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Knighthood? How Merv 'saved' Botham from croc-infested waters
SEN • August 18th, 2025 2:30 pm
Australian cricket great Merv Hughes said he couldn’t believe King Charles did not give him a Knighthood for his part in “saving” Ian Botham from crocodile infested waters last year.
Nine months on from the terrifying ordeal, which saw 69-year-old Botham fall into the crocodile-infested Moyle River while on a fishing trip with Hughes, the latter has revealed he was in fact fast asleep in his cabin when disaster struck.
Speaking to the UK Telegraph, Hughes said it was in fact thanks to the boat’s chef Justin Jones and the chief of the Northern Territory’s chamber of commerce, Greg Ireland that Botham survived.
“We did go fishing, and Ian Botham did fall in the water," Hughes said recounting their four-day adventure in the Northern Territory.
“But did I have anything to do with dragging him out? Not quite. I was asleep in my cabin. I found out about two hours later.’
“On the second day, Beefy turned to me and said: ‘You don’t see many crocs here.’
“I said: ‘Mate, it’s not the crocs you see that are the problem.’
“When I got up early to admire the sunrise, I saw a four-and-a-half metre crocodile 10 metres away, just sitting there. What people don’t realise is the tides – it’s a nine-metre tide. If you go off the back of the boat, you’re going to get swept away.
“The moment Beefy went in, a couple of guys grabbed hold of his shirt so that he didn’t lose contact. That’s the true story. But if you want me to tell the fictitious one, I’m happy to go with that, too.
“The one where I dived in the water and dragged him out of the croc’s grasp.”
Botham escaped relatively unhurt given what could have happened and later shared an image of the bruising he sustained in the fall.
“Quite a few sets of (crocodile) eyes were having a peep at me. Luckily, I had no time to think about what was in the water,’ Botham said in 2024.
“The guys were brilliant, it was just one of those accidents,' Botham said at the time.
“It was all very quick and I’m OK now.”
