England cricket legend Ian Botham has recently gone through a rather unpleasant scare while fishing in Australia. Disaster struck during Botham’s four-day fishing trip with former Australian cricketer Merv Hughes in Australia’s Northern Territory. According to multiple reports, Botham tripped on a rope on his boat and fell into the river beside. To make it worse, he was reportedly surrounded by crocodiles and bull sharks as well. However, Botham was rescued out of the water soon enough before any more damage could be done.

Botham, 68, was left with big bruises and scars on his body due to the incident. His flip-flops had reportedly tangled on a rope while he was trying to board the boat, leading to the accident.

During his playing days, Botham was regarded as one of the premier all-rounders in cricket, alongside the likes of Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee. Botham has over 5,000 Test runs and 383 Test wickets.

Botham and Hughes, along with others, had been fishing for barramundi on the Moyle River in Australia’s northern tropical region.

Speaking on the freak incident, Botham showered praise on those with him, who had jumped to his swift rescue.

“I was out of the water quicker than I went in it. Quite a few sets of eyes were having a peep at me,” Botham said. “Luckily I had no time to think about what was in the water,” he added.

“The guys were brilliant, it was just one of those accidents,” Botham said. “It was all very quick and I’m OK now.”

Fishing has been a known hobby of Botham’s for a long time.

Botham and Merv Hughes were regarded as fierce rivals during their cricket career, particularly during Ashes series between England and Australia. Botham had also once slammed Hughes for 22 runs in a single over, which was then the record for the highest-scoring over in an Ashes Test.

Following retirement, it appears the duo have put their rivalry aside.