Ian Botham rescued from crocodile and shark infested waters after plunging in headfirst

Lord “Beefy” Botham was on a sticky wicket when he plunged headfirst into a river infested with crocs and sharks.

The England cricket legend, 68, tripped in his flip-flops and fell off a boat on a fishing trip Down Under.

But his pal, ex-Australia fast bowler Merv Hughes, below, dragged him out before waiting predators could strike.

Beefy who was bruised after hitting the side of the boat, joked: “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 pair were catching Barramundi on the Moyle River, near Darwin. As well as nearby crocs, bull sharks were reportedly lurking under the boat hoping for scraps.

Beefy had a previous brush with the reptiles after getting so drunk he leapt into a river full of crocs in Zimbabwe.

In a story about cricket’s biggest boozers, here’s what we had to say about the man himself.

‘Beefy’s’ drinking exploits are the stuff of legend. He was also an innovative boozer, as demonstrated during a tour to India in the 1980s.

In Bombay (now Mumbai), alcohol was hard to come by, meaning Botham had to think outside of the box (or should that be bar?) as the England team prepared to fly to the subcontinent from Australia.

The all-rounder and his teammates took the ‘precaution’ of cramming as much amber nectar into their hold bags as possible.

In one of his autobiographies, Botham wrote: “We were determined to win the game, but we were equally determined to let our hair down off the field.

For more shocking stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters