The Premier League are understood to be close to off-loading the two unwanted packages of TV rights from last February’s auction to Sky and BT.

The two sets of 20 matches — one of two rounds of midweek fixtures and the other one bank holiday and one midweek — are believed to be being sold for minimal money.

That would mean a massive, near-£500million deficit in revenue from the 200 live domestic games for three seasons of rights from 2019-20 compared to the current agreement.

The Premier League are close to offloading two unwanted packages of fixtures for television

It would represent the first major TV rights setback for Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore, who has presided until now over a continuous upward graph in domestic revenues since he took charge in 1999.

TV industry insiders say Scudamore misjudged Amazon’s interest in buying into the Premier League, which proved to be not as strong as initially thought. This resulted in the two least attractive packages F and G remaining unsold when the bids failed to reach the minimum asking price.

However, Scudamore can easily placate disappointed clubs at the summer meeting starting on June 7 because the growth in the overseas market already covers the domestic loss.

The summer summit is also expected to be when the Premier League officially announce their bargain basement sale of those 40 live games.

The cheap offload is league chief Richard Scudamore's first real TV fixture sales setback

Mark Nicholas, who lost his cricket presenting role in Australia due to Channel 9 no longer having rights, is wanted by talkSPORT for their ball-by-ball radio coverage of England’s winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies followed by South Africa at the end of 2019.

The busy Michael Vaughan, now a mainstay of BBC’s Test Match Special, is also high on the talkSPORT wish list for their new cricket team.

Mark Nicholas is wanted by talkSPORT for their radio coverage of England’s winter tours

Virat Kohli’s withdrawal from his one-month Surrey contract due to a neck injury has at least closed the split within the England Cricket Board over the signing.

The ECB marketing and commercial side were reportedly pleased by the boost his arrival would give to county cricket. But Andrew Strauss’s England cricket division did not like the extra experience of English conditions — ahead of an Indian tour — being given to Kohli, who failed here in 2014. It is understood Strauss told Surrey of his annoyance.

Meanwhile, it has emerged Kohli turned down a request — before he was injured — to play in next Thursday’s Hurricane Relief T20 charity match at Lord’s between West Indies and a World XI.

India captain Virat Kohli will not be able to join Surrey in June due to a neck injury

Barney Francis, gilded managing director of Sky Sports, got his golf reporter Nick Dougherty at Wentworth this week to ask Rory McIlroy to sign a picture of his pro-am round with Barney at last year’s British Masters.

Sky’s sponsorship of the tournament explains why a hacker like Francis was paired with superstar McIlroy at Close House near Newcastle.

Ladbrokes chief to quit

Ladbrokes’ veteran PR director Mike Dillon, 67, is understood to be negotiating his retirement from the betting company.

Dillon’s high status on the racing circuit has never quite been the same since his fall-out with former close friend Sir Alex Ferguson over super horse Rock Of Gibraltar’s disputed ownership.

Dillon sided for work reasons with Fergie’s arch opponents, Ireland’s Coolmore set. It was Dillon, a Manchester United fan, who recognised the potential of the Coolmore horse that was gifted to Ferguson for publicity reasons when it finished sixth as a two-year-old in Royal Ascot’s Coventry Stakes in 2001.

But no one expected the Rock to win seven Group One races on the trot in Ferguson’s colours, sparking the nuclear battle for breeding monies.

New West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini’s first visit to the London Stadium since his appointment was to watch the Rolling Stones in concert with his wife Carola from the directors box on Tuesday.