Botham could sue Diageo over use of his picture in ad campaign

Ian Botham is threatening to sue Diageo for supposedly breaching his image rights as part of a national advertising campaign for Guinness.

Mr Botham's beef is that Diageo used images of him playing in the victorious 1981 Ashes series without first gaining his permission.

The advert, which ran in national newspapers as part of Guinness's "Believe" advertising campaign, featured images of the England all-rounder and used a famous quote about Botham from commentator Fred Trueman, saying: "He couldn't bowl a hoop downhill."

Mr Botham's lawyer, Naynash Dasai, told the Daily Telegraph: "The advertisement suggests that Ian is endorsing the Guinness product when he is not doing any such thing and has no contract with them. This is a clear breach of his image rights."

A spokesperson for Guinness added that no action had yet been taken. "There has been correspondence with Ian Botham's lawyers. We ran the ads during the World Cup campaign and they're not running now."

The spokesperson added that the "Believe" campaign focused on individuals who overcome criticisms and go on to better things.

One advertisment, which was run following England's World Cup victory over Argentina, featured a quote from Maradonna prior to the big game. "The English are terrified - they are quaking in their boots".