Aussie legend Merv Hughes helps save England cricket great Ian Botham on fishing trip

England cricket icon Lord Ian Botham has shared details of a fishing trip in Darwin that almost went gravely wrong.

Affectionately known as ‘Beefy’, Botham was on the four-day trip with Aussie cricket great Merv Hughes.

They were catching barramundi and Botham, now 68, tripped when his thong caught the boat rope. It was the final day of the trip and and they were crossing from the the boat back to the ‘mothership’.

Botham stumbled, and then fell into the Moyle River where crocodiles infamously lurk.

Not only are the waters infested with crocs, a family of bull sharks were reportedly underneath the boat and had feeding on scraps.

As he tumbled into the water, Botham hurt himself in the fall.

But thanks to the quick-thinking Hughes and others on board, Beefy was able to scramble back into the boat before the crocs could get to him.

“He (Hughes) said, ‘have I done the right thing?’ Or words to that effect, but he was more worried about it than I was,” Botham told 7NEWS.

“There were quite a few eyes (crocodiles) that popped up when I hit the water.”

Botham took to Instagram to share pictures of the trip on Friday night (yesterday).

“My catch of the day was the barra while I was nearly catch of the day for all the crocs and bull sharks,” he wrote.

“Thanks boys for getting me out.”

Fortunately for Botham the incident only left him with nasty bruising.

Botham is one of the greatest allrounders cricket has ever seen and received a knighthood in 2007.

He and Hughes were rivals in the late 1980s and both were larger-than-life figures — and loveable rogues — during their playing days.

He is in Australia for the cricket season and will commentate alongside Hughes for Triple M.

Botham, who played his final Test in 1992, scored 5,200 runs and took 383 wickets during his stella Test career.

He terrorised Australia with his antics, and lifted England to five Ashes victories.