Almost 150 years of cricket’s fiercest rivalry, the Ashes, has been put on hold. All it took was for one of England’s greatest players, Lord Ian Botham, to find himself in mortal danger in crocodile-infested waters. To the rescue came an old rival turned friend for life, Merv Hughes.
The mustachioed Victorian Hughes cut a menacing figure on the field as a fast bowler who played 53 Tests for Australia, but Lord Botham will be forever grateful for his intervention after he fell into the Moyle River. The river, in Australia’s Northern Territory, is home to plenty of hungry crocodiles, as well as bull sharks, who feed on anything the crocodiles leave behind.
The pair were on a four-day fishing trip in Australia’s north, 250 miles from Darwin, when the accident happened. Botham got his flip flops caught on a rope as he tried to board the boat and tumbled into the river, taking a nasty bash on the vessel on the way in, which left him with heavy bruising on his torso. Self-styled “fishing fanatic” Hughes, and others, helped haul him to safety.
Botham, 68, joked that he was now cricket’s answer to Crocodile Dundee, the 1980s Paul Hogan character.
He said: “At the end of the day Crocodile Beefy survived. 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.
“My catch of the day was the barra [barramundi] while I was nearly catch of the day for all the crocs and bull sharks … thanks boys for getting me out”.
England and Australia first met in Test cricket in March 1877, with the concept of the Ashes invented five years later when Australia won on English soil – at the Oval in south London – for the first time. A mock obituary appeared “in affectionate remembrance of English cricket” appeared in the Sporting Times newspaper a couple of days later, with the pay-off “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. England, under the captaincy of Ivo Bligh, went to Australia and won. After a match on that tour, they were presented with an urn, which now lives at Lord’s but is the ceremonial trophy for the winning team in series between the nations.
Botham and Hughes are two of the most colourful characters in the long, proud history of the Ashes. They first played against one another when England toured Australia and won in 1986-87. Even though he would play Test cricket for five more years, “Beefy’s” status as an Ashes legend was secure long before then, thanks to his stunning contribution to England’s win in 1981, when he scored 399 runs and took 34 wickets, including setting up one of the greatest wins of all time at Headingley. He won the Ashes five times, as many as any Englishman, and retired as one of the country’s greatest all-rounders, with 5,200 Test runs and 383 wickets.
Hughes represented Australia between 1985 and 1994, and became a cult figure for his distinctive appearance, sharp tongue, and brilliant bowling. Seventy-five of his 212 Test wickets came against England, and he was part of three Ashes-winning teams.
Botham and Hughes were sparring partners in their playing days, both with bat and ball and verbally, but a series of shared passions – including a drink and fishing – mean they have been firm friends for decades. They will commentate together on Australian radio for broadcaster Triple M this southern summer, and the pair were recently together at a chamber of commerce speaking event.
Botham locked horns with Australia on the field but has had plenty to do with his old rivals in retirement. He has been the UK’s trade envoy to Australia since 2020 through his position in the House of Lords, while his range of wines are made in the Barossa Valley near Adelaide.
Botham once said: “Aussies are big and empty – just like the country.”
These days, his view is rather different, especially after his old mate Merv’s intervention.
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