Australian skipper Michael Clarke has hit back at speculation his campaign to get fit for the World Cup has created a rift between him and his teammates.
Clarke spoke on Saturday of his reported off-field issues during a Sydney grade cricket match for his side Western Suburbs against Gordon, which is his first step back to proving his fitness following hamstring surgery in December.
The 33-year-old made 51, batting for almost three hours after coming in at No.3
Clarke claimed the isolation of rehabilitation and the focus on his recovery hadn’t driven a wedge between him and the Australian squad.
“It certainly hasn’t been for me, it seems like it might have been for a few other people and I’m not talking about my teammates or the Cricket Australia staff,” said Clarke at Chatswood Oval.
“I’ve enjoyed watching the boys have success and like any injured player you want to get on the park and play for your country.
“And that’s why I’m still playing this great game, because I love playing for my country and I love playing for NSW and Western Suburbs.”
Following Steve Smith’s successful stint as Test and one-day skipper, speculation suggested Clarke’s high-profile bid to prove his fitness created angst amongst the squad.
But Clarke, who has been given until the second pool match against Bangladesh on February 21 to prove his fitness for the World Cup, says he is unconcerned about the rumours.
“I’m not going to get into it. It seems like some people in particular are going to write what they want to write,” he said.
“I’m really happy and comfortable with my relationship with Cricket Australia firstly and certainly with my teammates.
“It’s water off a duck’s back for me, I’ve copped it my whole career.
“It’s another day, another newspaper sold.”
Clarke appeared scratchy at times in his comeback match but eventually found his groove and was grateful to get some time in the middle.
Clarke added his rehabilitation was continuing ahead of schedule.
“It’s nice to be in a position where the Australian medical staff can allow me to come back and play for my grade club, but it’s one day at a time,” he said.
“My goal is to get fit as soon as I can and there’s a time frame set by Cricket Australia and the selectors that I certainly understand and respect.
“It’s just about me taking every single step and then as soon as I’m fit I’ll be pushing the Australian medical staff to let me get back on the park and play for Australia.”
The next step in Clarke’s recovery is to play in a Cricket Australia XI against Bangladesh in Brisbane on Friday.
twodogs
Guest
Geez Chris L, I reckon he's used about 23 of those nine lives!
twodogs
Guest
Clarke was drunk also. But not from alcohol. Anyway, Katich still copped a knife in the back whereas at least he confronted Clarke face to face.
Jo M
Guest
JT, you don't judge people based on what you read in the media. If you know them then you can judge.
Don Freo
Guest
Nothing'very obvious' about any of that Vish. All a bit wobbly.
Don Freo
Guest
Katich made a mistake ( temper tantrum) he regretted for the rest of his career. He was the hot head and he was in the wrong....and he was drunk.
JT
Guest
Sideline, Your ignorance is childlike. Throughout 2012, there were hundreds of articles with the title "Watson wants to open". So, who has moved him down the order, your mom or dad? This is exactly what clarke said in media "We need him to bowl more". By then, it was a proved multiple times that he gets injured only while bowling in tests. The series he was demoted was the same series he made a comeback from injury. A player gets injured for the nth time due to bowling, & when he comes back, he is told "we need u to bowl more, we think u should bat down the order" Eg: He was made to bowl 47 overs in a test in 2012 (ofcourse, he got injured again)
JT
Guest
Thats a lie. Why are you lying? I am 100% sure that, before 2013, nobody(except clarke) said that he needs to bowl to get selected.
JT
Guest
Chris, i am tired. I have already replied to such comments before many times. Don't have patience to do it again.
JT
Guest
Jo M, Australias national team captain Clarke has no clue of the requirements of his role, neither are you. 2. I am old & mature enough to judge a public personality. I don't need to know them personally to judge their characters. Its not a big thing. Any mature adult can do that.
Sideline Comm.
Guest
You said it Nudge, what tripe. My favourite: "'He should bowl to get selected, i want him to bat down the order & i want him to bowl more overs(Motive:To injure him more.'" - Yeah, righto.
JT
Guest
Check the time. This is the original comment. I reposted it on cricinfo as well. Different usernames for different websites. I wanna point out that, when a captain like bailey wins the game & the series, media is quick to write a derogatory article on bailey. Cricinfo today "bailey should be removed", while no website in the world wrote a single such article when clarke lost the series various times. Another proof for media politics.
Johnnyball
Guest
Appreciate the point you have a different view Don, just don't necessarily agree
Jo M
Guest
Until very recently, Smith wasn't even guaranteed a place in this team, the selectors dropped him not so long ago. Is he the VC of this squad, not sure who is, but if Clarke comes back in he should be captain. You need experience and tactics in this tournament and there is nobody else but Clarke that can do that and even he would be doing it with Haddin's help. Is Watson going to be ready by 21 February? That deadline is for all players I assume, so why should he be able to get fit slowly through the tournament? According to Marsh, they all have to be 100% by that date. Will be interesting if they apply it to all or just Clarke.
Jo M
Guest
This exact same comment was written elsewhere, so you are either copying it or using yet another name.
Jo M
Guest
Oh, but I do have a clue what captaincy means, both of my sons are or have been captains in Sydney grade and they know what they are doing. You very obviously don't know Watson or Clarke for that matter because if you did you wouldn't be saying half the things you are about either of them.
Jo M
Guest
Well, No 1, I am way too old to be a child. No 2, Watson is an allrounder which means he is there to bowl as well. Over the years, both coaches and selectors have said if he is in the team he has to bowl. Not just Clarke.
Chris Love
Guest
I can't understand how you can justify Smith as Captain over Clarke if fit? I am a massive fan of Smiths and was very impressed with the selectors for once when he was made VC and is my pick for a future captain for some time now. But the guy is only in his mid 20's with two to three more world cups ahead of him. Clarke has 238 ODI's and two world cups with one as a VC behind him while Smith has only 50ODI's. Clarke has the runs on the board now as captain and is by far the most experienced player we have. Absolutely no disrespect to Smith as he will make a great captain in the future but the figures speak for themselves when it comes to captaincy and I can only see a personal bias between making Clarke captain or not if fit.
Chris Love
Guest
WOW Just wow. a whole lot of unjustified ranting with nothing to back it up. The facts are when the greats retired the team fell in a heap under Ponting. Clarke inherited a team with a very long way to the top similar to what AB did all those years ago. In spite of having a whining, sour faced VC Clarke stood out with a glorious batting record in a team where he could rarely get more than another bat to fire at the same time (Once Huss retired) and could barely keep the same few fast bowlers on the field because of injury. A couple of years later they are number 1 in ODI's and were the same briefly in Tests and still very close. His on field captaincy throughout that period has been fantastic as shown throughout the last ashes campaign. The fact is that Michael Clarke is by far the best captain in the world right now and on form Watson would be using the last of his 9 lives to even make this team.
Chris Love
Guest
One thing they don't have in common is a world class average in both forms of the game. One has and one hasn't.
Vish
Guest
Its very obvious Clarke has a rift with his teammates. Maybe it s not as serious as it was with Simon Katich. But too many captains in the team gotta hurt Australia. We trumped England today but there was a lot of issues which were covered up. First Dave Warner . He played well for the past year and off and he can be forgiven for a couple of low scores.Still I would like him to apply himself more when he s not gettin runs and attack wen he is in touch. Finch. Statistics say this man is great but v have to see the circumstances of his runs. He has belted on flat tracks and pop attacks. But in a good run chase or a tough wicket he jus throws it away too carelessly. His driving on the up is jus too wayward. And he jus gives his wicket away too easily. Watto. He is ever injury prone as ever. But needs to get himself fit slowly as the tournament advances Smith is the only guy who s reliable and has a assurance and a confidence of hs game. He s more like Dhoni and Bevan when in a run chase tryin to take it to the last over and has a great cricketing brain. Clarke should come in for Bailey if he is fit but Smith should keep the captaincy .Clarke should help Smith with his tactical advice. Maxwell played well today but he should take his time and rotate strike more before he launches . And he played a stupid shot to get out. Faulkner should play at 7. His bowling and batting more credible. Haddin at 8. Jus a slogger and a liability. Johnson at 9 Starc at 10 Doherty at 11 Clarke would do well to get rid his ego and help Smith captain Australia to a WC title