Michael Clarke lashes out at Symonds, Hayden and Buchanan
Michael Clarke, the former Australian captain, has slammed his one-time teammates, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, ex-coach John Buchanan, and the media for publicly criticizing him post his retirement after Australia surrendered the Ashes in 2015.
Less than a week after he hung up his boots in August, Clarke was severely criticized by his former teammates and ex-Australian coach for his attitude and leadership skills. Clarke has finally broken his silence in his Ashes Diary 2015, describing the "pot shots" thrown at him by Hayden and Symonds as a "low act" and defended his commitment and contribution to Australian cricket.
Clarke slammed Hayden for blowing a tongue-in-cheek comment out of proportion when the former Australian opener narrated a bizarre anecdote in public about how Clarke threatened to return his Baggy Green if made to continue fielding at bat-pad position by the then-skipper Ricky Ponting during his early days.
"I think I've shown over the past 12 years how much I've valued representing my country and how much my 389 Baggy Green means to me," Clarke wrote. "If Ricky had asked me to jump off the Harbour Bridge, I would have jumped. I loved playing for Australia that much."
Deeply hurt by the comments made by Symonds, once one of his best mates, on his leadership, Clarke wrote, "Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I'm sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership. This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks."
Despite not having played much under his captaincy, the former Australian all-rounder took a potshot at Clarke commenting he wasn't a "natural leader", and was unlike the kind Australian cricket had seen in the past in Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
Clarke, in particular, condemned Buchanan's allegations saying, "I don't think John knows a thing about the Baggy Green, having never worn one."
The former head coach during one of Australia's most successful eras, had pointed that the Baggy Green culture in the Australian dressing room had "deteriorated" during Clarke's reign. "He's still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination, Clarke added.
Clarke, in his column released this week, also hit back at the commentators for "smashing" him for every failure Australia suffered during the course of his career. "Anyone hearing this commentary - and I've had to wear this kind of talk for a very long time - would think I've been the only problem with Australian cricket for the past 13 years," Clarke wrote.
Clarke, who took over the reins of the Australian team in difficult times after a disappointing 2010-11 Ashes defeat, believes that the local press has been tough on him, questioning his leadership skills. "That's a tough rap for someone who has led this team to a World Cup victory at home, won a Test series against the best team in the world, South Africa, in South Africa, and won an Ashes 5-0. And in Tests, has taken Australia from fifth to number one in the world. Any time we've lost, it's apparently been because of me - my personal life, my attitude, the way I've captained," Clarke added.
"Apparently I've been holding us back all along, and now that I'm leaving everyone will get along famously and the Australian team will never lose another game," Clarke wrote, also mentioning that the intense criticism he was subjected to just after his retirement reaffirmed to him that he taken the right decision to sign off.
Who is at Fault ?
Michael Clarke, the former Australian captain, has slammed his one-time teammates, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, ex-coach John Buchanan, and the media for publicly criticizing him post his retirement after Australia surrendered the Ashes in 2015.
Less than a week after he hung up his boots in August, Clarke was severely criticized by his former teammates and ex-Australian coach for his attitude and leadership skills. Clarke has finally broken his silence in his Ashes Diary 2015, describing the "pot shots" thrown at him by Hayden and Symonds as a "low act" and defended his commitment and contribution to Australian cricket.
Clarke slammed Hayden for blowing a tongue-in-cheek comment out of proportion when the former Australian opener narrated a bizarre anecdote in public about how Clarke threatened to return his Baggy Green if made to continue fielding at bat-pad position by the then-skipper Ricky Ponting during his early days.
"I think I've shown over the past 12 years how much I've valued representing my country and how much my 389 Baggy Green means to me," Clarke wrote. "If Ricky had asked me to jump off the Harbour Bridge, I would have jumped. I loved playing for Australia that much."
Deeply hurt by the comments made by Symonds, once one of his best mates, on his leadership, Clarke wrote, "Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I'm sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership. This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks."
Despite not having played much under his captaincy, the former Australian all-rounder took a potshot at Clarke commenting he wasn't a "natural leader", and was unlike the kind Australian cricket had seen in the past in Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
Clarke, in particular, condemned Buchanan's allegations saying, "I don't think John knows a thing about the Baggy Green, having never worn one."
The former head coach during one of Australia's most successful eras, had pointed that the Baggy Green culture in the Australian dressing room had "deteriorated" during Clarke's reign. "He's still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination, Clarke added.
Clarke, in his column released this week, also hit back at the commentators for "smashing" him for every failure Australia suffered during the course of his career. "Anyone hearing this commentary - and I've had to wear this kind of talk for a very long time - would think I've been the only problem with Australian cricket for the past 13 years," Clarke wrote.
Clarke, who took over the reins of the Australian team in difficult times after a disappointing 2010-11 Ashes defeat, believes that the local press has been tough on him, questioning his leadership skills. "That's a tough rap for someone who has led this team to a World Cup victory at home, won a Test series against the best team in the world, South Africa, in South Africa, and won an Ashes 5-0. And in Tests, has taken Australia from fifth to number one in the world. Any time we've lost, it's apparently been because of me - my personal life, my attitude, the way I've captained," Clarke added.
"Apparently I've been holding us back all along, and now that I'm leaving everyone will get along famously and the Australian team will never lose another game," Clarke wrote, also mentioning that the intense criticism he was subjected to just after his retirement reaffirmed to him that he taken the right decision to sign off.
Who is at Fault ?
