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A warning to Warne: Stay out of the dressing sheds

24th February, 2015
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Shane Warne has a laugh. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
24th February, 2015
18
1124 Reads

So here we are trying to win the Cricket World Cup, and we have an egotistical sideshow erupting that threatens to derail Australia’s high end plans.

When the Crows won the AFL flag in 1997 and ’98, everyone at West Lakes was on the same page. The coach was in charge, the players were fully focused, the administration was tight and the fans were rusted on.

Granted Adelaide did enjoy a little luck along the way, but ostensibly the club won those flags because there were no outriders.

That can’t be said about the Australian cricket team at the moment.

Everyone seems to know, yet no one is prepared to say publicly, that coach Darren Lehmann and captain Michael Clarke are having some issues. Darren won’t say as much publicly, he’s a professional, and that’s the best practice.

But things escalated yesterday when Shane Warne, who is very close to Clarke, threw out a hand grenade that didn’t go off, though the pin is loose.

Warne said that Darren Lehmann is overstepping his mark within the team. He told 2GB that Michael Clarke had more to do with the team’s resurgence in the past 15 months than Lehmann.

“It was Michael Clarke who taught them how to win,” Warne said.

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“You know they had three or four different coaches, Darren Lehmann’s come on and put a bit of icing on the cake, he’s actually complemented Michael Clarke.

“He’s got to be a little bit careful, he’s got to stop walking out on the MCG and declaring.”

This was over the late Boxing Day Test declaration which stand-in captain Steve Smith insisted last Sunday he was fully responsible for.

The point I am making is some of the best sides in the world have been railroaded by internal politics, egos butting heads and internal bickering. Whatever Shane Warne says, the media will pick it up and run with it. Some outlets will read more into it than others, but whatever, Warne’s comments resonate around the world.

Today he’s tweeting that the media have overreacted regarding his comments on 2GB. He’s suggesting that he and Lehmann are friends. That may be the case but just as the rift between Clarke and Cricket Australia was losing steam, it is now on fire again, thanks to Warne’s comments.

If the Australians are to flourish in the World Cup and beyond they need to be strong within. And that means the Warne and other personalities of this world who have privileged information need to zip it, rather than inflaming what is already smouldering ashes.

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