Clarke eroded Australian team culture: Buchanan

I remember Buchanan as a very reserved and polite individual when he was the coach of Australia obviously he rubbed Warnie up the wrong way though. I was surprised to hear what Buchanan said about Clarke it seems out of character. All the years Warnie has been sledging Buck I don't think I have ever heard him return fire. Also apart from Warne I can't remember any other players of Buchanan Era being critical. Surely Warne can acknowledge Buchanans role (however small he regards it) it our most successful Era.

There's a certain irony that Buchanan and his cohorts talk about Clarke eroding the culture of the 'baggy green', yet surely that's precisely what they're doing by throwing the current captain under the bus. Pre Darren Lehmann, Clarke always appeared to me to be a pretty eloquent, media savvy guy. It's entirely possible that behind closed doors that he was/is a complete bell end. Who know's? His media personality certainly changed when Lehmann came along, he became more tetchy and a little more like how previous Aussie captains have appeared. IMO though, Clarke and Warne deserve huge credit if they've managed to prick the bubble of pomposity surrounding the 'baggy green'. It's an affectation that Australian cricketers have generally perpetuated either willingly or unwillingly since Steve Waugh pronounced that there was something uniquely special about Australia's national cricket cap as opposed to any other nations cricket cap. Any cricketer who plays for their country is bound to be incredibly proud to do so and therefore be proud to receive their cap. To suggest that this all means more to Australians than it does to other nations is both absurd and supremely arrogant. If firstly Warne and then Clarke have dismissed this idea as being preposterous and that it's not the cap itself that's important, then good for them...and I don't praise Warne if I can possibly help it.

Were you drunk at such an early hour Don?

After reading these comments it is easy to see why Australia could lose a test in 2 oh sorry I mean 2 and a bit days and then follow that up with 60 yes 60 in 19 overs. If I was a member of this cricket team, I would just hang my head in shame and accept whatever criticism came. The Aussie cricket side went from invincible (and I am a Saffer) to being so bad it is hard to describe. Erosion of team culture, unprofessional behavior at work ( it is not professional to take your wife and baby along to practice). Arrogance inspite of an in ability to perform. All the things above have contributed to the destruction of the ethos of the Baggy Green. I grew u with the arrogance of Waugh, Border, MacGrath and Warne. Not everyone's bag of chips, but awesome cricketers. What is sad is you people do not even realize what you are destroying. "The Kingdom once destroyed can never be rebuilt" Hopefully things can be remedied before it is to late

Not playing at balls on the stumps really worked out for him, didn't it?

In a series where most of the commentators were suggesting the Australian batsmen actually needed to be leaving a lot more balls that's a rather strange comment! Even from you Don!

yep

Bob Woolmer could have coached that team to the top. Still could.

Chris, Katich's reaction was perfectly understandable - he still had a few farts to light... ;)

But most of those players have showed themselves to be the tools. So maybe being criticised by such players is actually a compliment!

Everything I've ever seen about Michael Clarke the person outside of the cricket field has well and truly re-inforced that he is indeed a really good bloke, a great friend, who's really close to his family. One thing constantly brought up as an example of his failing is the Katich incident, which, from what I can tell was a case of, several hours after the game the team were still in the change rooms drinking beer and he wanted to head off and spend time with his girlfriend and family. Apparently that's an unforgivable sin, while grabbing a teammate by the throat is a reasonable action, thus Clarke is portrayed the villain and Katich the hero by so many in that. If anything, it was a culture that basically excluded people who couldn't buy into the yobbo beer swilling culture. If Clarke has eroded that and made it a changeroom that's more accepting of different sorts of people then good on him!

Agreed to an extent. It does suggest though Ronan that a number of players who saw Clarke up close have come to the conclusion that he's a complete tool.

Ryan Harris also highly praised Michael Clarke, describing Clarke and Ponting as two of the best captains he had ever played under.

Good bloke - yes. Ask the family of Phillip Hughes.

Wasn't that also the case why Brad Hodge and Chris Rogers were overlooked for so long? Not fitting in with "team culture".

I heard Ryan Harris on the radio as I drove home tonight and he was saying he was quite angry when he heard these comments, and was saying the the culture in the team is actually really good, everyone enjoys playing together and there's very good team harmony. And he's also recently retired and has no reason to sugar coat things if it really was no good.

Agree. Do any of these people realise how demeaning this is for the sport?

You must have brilliant eyesight if you can see anything from a million miles off. Good bloke - yes. The Michael Clarke I have known for the last 6-7 years is a fantastic bloke and gives a lot of himself behind the scenes that people don't get to hear about. So sorry, I totally disagree with you.

This is bizarre Johnno Clarke is not respected by the majority of the Australian public because he cannot disguise being a prick/upstart. I actually can't think of any upper class cricketers in Australia - they all make bucket loads more cash than footballers so the women and mansions have now become par for the course. There have been far too many leaks about his selfish & unsympathetic nature from the dressing room over his career to ever doubt this and you can see it froma million miles off. Good batsmen - yes Good captain/tactician - absolutely Good leader - not overly Good bloke - no

There is no way a guy like Buchanan promoted that sort of behaviour, that is one of the reasons he clashed with Warnie so much. He was all about studios preparation and team(as in sticking by your team mates through thick and thin). Deride it all you want but we did win a lot under Buck and those players, even if some players went to far.