England cricket legend Ian Botham experienced a massive scare, which could have proved to be fatal, but the ex-cricketer survived without any major damage. The unpleasant incident occurred while Botham, who has represented the Three Lions in over 100 ODIs and Tests, was enjoying a four-day fishing trip with ex-Australian cricketer Merv Hughes in Australia's Northern Territory. However, reports claimed that Botham fell in the river filled with crocodiles and bull sharks after tripping on the rope kept in his boat while he was trying to board it. Botham survived the scare as he was quickly rescued out of the river. He was left with bruises mainly on his torso region.
As per reports, Botham and Hughes had went fishing in a group for Barramundi on the Moyle River in Australia's northern tropical region. Sharing the experience, Botham joked that he is England’s version of Crocodile Dundee. “At the end of the day Crocodile Beefy survived,” he was quoted as saying in a report by The Guardian. “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,” he added.
Botham also shared glimpses of the fishing experience on Instagram and wrote: "My catch of the day was the barra while I was nearly catch of the day for all the crocs and bull sharks… thanks boys for getting me out."
Botham earned a lot of plaudit for his all-round abilities during his playing days, making a mark alongside the likes of Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee. He amassed over 5,000 runs and 383 wickets in Tests. In the ODIs, Botham registered over 2000 runs and accounted for 145 scalps.
Both Botham and Hughes were fierce rivals during their cricket career, mostly due to the intense cricketing history shared between England and Australia. Botham had also smashed Hughes for 22 runs in a single over, which once stood as the record for the highest-scoring over in an Ashes Test. However, post retirement the duo have put aside the rivalry.
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