Recent reports suggest the feud between Michael Clarke and Simon Katich is reigniting after Clarke was on Macquarie Radio discussing the prospects of a dismal summer of cricket ahead, and Katich responding.
This prompted an almighty spray from long-serving broadcaster Gerard Whateley, backing Katich.
I couldn’t help but think Katich and Whateley miss understood what Clarke had said throughout the interview.
It was, as Tim Minchin once said, “Like two tennis players trying to win a match by hitting perfectly executed shots at either end of separate tennis courts.”
Clarke comes out in an interview on Macquarie Radio saying Australia can’t play Mr Nice Guy and should go back to the tough way the Aussies know how to play.
The same brand adopted from Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Clarke – the list goes go on and on of previous tough Australian captains.
Katich responded by saying Clarke missed the point of what they are trying to achieve with this new ‘clean image’.
This was then backed up by Whateley also chipping in by saying Clarke was the last of the “climate change deniers” and the result of the sandpaper ending up in the field was the residue from Clarke’s legacy as captain.
Whateley was way off the mark with the last point.
Whateley can’t tarnish Clarke’s reputation as captain by what happened in Cape Town earlier this year.
Cameron Bancroft of Australia talks to the umpire. (AP Photo/Halden Krog)
Steve Smith had been Australian captain since 2015, Clarke was long gone out of the position.
I feel as though Katich and Whateley were jumping at shadows with Clarke’s comments, thinking he meant to go back to how they played in the lead up to Sandpaper Gate.
Clarke never mentioned they should go back to the style of cricket that resulted in blatant cheating.
What Clarke was trying to say was, Tim Paine’s men should go back to how they played under Clarke’s captaincy, and others before him.
I can’t help but agree with Clarke, the Australian team should go back to the rough and tumble style of play.
There is one caveat on this though, we need a strong and mature captain to control it.
Do you think Clarke would have walked away from David Warner and Cameron Bancroft’s little meeting saying ‘I don’t want to know’? No.
I love Steve Smith but I can’t help but feel he was given the reigns as the captain of the Australian cricket team far too young in his career.
Why was he picked as captain so young?
Smith couldn’t control the players like Warner, even Clarke admitted in his interview he had to have regular one-on-one discussions with Warner to remind him where the line was.
I’m not dismissing Smith as an Australian captain, I think he would have been one of Australia’s greats, in his early 30s.
I also agree with Katich and Whateley, we can’t be hated by the cricketing fraternity.
Yep, believe it or not, we are hated by every country in the ICC.
The Australian Cricket Team does need to clean its image up to not be hated.
Play a brand of cricket where Australia plays aggressively but at the end of the game, all the players congregate in the dressing rooms for a beer and a laugh.
That is a team I, like most Australians, would be proud to watch.
Warnie's Love Child
Guest
My point exactly.
George
Guest
The Hayden Way in on the act? Bastion of good sportsmanship and an intellectual heavyweight right there.
Nev
Guest
Time to lay of the Murdoch Kool-Aid bro.
Simoc
Guest
What a load of garbage Ozietc? And who gives a ff about what those opponents think. Vaughan was hopeless and Lara loved scoring multidudes of runs against a dumb opponent like us. Kohli feeds on it to. Being nice to him is likely to unsettle him. Clarke is a caveman and hasn't recognised a changing world. There is absolutely no need to comment on the opponents at all. Let the ball and your actions do the talking. Everyone seemed to like the West Indies when they dominated by bowling 80 overs a day intimidating their opponents endlessly. Winning is a great method of achieving popularity. The players don't have to like the opponents or team mates as long as they perform as a team.
Blake Standfield
Roar Guru
Katich must have really mellowed from his days of grabbing team mates around the throat.
Warnie's Love Child
Guest
Gerard Whatever called Aussie cricketers elites living in a gilded bubble. Didn't he previously work at the ABC ?... a place overflowing with elites in gilded bubbles.
Ozibatla
Guest
That is totally pausible!
Gus O
Guest
Dont you hink, just maybe, now that he is a commentator himself and they are all scrambling to get a gig now that Ch9 no longer has the broadcasting rights, just maybe Clarke was doing a bit of self promoting grandstanding himself?
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
The sandpaper thing stemmed from Warner being unable to handle sledges directed at him during a sledgefest. Warner triggered a 3 test losing streak by being aggressive.
Ozibatla
Guest
I think the caveat mentioned is a very important point. Steve Smith has never been captaincy material. Ive stated this over and over again during his tenure. Unfortunately he seemed the only option at the time. It was a choice initiated by Brad Haddin when Michael Clarke severely hurt his hamstring and back during that memorable Adelaide test match against India in 2014. It is understood that in a meeting with Mark Taylor, Haddin was reluctant to take up the captaincy reigns as advised by Taylor. He pointed to Steve Smith and suggested he was the more logical long term choice. This is essentially noted as the birth place of Steve Smith - Australian test cricket Captain. Back to the point of what was said by Clarke, do we now forego any possibility of upsetting people all in the name of this new Mr Nice Guy image? If so, we also need to be prepared to forego positive results at least in the interim. It comes down to a choice. An important note to remember is that this apparent behaviour change has been met with disapproval by none other than past and present opponents of Australia ie: Michael Vaughan, Faf du Plessis, Brian Lara et al are just some who have spoken of their bemusement at this knee jerk reaction. If your opponents are saying this is over the top, surely this is an indication that such a decision is not sustainable for success nor is it directly dealing with the issue at hand: To prevent player behaviour deteriorating to the level we saw in the lead up to the Cape Town debacle.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I think Clarke is the one embarrassing himself by calling for the team to go back to its old ways just before the first real public turn out of the team since cape town. Clarke doesn't articulate what is hard and fair. He can't say we should play like they did in the 70's or even the 90's because what is considered abusive has changed since then. Katich knows the teams culture needs to change. We can still play hard and fair but a reboot is required to work out what that is. I have more faith in the current team working that out without the likes of Warner or Clarke.
Paul
Roar Guru
James, I think Smith was starting to learn the tactical side of things pretty well. He'd out-captained Root in the Ashes, for example, and had done a useful job in SA before THAT incident. I completely agree with your comments about a lack of man-management skills. Smith needed a coach and a vc to cover this deficiency, but I wouldn't exactly call Boof or Warner great people managers. Border had the same problem but he had Bobby Simpson to help with that aspect, early in his career. Maybe Smith needs a Simpson-type to help him, if he ever comes back to a leadership role.
JamesH
Roar Guru
We will naturally find our way back to a stable middle ground. The fire will return after a time but it won't be the inferno we saw in South Africa. I don't think Smith would ever have been a good choice for captain. He never showed any of the man-management skills or tactical nous that the job requires. That might have improved with more time but he clearly wasn't a natural in the role. His appointment was more a product of the fact we had no other obvious candidates in the side. Some captains are noticeably better in one area than the other - Clarke and Taylor were canny tacticians while never quite commanding authority, whereas Ponting and Waugh were the opposite - but Smith seemed to lack in both departments. He was a leader by his exemplary on-field exploits, which is enough in many other sports (e.g. AFL). Cricket, though, requires more.
Paul
Roar Guru
Terry, the problem with your article and Clarke's comments is, they don't describe EXACTLY how you think Australia should play. You say they should play "rough and tumble" cricket. I have no idea what that means? Clarke was a bully and that was reflected in the stupidities he uttered on the cricket field and obviously caused bad blood in the change room. Do we go back to the bullying type cricket he employed? Australians have traditionally played aggressive cricket through it's bowling, batting, fielding, field placements, etc. There's no reason why we can't do that. Is there anything more we need to do?
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
Katich and Whateley just embarrassed themselves. Good to see Hayden has weighed in to the discussion, echoing the approach of Clarke.