Sir Ian Botham 'flips golf buggy, breaks two ribs and slips on his own blood' during eventful trip abroad

The conversation began with a nostalgic look back at the 1986-87 Ashes series in Brisbane, when fans infamously released a pig marked “Botham” and “Eddie” — a cheeky reference to the then-England captain and teammate Eddie Hemmings.

From there, the discussion turned to Botham’s more recent exploits, and Lloyd could not resist revealing the latest chapter in his friend’s long line of escapades.

“Talking about Beefy, I’ve just been to Valderrama with him and Andy Lloyd, Billy Foster the caddie, and Paul Allott. Three days,” Lloyd said.

“On day one, Beefy turns his buggy over while he’s in it.

“He rolls the buggy on a hill with Tim Bostock, the chief executive up at Durham, sitting beside him.

“Bostock climbs out, but there’s no way Beefy is getting out, so we lift the buggy back up with him still in it. He’s busted two ribs, lacerated his arm, and is bleeding profusely from his hand.”

If that was not enough drama for one trip, Lloyd went on to describe an even more chaotic evening that followed.

“Next night, we go to this classy restaurant and he gets on the wine,” Lloyd said.

“He stood up and promptly fell straight onto his nose. He’s busted his nose, blood everywhere in this restaurant.

“They got him back up, then he slipped on the blood and went down again.

“They got him in the car and got him to bed, and his last words before he went to sleep were, ‘Don’t tell Kath!’ He was absolutely black and blue.”

Vaughan then reminded listeners that Don’t Tell Kath was, fittingly, the title of Botham’s 2000 autobiography — a nod to the cricketer’s long history of misadventures both on and off the field.

Botham, now 69, has never been far from adventure.

Known for his fearless nature, he has experienced several brushes with danger since his playing days.

Last year, while on a fishing trip in northern Australia with former Ashes rival Merv Hughes, Botham fell into crocodile-infested waters.

He escaped serious harm thanks to Hughes’s quick reaction, leaving the episode with severe bruising but little else.

Injury and resilience have long been part of Botham’s story.

During his cricketing career, he suffered multiple setbacks — from breaking a toe at Headingley in 1977 after stepping on a ball, to enduring a serious back injury in 1988 that required surgery and plagued him for decades.

That same accident would lead to another spinal operation thirty years later. Yet, through every setback, Botham continued to play with the determination that made him one of England’s most celebrated all-rounders.