Howzat? Merv Hughes saves old foe Sir Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham from the crocodiles

In their feuding Ashes heyday, a snarling Merv Hughes was the one who would bare his teeth at old foe Sir Ian Botham as “Beefy” clouted his bowling around. There was no love lost.

But 40 years on, things have changed dramatically, with the English cricketing great now left saluting his old Aussie adversary for rescuing him from the teeth of lurking crocodiles deep in the Northern Territory.

Cricket legend Sir Ian Botham found himself in trouble in Australian waters. Credit: Eamon Gallagher

The unlikely rescue act happened last week while the 68-year-old Botham – a revered figure in the British establishment and a good friend of Hughes following the end of their playing days – was on a four-day trip with his old mate among a bunch of friends fishing for barramundi.

Botham got his thongs caught in some roping while transferring to another boat and plunged head-first into the Moyle River, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Darwin, requiring former fast bowler Hughes and some other fellow fishermen to act quickly and bail him out of the water.

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