WAR-OF-WORDS HEATS UP

FORMER Australian captain Michael Clarke has angrily rejected suggestions he helped create a culture that led to the ball-tampering scandal, slamming a leading broadcaster as a “headlinechasing coward”. But it was the reaction from Melbourne-based sports broadcaster and writer Gerard Whateley that sparked a scathing Instagram response from Clarke yesterday. “Clarke’s interpretation of the predicament the Australian men’s Test team finds itself in is breathtaking,” said Whateley. “That he would continue to rely on the line – the fiction his and subsequent teams used to excuse all manner of boorish behaviour – might be the single greatest piece of nonsense over the past nine months.” Clarke said he would not stand by while “my leadership, my integrity” were attacked, insisting his conduct as an honest and rules-based captain had never been questioned. “For Gerard Whateley to insinuate that I am responsible for the ball-tampering issue makes him nothing more than a headline-chasing coward,” Clarke wrote.