A pool reporter embedded with US marines in Iraq said yesterday he did not understand what on earth he was doing there and begged to be returned to his job with Snooker and Eight Ball magazine.

John Cue said he did not know why he had been chosen to ride along with the US military as it launched its assault on Fallujah.

“I’ve missed some massive stories because I’ve been stuck over here in the middle of a warzone,” Cue said.

“First Eddie Charlton died and then John Higgins won the British Open. That’s the first time he’s won a ranking event win in three years and I’m just bloody devastated I missed it.”

Cue is not the first of the pool reporters hand-picked to travel with US troops in Iraq to express concerns.

Last week, embedded journalist Mark Homewood urged the marines to let him go back to his work for Pool and Spa Living magazine.