Botham and Chappell rekindle Ashes feud
THE legendary feud between Sir Ian Botham and Ian Chappell is just one of the explosive encounters re-ignited in an Australian TV documentary about the Ashes.
The two clashed in a Melbourne bar 40 years ago — they have differing accounts of what happened — and have been sworn enemies ever since. Trailers for the three-part Channel Nine series Forged in Fire: Cricket’s Greatest Rivalry, to be shown during the forthcoming Ashes series, has 74-year- old Chappell saying of Botham: ‘If Ian ever apologises for the lies that he’s told.’ Botham replies: ‘Maybe he needs to grow up and let go.’ Sportsmail exclusively reported that the pair had a serious altercation in the car park during the second Test in Adelaide in 2010. Chappell said the next day: ‘Ian Botham is the master of fairytales and Charlie Sale writes rubbish — that combination is not a good one. There were words spoken and I will take 50 per cent of the blame.’
Such is the emotion around the rich history of Ashes confrontations that England grandees Andrew Strauss and Angus Fraser utter four-letter obscenities when talking about their battles against the Aussies and that’s just in the trailers. SPORTS
industry experts are forecasting a possible 20 per cent dip from the £3.1billion paid for the Premier League’s domestic rights last time. The expectation now is that Amazon, who are concentrating on their Whole Foods acquisition, will not join the bidding, leaving Sky and BT Sport as the main contenders again. However, the overseas deal is reckoned to be going up by 40 per cent for the next three contracts over three years. FORMER elite referee Mark Halsey, who had a history of upsetting authority, has been informed that he is unlikely to receive his England cap from the FA any time soon. Some of his contemporaries who had a better relationship with FA referee chiefs Neale Barry and David Elleray have already received their caps. But Halsey (above) was told in a letter from Barry: ‘Where budget allows, we are making inroads into the extensive list of those who retired some time ago.’ ENGLAND’S
woeful 2018 World Cup bid is to be the subject of a Danish TV documentary. It concentrates on how Russia beat England so convincingly but so far they have found no one from the England 2018 team willing to co-operate.