The incident most likely occurred in 2005, the only time Harmison and Flintoff toured Pakistan together, and therefore after Lloyd’s stint as England coach ended. He explained how he and Paul Allott, another Lancastrian-turned-commentator, put on a pub quiz for the English tourists that backfired spectacularly.

“We did [a pub quiz] in Pakistan, when Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison were in the same team,” Lloyd said. “Allott and I did this pub quiz for Barmy Army, travelling media, broadcasters, players, backroom staff. We hired a room, fantastic. Anyway, Flintoff and Harmison turn up late, and one of the prizes was an alarm clock, a call to prayer alarm clock from a mosque. We had a bit of fun with these two turning up late.

“Anyway, they pinched the alarm clock off whoever had won it, and they’ve gone to reception and said they were me, they’ve got my room key, they’ve gone into my room, they’ve shifted this wardrobe, the two of them, a massive wardrobe, they’ve put this call to prayer mosque alarm clock behind the wardrobe and set it for four in the morning.

“I am fast asleep and then all of a sudden, ‘what the heck’s that?’ And I can’t move the wardrobe, it’s too big, it’s too heavy. And not only have they set it for four o’clock, they’ve set it for four-thirty, five, five-thirty, six o’clock. Flintoff was shocking. He’s this reformed lad isn’t he, he’s all into fitness and he’s gone onto great things. When he was in that team you had to watch him like a hawk. What’s he up to now? And he was always with Harmison.”

Flintoff and Harmison avoided comeuppance for the prank, and Lloyd was the butt of the jokes again the next morning. “They’d got a game or a practice day,” he said. “You can imagine what they were like in the group. I’ve turned up all dishevellled, I haven’t had a night’s sleep, and they’re killing themselves laughing. ‘Here he comes, the silly old sod.’”