“The worst craic on the tour is Raymond van Barneveld" - Jonny Clayton answers tough questions on ProTour rivals

Jonny Clayton has offered a characteristically humorous glimpse into life on the PDC tour. The Welshman, currently world number five, spoke not only about the atmosphere, but also about which players he’d rather keep onside than face the wrong way.

Clayton, nicknamed “The Ferret,” was asked by Red Dragon Darts who he considers the toughest characters on the Pro Tour. His answer mixed respect with a hefty dose of humour, with one name clearly standing out: Karel Sedlacek. “When he says, ‘Jonny, can I have a flight?’ You can have the dart. You can have the setup,” joked Clayton. “Have the house keys, Van, have it. I don’t think I would mess about with him. You don’t know – he has the look as if to say he is a tough nut.”

Sedlacek isn’t the only one on that list. “I wouldn’t like to mess about with old Boris Krcmar. I know he has lost his Tour Card at the moment," Clayton says. “Mensur Suljovic, I wouldn’t like to mess with."

Beyond the toughest players, Clayton also shared his view on the backstage mood. He pointed out who brings the least and the most fun on tour, in his eyes. “The worst craic on the tour, I would say, Raymond van Barneveld. Raymond is very quiet. It is no disrespect, he is just very focused."

At the other end of the spectrum, Clayton sees some of the circuit’s biggest entertainers. “Joe Cullen [has the best craic] by a mile and Nathan Aspinall. Together they always pick on me, the old man,” laughed Clayton.

When Chris Dobey joins the group, Clayton says it descends into pure chaos. “Aspinall, Cullen and Chris Dobey, probably them three together are dangerous. We all sit on the same table on the ProTour."

The Welshman describes how a regular group of players often sit together at events on the ProTour. Alongside himself and the names already mentioned, Ross Smith, Andy Boulton and Ryan Joyce also pull up a chair. “We have a lot of banter, as you can imagine. Chris is a proper wind-up merchant, and then Joe Cullen jumps in, and then they drag Nathan into it as well. It is an interesting table.”

Beyond his life as a top darter, Clayton also touched on a lesser-known side of his sporting background. Before breaking through in darts, he was an avid cricketer in South Wales. “I did play cricket from a very young age through schools. But my village team were playing in Division One of South Wales. So, it was good, and at that time you could have two overseas players in your team as well."

Clayton was a wicketkeeper and made an impression early on. “I played at a good level in cricket. I was wicketkeeping and I think I got picked to play for the first team at around 16 years old. I played cricket for years, and I really enjoyed it."

Recently, though, he discovered the body can’t do everything it used to. When he filled in a few years ago for a second-team match, he soon regretted it. "I tell you, two years back, our second team was short, and I was home. One of my friends said, ‘Fancy a game?’ I said, ‘Bloody right I do.’ I kept for the seconds, and we had a brilliant day, great laugh."

The after-effects were hard to ignore. “Do you know I couldn’t walk for three days. The hamstrings and the top of my legs, oh my God. Do you know what? I wish I never played that game of cricket.”