Downcast ... James Anderson (L), trudges off the Adeialde Oval with Geraint Jones and Andrew Flintoff. Credit:Getty Images It's not the first report of friction between Clarke and a teammate. Katich's stoush with the batsman in 2009 - when the left-handed opener grabbed the future leader around the throat after a Test at the SCG - is well documented. Having pegged Clarke's behaviour as arrogant, Anderson writes: "I said as much to Damien Martyn, who I was chatting to at the time, and, looking down at my feet, added: 'See this pad here, I really want to wrap it around his head'. "'Do it,' Martyn replied, completely straight-faced. "Now while Martyn was notorious for being someone who did not mix particularly well with his own teammates, and was not close to anyone, preferring to be something of a lone wolf, his bullish attitude nevertheless took me aback.

"I looked at him again as if to ask: 'Are you sure?' "'Do it!' he repeated. "As I'd had a couple of beers, I didn't need a second invitation, so I picked this pad up and cuffed Clarke with it, making the biggest thud imaginable in the process, and causing everyone in the room to stop nattering. For a split second, there was complete silence. "'What the f--- ya doing?' he snarled." The paceman adds: "The Australians displayed great levels of humility throughout that Test series, except, that is, for Michael Clarke.

"While others chatted with opposite numbers about the game, Clarke was being a complete pain, whistling away to himself and carrying on in a most arrogant manner." Anderson goes on to say how Martyn then went on to clash with Matthew Hayden later that evening, and promptly announce his retirement two days later. He also details in the book how some England players, humiliated at being thrashed 5-0 in the Test series, turned to alcohol to get through the summer. He writes of one night out, where he was accompanied by Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce and Chris Read, in Melbourne before the one-day series that followed the Ashes: "We were just popping out for dinner and a glass of wine. But one thing led to another, a late night developed into an early morning and we ended up staggering back at 6am.

"We displayed complete disdain for the trust that had been placed in us, and such was our lack of self-respect that we sneaked into fast-food joint Hungry Jack's, Australia's Burger King, for breakfast before nabbing an hour's sleep. Hardly an ideal diet for an international sportsman, let alone one that was required on the bus for practice at 9 o'clock that morning. Loading "Stuff like that shows how bad things had got on that tour. It had worn us down to such an extent that all sense of professionalism had been eradicated. Nights out, guzzling, were our form of escapism, our release from reality." smh.com.au