Michael Clarke

[Booney]

Geez, not holds barred in his Ashes Diary.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=9055191

Michael Clarke has slammed former teammates Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, describing their pot shots following his retirement as a "low act".

And the former Test skipper also lashed ex-Australian coach John Buchanan, declaring his dog could have done a better job as a national coach.

Clarke used his Ashes Diary 2015, released this week, to fire back at the trio, who savagely critiqued his leadership in the wake of his retirement in August.

Clarke was dismayed Hayden, Symonds and Buchanan used his retirement to "publicly kick" him.

He took aim at one-time mate Symonds after the all-rounder questioned Clarke's leadership style.

"Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I'm sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership," Clarke wrote.

"This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks."

Clarke also lambasted Hayden's claim that that he once threatened to hand back his baggy green cap if asked to continue fielding at bat-pad by Ricky Ponting.

The former skipper maintained it was only ever a tongue-in-cheek comment that Hayden had misunderstood.

"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."

Clarke was particularly savage on Buchanan for claiming the culture of the baggy green was eroded under his leadership.

"I don't think John knows a thing about the baggy green, having never worn one," Clarke wrote.

"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 also suggested it was unfair he took the blame for every Australian failure under his watch.

"Any time we've lost, it's apparently been because of me - my personal life, my attitude, the way I've captained," Clarke wrote.

"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."

Now, I'm losing what respect I had left for this bloke. He made the World Cup final all about him, he made the last Ashes Test all about him ( as much as he could anyway ) and he's had a crack at former team mates who he was meant to set the example for.

Compare this bloke to Haddin in his exit from the game and one stands head and shoulders above the other.

[Q.]

Clarke has always been a flog.

[heater31]

With issues like this it is always a little from column A and a little from column B.

Symonds is the last person to be giving an opinion on such matters when on said Game he completely missed fielding a ball with baseball mit in hand several times by a large margin whilst the bowlers were warming up....

[Booney]

His comments about his dog being able to do what Buchanan did as coach are downright disrespectful.

Cricket Australia selected Buchanan as the Head Coach and he over saw, albeit with a very talented unit, one of the most successful eras of Australian cricket. Clarke needs to show some respect regardless of what he thinks of him. Pretty poor IMO.

[Stumps]

not a big deal in any of those comments i dont reckon. You could say the dog comment is complimentary to the talent of his teammates. No biggy

[heater31]

His comments about his dog being able to do what Buchanan did as coach are downright disrespectful.

Cricket Australia selected Buchanan as the Head Coach and he over saw, albeit with a very talented unit, one of the most successful eras of Australian cricket. Clarke needs to show some respect regardless of what he thinks of him. Pretty poor IMO.

Buchanan was very scientific in his approach and did lots of data analysis on oppositions. Team meetings were university lectures and God knows if there was 'homework' involved....

But I agree to an extent a lot of the players didn't need a lot of skills coaching. But very harsh assessment nonetheless.

[The Bedge]

I don't see an issue with any of those comments - lets not forget he hasn't just come out and decided to have a crack at these blokes, these are guys who had a dig at him when he retired and he's merely defending himself and shedding his versions of events etc.

He also never had a personal dig at Matt Hayden's playing ability, just his misunderstanding over the bat-pad comment.

As for Buchanan come on lets be serious, he's right.. anyone could've coached that squad to world domination.. he had the best players in the world at his disposal!

Clarke isn't the first to say anything about Buchanan either..
"Warne has consistently held that Buchanan tended to reinvent everything and complicate all aspects of the game"
"His unorthodox methods have raised a few eyebrows and Shane Warne was dismissive about his role in the team."
"During the second season of the IPL, Buchanan's strategies for KKR raised a lot of controversies which were further elevated because of the team's poor performance"

[RB]

His comments about his dog being able to do what Buchanan did as coach are downright disrespectful.

Hardly. As Zartan said, Clarke was just defending himself after Buchanan made stupid remarks. And Clarke is not the first person involved in that era to say that Buchanan had little impact on the team.

[Booney]

He's not defending himself at all, he's on the attack at them and he's acting like an 8 year old with a "But....but...he said it first" type mentality. It is, IMO, very immature to bite back like he has. Rise above mate, don't stoop down.

Michael Clarke is the best person to speak to about Michael Clarke because nobody wants to talk about Michael Clarke more than Michael Clarke does.

[Booney]

I don't see an issue with any of those comments - lets not forget he hasn't just come out and decided to have a crack at these blokes, these are guys who had a dig at him when he retired and he's merely defending himself and shedding his versions of events etc.

He also never had a personal dig at Matt Hayden's playing ability, just his misunderstanding over the bat-pad comment.

As for Buchanan come on lets be serious, he's right.. anyone could've coached that squad to world domination.. he had the best players in the world at his disposal!

Clarke isn't the first to say anything about Buchanan either..
"Warne has consistently held that Buchanan tended to reinvent everything and complicate all aspects of the game"
"His unorthodox methods have raised a few eyebrows and Shane Warne was dismissive about his role in the team."
"During the second season of the IPL, Buchanan's strategies for KKR raised a lot of controversies which were further elevated because of the team's poor performance"

LOL....great way to judge a coach, his efforts in the IPL.

[RB]

At the very least, Clarke is, IMO being no less mature than Buchanan or Symonds, and has far more credibility than them.

[Rik E Boy]

I've been a defender of Clarke over the years but sorry, this is a dead set whine. Going on about 'cheap shots' and then saying 'John doesn't know anything about the Baggy Green because he's never worn won' is a cheap shot for mine. And the whine about 'everything wrong with Australian Cricket is because of me' well wah wah wah. Adam Goodes would blush at this bullshit.

regards,

REB

[whufc]

I've been a defender of Clarke over the years but sorry, this is a dead set whine. Going on about 'cheap shots' and then saying 'John doesn't know anything about the Baggy Green because he's never worn won' is a cheap shot for mine. And the whine about 'everything wrong with Australian Cricket is because of me' well wah wah wah. Adam Goodes would blush at this bullshit.

regards,

REB

Latecomer for post of the year

[Dogwatcher]

Hey, guys, don't ruin it all for me, I'm pretty certain to get this book for Christmas this year!

[Booney]

Hey, guys, don't ruin it all for me, I'm pretty certain to get this book for Christmas this year!

Inside the cover it will be signed :

"To Michael, I love you. XXOO Michael"

[The Bedge]

saying 'John doesn't know anything about the Baggy Green because he's never worn won' is a cheap shot for mine

It's a good cheap shot though!

[Stumps]

I've been a defender of Clarke over the years but sorry, this is a dead set whine. Going on about 'cheap shots' and then saying 'John doesn't know anything about the Baggy Green because he's never worn won' is a cheap shot for mine. And the whine about 'everything wrong with Australian Cricket is because of me' well wah wah wah. Adam Goodes would blush at this bullshit.

regards,

REB

Latecomer for post of the year

not late enough. mountain, molehill

[Gozu]

I never liked Clarke from the start and from all reports he was the centre of a lot of issues in the locker room but I have no problem with anything he's said here. I said at the time it may be true what Hayden & Symonds said about him when he announced his retirement and I have no doubt it's true but that it was a dog act to air that stuff the second the guy and the then captain no less announces his retirement. You can wait 6 months, 12 months whatever but not as soon as he announced his retirement.

Clarke says Hayden 'misunderstood' I doubt that but yeah Symonds isn't fit to question anyone about leadership and anyone could've replicated the results of Buchanan during that period.

[mal]

Before I post an opinion
I will assume Buchanan, Hayden, Symonds have made references about Clarke ?

If so what did they say about Clarke ?

[The Dark Knight]

Before I post an opinion
I will assume Buchanan, Hayden, Symonds have made references about Clarke ?

If so what did they say about Clarke ?

You must live under a rock how did you miss all the articles about what was said?