Former top-class cricketer cheats death after being attacked by a leopard and saved by his faithful dog… years after an up-close encounter with a crocodile

A former top-class cricketer has cheated death again after being attacked by a leopard – years after waking up to find a two-metre crocodile hiding under his bed. Zimbabwean all-rounder

Guy Whittall, 51, had to undergo emergency surgery after he was seriously mauled by the big cat while out with his trusted dog Chikara, who was also bitten when he tired to save him.

Guy – best remembered for his unbeaten double century in 1997, in which he did not feature against New Zealand – was attacked while passing through the nature reserve he manages in Humani, Zimbabwe.

He runs the safari company – based at the junction of the Turgwe and Save rivers in the south of the country – with his father Guy and where he woke up one morning to find a sleeping crocodile under his bed.

Guy’s wife posted dramatic footage of the latest attack on social media, showing Guy being treated in the bush by medics with bandages around his head before being flown to Milton Park Hospital in the capital Harare.

Guy’s wife posted dramatic footage of the latest attack on social media, showing Guy being treated by medics in the bush with a bandage around his head

A man woke up earlier one morning to find a sleeping crocodile under his bed

Hannah Stooks-Whittall added that he had ‘lost a lot of blood’ but was saved by ‘faithful K9 Chikara’ who was ‘mauled by the leopard that took Guy’s cat’.

A later photo showed Guy giving a thumbs up in hospital with his head and hands still bandaged, and Hannah wrote that he ‘came out of the cinema’ with his wounds ‘cleaned and re-stitched’.

Hannah told MailOnline exclusively: ‘He really is a lucky man, first he had the crocodile and now the leopard, he really is the cat with nine lives.

‘He was so lucky that Chikara was there to help him and get the leopard off him, who knows how it could have turned out differently.

‘We are so grateful to him, and Chikara gets some extra chicken as a treat. He has to go to the vet because he has a few scratches, but he will be fine, he is in better condition than Guy.

‘Luckily Guy is in bed talking. He tells anyone who will listen how he wrestled a leopard, but we all know it was Chikara’s fault.’

It’s not Guy’s first run-in with a wild animal – in 2013 he made headlines after photos emerged of a 300-pound crocodile sleeping under his bed while he was still in it.

Zimbabwean batsman Guy Whittall celebrates after scoring his fourth Test century in 2001

The eight-foot animal had sneaked into his hut and lain quietly all night, just a fraction below an oblivious Guy.

The animal – a Nile crocodile – had managed to hide for more than eight hours during the night.

The next morning, Guy had even sat on the edge of his bed, with his feet dangling over the edge, just inches from the crocodile’s face, as he organized his day.

But he remained oblivious to his uninvited guest and was only alerted when he was having breakfast in the kitchen and heard the petrified screams of a maid.

Guy was out with his trusted dog Chikara (photo in 2022), who was also bitten when he tired to save him

A later photo showed Guy giving a thumbs up in hospital with his head and hands still bandaged, and Hannah wrote that he ‘came out of the cinema’ with his wounds ‘cleaned and re-stitched’.

At the time he said: ‘The really disturbing thing about the whole episode is the fact that I was sitting on the edge of the bed that morning, barefoot and just inches away from the crocodile.

‘Crocodiles are experts at hiding, which is why they have survived on Earth for so long and are the ultimate killers in the water.

‘They know how to keep quiet and go unnoticed, it’s in their nature.

“The crocodile came from the Turgwe River, a few kilometers from the house.

‘They often wander through the bush, especially when it is cold and raining. I think he liked it under the bed because it was warm.”

He was forced to enlist some of his colleagues who helped remove the crocodile from its new den and release it into a nearby dam.

The eight-foot animal had crept into his hut and had lain quietly all night, just a fraction below an oblivious man.

Guy said: ‘Of course he resisted being tied up and pulled out from under the bed, that’s only natural.

‘However, capturing and securing a crocodile of any size on land is a fairly simple affair and something we have experience in doing.

‘The only real danger is being bitten, because then you can’t drown in it.

‘The most important thing is to tie his snout and secure it, and then it’s just a matter of restraining him and covering his eyes to calm him down.

‘Larger crocodiles obviously need more manpower. When tied, they swing around frantically and are extremely powerful. ‘I remember thinking: ‘Garda, that’s one for the books’.