Ted Hankey will play on in the Grand Slam

'The Count' was back on Black Country turf, alongside PDC commentator Wayne Mardle, at the Cleveland Arms pub on Stowheath Lane on Wednesday night.

The Shropshire-based thrower, who is based in Aqueduct, is back with the BDO two years after the bitterest of defections to cross over to the PDC.

The cross-code Grand Slam, held at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in November, will be the only PDC event that the 46-year-old remains allowed to play in.

The two-time BDO world champion has gone from zero to anti-hero and even suffered a mini-stroke live on the Civic stage, but loves the competition.

He said: "If I am in it, I will play it. The first year I was involved, with being from the BDO, I got a lot of hassle and I took it the wrong way, when I should have gone with the flow.

"I still get boos and cheers, too, and I am only 20-odd miles up the road in Telford. I am a Stoke fan, as well, so we have the crack.

"But I have got a lot of time for the Wolverhampton crowd and the Grand Slam, it's a fantastic tournament to be involved in."

Hankey first competed at the Grand Slam in 2009, where he was fined £250 after his group game defeat to Scott Waites for an outburst at the crowd's booing.

In 2010, he became Public Enemy No 1 after describing the Grand Slam faithful as "a bunch of muppets" in a post-match interview, after going out to Steve Beaton.

But a truce was formed in 2011 and turned 'the Count' into 'Super Ted,' when they appeared to warm to him as he went on a run to the quarter-finals.

In 2012, he suffered a mini-stroke live on stage in Wolverhampton during defeat to Michael van Gerwen, with some erroneously speculating he was drunk.

He returned to the Civic oche last November, after four months, reaching the quarter-finals with a stunning comeback from 6-1 down to beat Simon Whitlock 10-9.