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Anderson hit 'arrogant' Clarke, bio reveals

Anderson hit 'arrogant' Clarke, bio reveals

It appears Test cricket isn’t the only thing former Aussie opener Simon Katich and current England quick Jimmy Anderson have in common.

They both have the notoriety of being involved in a dressing-room bust-up with current Australian captain Michael Clarke.

Katich’s infamous stoush with Clarke after the Sydney Test in 2009 has gone down into cricket folklore, especially given the veteran’s unceremonious axing from the Australian set-up last year.

But Anderson has revealed he beat Katich to the punch, so to speak.

In his newly-released autobiography, Anderson speaks honestly about the day he wrapped a pad around Clarke’s head for “carrying on in a most arrogant manner” after the famous Adelaide Test during the 2006-07 Ashes series.

"The Australians displayed great levels of humility throughout that Test series, except, that is, for Michael Clarke," Anderson writes in Jimmy: My Story.

"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.

"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 . . k ya doing?' he snarled."

Anderson also shed some light on Martyn’s sudden retirement, which came just two days after the Adelaide Test.

Anderson claims Aussie opener Matthew Hayden labelled Martyn "the biggest wanker on the planet" in an argument that saw Martyn storm out of the dressing room and head back to the team hotel.

Anderson also recounts his shame at the drunken exploits of he and his teammates during the series, which England lost 5-0.

And he speaks openly about one all-night drinking session in Melbourne.

"Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Chris Read and I headed out from our Hyatt hotel base for the evening," he wrote.

"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.

"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."