Clarke loses plot at Wisden launch
DEPARTING England Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke chose one of the most prestigious cricket occasions of the year, the Wisden Almanack launch, to make a complete fool of himself.
Clarke, despite his standing as one of world cricket’s big powerbrokers who will continue with his deputy chairmanship of the ICC, embarrassed VIP guests with his astonishing behaviour at the Lord’s Pavilion Long Room dinner.
Clarke arrived upset that the new ECB regime had just sacked his England managing director appointment, Paul Downton, whom he had rashly called a ‘man of great judgment’.
He was further annoyed that Lawrence Booth’s Wisden editor notes had been scathing of the way the ECB on Clarke’s watch had botched the axing of Kevin Pietersen while operating a ‘ nexus of self-preservation’.
And Clarke (right) finally lost the plot when eloquent guest speaker Ehsan Mani of Pakistan, the former president of ICC, outlined his understandable concern for the future of world cricket as a result of the financial and power carve-up by Clarke’s England, Australia and India.
After Mani had finished speaking Clarke loudly harangued Wisden editor Booth across the table — in front of England all-rounder Moeen Ali, former fast bowler Devon Malcolm and ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.
Clarke was furious Mani’s ‘disgraceful’ address had made no mention of ICC’s Test match contingency fund and also had strong objections to Wisden’s opinions. Yet Clarke had been granted a two-page platform in last year’s almanack to explain his ICC strategy.
Clarke then confronted Mani about his speech and had another go at Booth before storming out of the Long Room in high dudgeon.
Mani said: ‘I’m very used to Giles being utterly irrational. He always thinks it’s just about him when there’s a far bigger picture of three countries sharing 52 per cent of income between them.’
To complete the farce, Clarke’s nomination was yesterday supported by the ECB board for him to become the first ECB president.
CLARE BALDING is snubbing the Grand National tomorrow to present the women’s Boat Race on BBC. And after a Royal Ascot farewell, C4 Racing don’t expect to work with Balding again. They believe she is now more focused on writing books, with a children’s fiction story her next commission. WITH even former England batting coach Graham Gooch saying the Kevin Pietersen camp had wiped the floor with the ECB in the PR battle over KP’s banishment, it was depressing that new CEO Tom Harrison shows no sign of being more helpful with the media.
When asked for a word as he left the Wisden dinner about his earlier axing of Paul Downton, he refused to break stride, merely stating: ‘We’ve said all we want to say.’
The Harrison regime have promised to stop leaks coming out of Lord’s, yet Sky Sports had a satellite truck and reporter in position at Lord’s for the unexpected Downton announcement and a correspondent ready to report live from St Kitts.
FORMER Ashes-winning England captains Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss are the obvious choices for the newly created job of director of England after the sacking of Paul Downton. But the ECB work in mysterious ways, such as paying for David Parsons, the ECB performance director, to go on the part-time masters course in sporting directorship at Manchester’s Metropolitan University which Lancashire coach Ashley Giles is also on.