Legendary former England cricketer Sir Ian Botham recently was the talk of the town after he had a close call with crocodiles while on a trip in Australia’s Northern Territory with his former Ashes rival, Merv Hughes. In a life-threatening moment, Botham fell into crocodile-infested waters. 

He fell after his slippers reportedly got tangled on a rope as he boarded the boat. After he fell, Merv Hughes saved him by pulling him back into the boat. However, despite being saved, Botham ended up with heavy bruising along his torso.

Talking about the accident, Botham came forward and revealed that he came out of the water quicker than he fell in it. He assured everyone about his safety and stated that these things can happen. 

“I was out of the water quicker than I went in it. Quite a few sets of eyes were having a peep at me. Luckily I had no time to think about what was in the water. The guys were brilliant, it was just one of those accidents. It was all very quick and I’m OK now,” Botham was quoted as saying by Independent. 

Reports have also claimed that bull sharks had been swimming within close proximity of the boat of and Hughes. Furthermore, after their close call in Australia, both legends will once again team up as commentators for the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Regarded as one of the best English players of his time, Botham had a fierce rivalry with Merv Hughes back in the day. Both players claimed the spotlight after Botham hit Hughes for a whopping 22 runs in a single over during the Ashes in the 1980s. Scoring 2, 2, 4, 6, 4 and 4, it was the then record for most runs scored in an over in an Ashes Test. 

Talking about the moment, Hughes went on to elaborate in the book ‘The Match of My Life: The Ashes’. “It got ugly when Botham made 22 runs from a single over, scoring 2, 2, 4, 6, 4 and 4 off me. I am embarrassed to say it was a record for the most runs off an over in an Ashes Test. I would check the record books, desperately hoping some poor soul had been worse, and while I found there was once 24 scored off an over, it was from an eight-ball over,” Hughes wrote.