AUSSIES AT WAR
Clarke rift with selectors over Watson leak
Michael clarke was under mounting pressure ahead of today’s second Test at lord’s after he appeared to criticise australia’s selectors for leaking news of Shane Watson’s axing before telling him.
it is no secret the tourists’ skipper has a strained relationship with his chairman of selectors rod Marsh, and clarke was clearly unhappy that the australian media found out about Watson’s demise before him. ‘i don’t know what the team is, so i don’t know how anybody else does at this stage, unless the selectors have spoken to the media before the captain and team,’ said clarke during an unusually short captain’s press conference.
‘There will always be speculation when individuals don’t perform as well as they’d like.’
australia’s increasingly tetchy mood was underlined with ashes legends Jason Gillespie and Matthew hayden describing england fast bowler Jimmy anderson as a ‘wind-up merchant’ and a ‘clown’.
Watson, who was a peripheral figure when
Australia trained at Lord’s yesterday, looks certain to be replaced by Mitch Marsh today, as became clear late on Tuesday — initially in the Australian media. ‘It’s been like that my whole career, not just my captaincy,’ said Clarke, when asked if he felt aggrieved that he was not in the loop over Watson. ‘That’s how it works these days. There are people everywhere, in the breakfast room and even in the corner of your bedroom. ‘If decisions have been leaked they have been leaked, but I can
tell you right now I don’t know the XI playing in this Test match.’ What Clarke does know is that wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, his most trusted lieutenant, misses out for family reasons and is replaced by debutant Peter Nevill. ‘Right now it’s pretty important we respect the privacy of the Haddin family and give Brad the chance to be with them,’ said Clarke. ‘I am confident we will see more of Brad Haddin in this series.’ The row over whether Australia should have accepted Alastair Cook’s invitation to share a drink after the first Test rumbled on, with Anderson being blamed for They would Beer pressure: not join us our story from for a beer, Monday is still says Jimmy making waves revealing the story. Yorkshire coach Gillespie said in his column in the Guardian: ‘The real scepticism from Australia is when Jimmy Anderson comes out with this sort of information. Jimmy is a player who gets under the skin of Australians. He has previous for being a wind-up merchant so it’s no surprise to see his motives questioned here. ‘More telling than the relationship between the sides, which I think is one of respect, is the depth of distrust when it comes to Anderson. Australia have had a policy for some time of not sharing a beer until hostilities are done. England have their answer and the matter should end there.’ The only trouble is that Anderson was merely asked to comment on
Sportsmail’s revelation and simply said: ‘It’s Australia’s prerogative if they don’t want to come in for a drink. You will have to ask them why they didn’t.’