Ian Botham had to be rescued from crocodile-infested waters by his former Ashes rival Merv Hughes, after tripping over during a recent fishing trip in Australia's Northern Territory.
Botham, who turns 69 this month, reportedly got his flip-flops tangled on a rope as he boarded the boat, suffering heavy bruising to his torso in the process. Hughes, 62, was among those who helped to pull him out of the River Moyle, with reports of bull sharks also in the vicinity.
"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."
"At the end of the day Crocodile Beefy survived. The guys were brilliant, it was just one of those accidents. It was all very quick and I'm okay now."
Botham and Hughes were rivals during consecutive Ashes series in the late 1980s. Botham famously hit Hughes for 22 runs in an over during his final Test century, at Brisbane in England's victory in 1986-87, but Hughes had his revenge two years later, bowling Botham in his comeback innings at Edgbaston, as Australia won the 1989 series 4-0.
The pair are in Australia ahead of their commentary duties in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, with the first Test between Australia and India getting underway in Perth on November 22.