'Botham's version only a fairytale'

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said that he had only "exchanged words" with former England skipper Ian Botham during the Adelaide test and added that the Botham's claim is only a "fairytale".

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said that he had only "exchanged words" with former England skipper Ian Botham during the Adelaide test.

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"The rest is a fairytale," Chappell, who shares a mutual grudge with the Englishman dating back over 30 years, told the Age newspaper.

"We were not at each other's throats."

According to reports on Tuesday Test greats Botham and Chappell had to be pulled apart after a confrontation in the car park at the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Both the cricketers gave different versions of the incident with Botham claiming to have punched Chappell.

Chappell, however, claims that he walked away after an argument.

The two high-profile cricket figures have a feud lasting more than 30 years and squared up to each after the end of play on Monday's fourth day, reports said.

Botham, 55, the legendary England allrounder of the 1980s, and former Australian skipper Chappell, 67, now work as television commentators for rival organisations.

London's Daily Mail newspaper said the pair had to be separated by television colleagues after they traded remarks.

A source, who observed the incident, told the newspaper: "They went for each other all right and it could have got very nasty if there hadn't been people on hand to keep them apart."

The pair have a deep mutual resentment going back to 1977 and an incident in Melbourne hotel, the paper said.

(With PTI and AFP inputs)