bottles became part of their lives. 'It's not as if we went to a pub and sank 20 pints after every game, but when I was playing, it was normal to go to the bar after the match and chat to the opposition. Players these days are much more disciplined about diet and drinking. They only get sozzled when they've got something to celebrate. They're a different bunch.'

The other great influence on Willis's taste was the broadcaster and journalist, John Arlott. 'John used to turn up to cricket matches with two or three bottles of wine in a large brown briefcase and he'd drink them while he was working.' Willis sampled a lot of Beaujolais with Arlott, but what he loved most were the Riojas. 'Since he died, I've picked up John Arlott's baton,' he says. 'I'm an evangelist for Spain.'

Willis's cellar is dominated by Australian and Spanish wines. 'My palate has been New World and Spanish-educated. As a result, I find a lot of claret and Italian reds very high in tannin and acidity.' He buys his wine mainly from Laymont & Shaw (01872 270545); Moreno Wines (020 7286 0678); The Australian Wine Club (0800 8562004); Wimbledon Wine Cellar (020 8540 9979); Winefinds (01722 716916) He buys claret 'for when David Gower comes round' - but finds that 'you have to spend a lot of money to get anything decent'. Special bottles include 1990 Château Margaux and 1990 Château Palmer: lucky Mr Gower.

Willis keeps his wine all over his house, but the best stuff is stored in the garage behind bicycles, cardboard boxes and old trunks. 'The temperature never drops below 50C, so it's ideal,' he says. He's got bottles of Aussie Semillon going back to 1981 and a bottle of 1949 Château d'Yquem, but most of the wines are considerably younger than that. 'Some Shirazes and Spanish reds need time, but I find a lot of them are better drunk young. I've never really bought wine to lay down, to be honest. If it survives three to five years in my wine rack, it's done well.' Especially, one suspects, if Ian Botham is at the dinner table.

Willis's hit for a six

1. Amagnum of 1990 Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa, given to Willis on his fiftieth birthday.

2. 1985 Unico from Vega Sicilia, Spain's finest red wine estate, also a birthday present.

3. 1996 Marqués de Vargas Rioja, bought from Winefinds.

4. 1997 Mauro ('poor man's Vega Sicilia from a nearby winery in Ribera del Duero') from Moreno Wines.

5. 1994 Geoff Merrill Reserve Shiraz.

6.1995 Stonewell Barossa Shiraz from Peter Lehmann.