Lara Bingle clan dumps on Michael Clarke

LARA Bingle's family is preparing an attack on Michael Clarke by selling the couple's story, while plumbers were called for a ring lost down a toilet.

LARA Bingle's family is preparing to unleash a media attack on cricketer Michael Clarke by selling the inside story behind the couple's break-up, as news broke that plumbers had been called to their Bondi apartment to retrieve an "item of significant value" lost down a toilet.

And according to a Sydney newspaper that item was the $200,000 diamond engagement ring belonging to bikini model Lara Bingle, who on Friday - in the full blaze of the Australian media spotlight - broke up with fiance and Aussie cricket vice-captain, Michael Clarke.

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The Sydney newspaper quoted an employee from Twin Pipes plumbers saying they had a call about 2:30am to the apartment block where the high-profile couple lived reporting that "someone had placed something, worth a lot of money, down the toilet."

After looking for the item for several hours, they brought in a camera to inspect the pipe lines, but still failed to locate the missing item.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Telegraph revealed Bingle's family is preparing sell the inside story on her break up with Michael Clarke, dishing the dirt on what he was "really" like as her fiance.

Bingle's brother, Josh, 25, and mother, Sharon, have approached magazine editors asking for more than $100,000 for a tell-all interview detailing how Clarke, 28, allegedly treated Bingle, 22, and the couple's "living relations".

"Josh is very passionate about defending his little sister," family friend Pat Shiels, who claimed to be brokering the deal, said.

"We are closing off (our) offers at 4pm on Monday."

Bingle's break-up with the Australian cricket team's vice-captain was made official in a short statement late on Friday night, but the bidding war for their stories is just beginning.

Although the show is over for the couple, the circus of media deals surrounding their break-up will spiral out of control as managers and family members try to make a quick buck.

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The most sought-after interview in town is with Clarke, who has remained inside the couple's $6 million Bondi apartment since unexpectedly leaving New Zealand on Tuesday night, midway through the one-day series.

He spent Friday night alone in the apartment and early yesterday morning went for an hour-long run on Bondi Beach and along the clifftops, before spending time with his family.

Tomorrow, Clarke will rejoin his team-mates in Wellington ahead of the first Test on Friday.

Peter Holder, the publisher of men's lifestyle magazine titles at ACP, said Clarke could easily earn several hundred thousand dollars for his side of the story.

"But I would be surprised if Clarke sold his story," Holder said.

"It doesn't appear to be his style. His stand has been pretty dignified throughout this melodrama."

If he were to talk, Clarke's current value is much higher than Bingle's.

Although Clarke has thus far remained tight-lipped, Bingle is likely to continue to try to capitalise on her woes..

Her manager, Max Markson, has met prospective clients, including clothing retailer Supre - a very different direction for Bingle, who is usually dressed in brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel.Bingle's lawyers released a statement last night attacking the AFL for failing to independently investigate the release of a photograph of Bingle in the shower, taken by footballer Brendan Fevola.

In the ludicrous statement - printed in full online - Markson claimed Bingle was not seeking further publicity.

"The public should take a step back and realise how much Lara Bingle has been maligned this past two weeks, initiated by the release of a photo that should never have been taken," it read.

In an email exclusively obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, Shiels wrote to magazine and TV media on Friday, saying: "I have Josh Bingle, who is Lara's older brother, and possibly Sharon Bingle, who is Lara's mother, interested in taking offers."

The Bingles would tell the "real story behind Lara and Michael's relationship", telling how he treated the family, and the "real Michael Clarke".