Clarke dinner gets a little overheated

Row: Giles Clarke

Brenkley and some of the TMS team had been invited by Clarke, accompanied by his wife, Judy, to a private dinner in Nottingham last Friday.

The £90-a-head meal, paid for by Clarke, had been going well until the subject turned to the Government preventing Zimbabwe touring here next summer but arriving a few weeks later to play in the Twenty20 World Cup, run by the ICC.

The diminutive but combative Brenkley, once deposited on to a coat hook by Sir Ian Botham after a heated exchange in a Taunton pub, wound up Clarke with repeated questions until Clarke took action hardly appropriate for the holder of the highest office in English cricket, however annoying Brenkley had been.

Brenkley said yesterday: "It was a thoroughly pleasant evening with some robust conversation on a number of matters. I know I have the ability to get people's pin. No apology was asked for or received and we parted company great friends."

Clarke was unavailable for comment but an ECB spokesman said: "The chairman was upset over an offensive remark."

White needles Test Match Special stalwart Murphy

The TMS team reacted in good-humoured fashion, on air at least, after the drinking exploits of their statistician Bill 'Bearded Wonder' Frindall at a sponsor's function in Nottingham during the third Test were reported in this column, with Christopher Martin-Jenkins referring to him as the 'Legless Wonder'.

Meanwhile, it hasn't pleased 5 Live cricket broadcaster Pat Murphy that TMS reject Arlo White, who once described a no ball as a 'foot fault', is replacing him for two Tests and two one-day internationals this summer.

Triesman's power-base expands

FA executive chairman Lord Triesman's massive powerbase within Soho Square is growing by the day, even when on holiday this week.

It has emerged that the Labour peer, who was going to run the FA's 2018 World Cup bid only until a dedicated team had been selected, has received board approval to be the 2018 chairman to go with all his other leadership commitments.

Castle serves a verbal faux pas

Andrew Castle, who combines hosting GMTV's breakfast show with being the BBC's lead tennis commentator, hardly endeared himself to world No 1 Roger Federer while host of International Tennis Federation's world championship awards dinner in Paris.

He repeatedly referred to the Swiss as 'Rog'.

Bristol chief in probe

The police have joined the RFU in investigating an alleged Six Nations ticket fraud involving former Bristol Rugby Club chief executive Nick de Scossa, who sent out a fabricated letter with forged RFU signature and branding along with tickets.

The scam, which involves black-market ticket abuse of RFU regulations as well as the alleged letter forgery, was uncovered when a letter was re-routed back to Twickenham and the tickets traced to ex-policeman de Scossa.

An RFU spokesperson confirmed an inquiry was ongoing.

De Scossa falsely claimed in December 2006 that he was at the centre of a successful combined takeover of Newcastle United Football Club by American hedgefund Polygon and the United Bank of Switzerland and would be chief executive at St James's Park.

Winstone left Puzzled by Weld

Hard man actor Ray Winstone, who is playing Irish trainer Dermot Weld in a film about his emotional Melbourne Cup victory with Media Puzzle, met Weld for the first time at the Derby when they found themselves in nearby corporate boxes.

Cockney Winstone was left worried how he would ever master Weld's deep Irish brogue.