When CBS Studios International president Armando Nuñez flew into Australia for the Grand Prix last month, he wasn’t expecting to receive a broadside about "appalling" tactics and "bottom feeders" in a scathing email from Cricket Australia chairman David Peever.

CBS, a major US television network and owner of Network Ten, had just a week earlier submitted a multimillion-dollar offer to broadcast cricket for five years from 2019 in a joint bid with Nine Entertainment Co.

Cricket Australia chairman David Peever sent a scathing email to CBS executive Armando Nuñez.

Broadcast rights deals are the lifeblood of the big sporting codes. They need the money to pay players, fund junior programs and cover the cost of administration. However, the fact that rival broadcasters Nine and Ten had joined forces to bid had become a major sticking point.

Officials such as Mr Peever and his chief executive James Sutherland believed it bordered on uncompetitive and was designed to drive the price down.