In their feuding Ashes heyday, Merv Hughes was the one who would bare his teeth at old foe Ian Botham as 'Beefy' clouted his bowling around. There was no love lost.
But 40 years on, things have changed dramatically, with the English cricketing great now left saluting his old Aussie adversary for rescuing him from the teeth of lurking crocodiles deep in Northern Territory.
