Duncan Barkes

He talks about the fact that you get little groups forming in the changing room and out on the training pitch.

And often nationalities tend to determine which group you find yourself most comfortable with culturally and so on and so forth.

And now that we've got a good, solid Australian contingent, do you think they're rubbing it in with the rest of the English players about the Ashes?

Yes.

I'm sure they are.

Well, folklore has it that he was round a player's house eating pizza.

I can't remember which Pompey player it was.

And Alan said to him, can you give this letter to Harry Redknapp in the morning?

And the bloke went, OK, why don't you do it yourself?

He said, because tomorrow morning,

when I should be turning up for training, I'll be at 25,000 feet.

And he literally did a runner, so the myth goes.

And he changed careers and he became a very successful diplomat.

Oh, did he?

Right.

That's one way to leave a club.

Well, yeah, I mean, he was obviously somebody who was quite capable of being slippery and...

I'm going to say deceitful, slightly deceitful, so that's probably a requisite credential if you're going to work at the embassy.

Well, the player was supposed to give the letter to Harry, chickened out, and he waited until Harry was out on the training ground and he crept into Harry's office and he put the letter on Harry's pile of clothes.

Yes, he didn't want to be blamed for it, absolutely.