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.'

The feud between Sir Ian Botham and Ian Chappell is re-ignited in an TV documentary

The two clashed in a Melbourne bar 40 years ago and have been sworn enemies ever since

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 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.'

Former referee Mark Halsey is unlikely to receive his England cap from the FA any time soon

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.

Premier divide widens

The parlous state of the Premier League's collective approach is demonstrated by events since the last official meeting.

The day after representatives from traditional giants Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal met over dinner in New York to discuss their TV approach, 11 clubs on the other side of the TV rights divide told the Premier League they would not accept proposals for changing the formula. The big three met even though Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was arriving in New York two days later.

PL executive chairman Richard Scudamore will want to repair the growing differences before the big clubs eventually appeal to the broadcast regulator Ofcom for the right to negotiate their own overseas rights.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool chiefs met up for dinner in New York recently

Sky have commissioned a second docu-series on how aspiring footballers progress at Jamie Vardy's academy. This follows four of the non-League players from the first series joining professional clubs following their exposure on the show. The series is produced by Danny Fenton's Zig Zag Productions, who draw Vardy academy students from the fifth to ninth football tiers.

Jamie Vardy's V9 Academy will re-open its doors to the Sky cameras for another series

The ECB have a lot of work to do to match the digital marketing sweep of Australia's Big Bash, on which a lot of their T20 city franchise plans are based. Sports Agenda is still inundated with Melbourne Renegades publicity material despite having watched only one of their matches — briefly — four years ago.