Rishi Sunak says he was sledged by England cricket star Sam Curran in the garden at Downing Street

•  Rishi Sunak admitted he fell victim to ‘sledging’ from all-rounder Sam Curran
• The anecdote emerged during one of the PM’s  most-relaxed interviews to date

As a cricket-mad teenager, Rishi Sunak’s childhood dream was to play for the England team.

But when, as Prime Minister, he joined the players for a knockabout in the garden at No 10, he found himself on the receiving end of some fierce insults from the national sporting heroes.

Mr Sunak admitted he fell victim to ‘sledging’ – the fine art of psychologically undermining your opponents with savage abuse – from all-rounder Sam Curran.

Recalling a quick game with England’s T20 World Cup-winning team earlier this year, he said: ‘I had Chris Jordan bowling at me. Jos Buttler was very nice. Sam Curran, on the other hand, was giving me quite a lot of gyp… I was not expecting such heavy sledging in my back garden!’

The amusing anecdote emerged during one of the PM’s longest and most-relaxed interviews to date, when he appeared on BBC radio’s Test Match Special during the lunch break on the fourth day of the Ashes test between England and Australia at Lord’s yesterday.

Rishi Sunak speaks on Test Match Special during the fourth day of the 2nd Test match between England and Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground

The amusing anecdote emerged during one of the PM’s longest and most-relaxed interviews to date, when he appeared on BBC radio’s Test Match Special during the lunch break on the fourth day of the Ashes test between England and Australia at Lord’s yesterday

Mr Sunak spoke of his ‘sadness’ after a damning report found that racism, sexism and elitism was widespread within English cricket. But he said he backed the England and Wales Cricket Board to fix it.

As the UK’s first British-Asian Prime Minister, he spoke of the ‘sting’ of racism while he was growing up in Southampton.

But he said he believed attitudes in modern Britain had changed, and that he did not believe that it would happen to his two daughters today ‘because I think we’ve just made incredible progress as a country’. In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Sunak agreed that being PM could be ‘bruising’, but insisted he was ‘thick-skinned’.

He did face a few curve balls. When he was asked why he was no longer known as ‘dishy Rishi’ – the nickname he gained when he was Chancellor the PM cheerfully countered: ‘Are you saying I’m not dishy any more?’

He opened up about his childhood trips to Asda with his parents in Southampton, and revealed he enjoyed watching the Australian soap Neighbours as a child.

And, keeping to Test Match Special tradition, the Prime Minister brought a cake to the commentary box, a red velvet one which he had iced – although not baked – himself. He presented it to former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss.

HIT FOR SIX: Rishi Sunak in the Test Match Special commentary box

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