Andrew Webster’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday painted at starling perspective of the ructions currently embedded in our national cricket team.

In case you haven’t read it, Webster reported that in the lead up to the Sydney Test, David Warner hosted a barbecue for the team at his Coogee home without the presence of injured captain Michael Clarke.

The article further states that the sections of the team were unhappy with the fact Clarke was commentating for Channel Nine and still entering dressing rooms despite the fact he is required to undertake physio sessions as part of his recovery from his hamstring injury.

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This item came days after News Corp‘s Phil Rothfield wrote that Clarke and Shane Watson had an argument after the Sydney Test because he had criticised Watson’s footwork during a commentary spell.

Admittedly I haven’t always been a Michael Clarke fan as I thought early in his career he didn’t apply himself. But his captaincy has continually shown that he’s an effective cricketer, a top tactician and a quality leader.

Since Clarke took over as Australia’s 43rd Test captain, the national cricket team won the Ashes back 5-0, defeated India at home twice and beat South Africa in South Africa. Furthermore, the national team reclaimed the number one ICC Test Rank with the side currently just behind the revered South African Proteas.

Finally and most poignantly, he led the nation through the tragic death of Phillip Hughes in a manner that cannot be taught.

Yet for these efforts, Michael Clarke is being treated in a disgraceful manner by Cricket Australia. Despite the skipper’s runs on the board (literally and figuratively speaking), he is treated as if he is a petulant teenager who cannot be trusted.

Cricket Australia is happy to gleefully pile contempt and scorn on Clarke for the disagreements between the two even though a lot of the clashes in the last 12 months have been their fault. Selectors were critical of his fitness after the Adelaide Test yet it was Cricket Australia who wanted Clarke to play, because they saw the value of the national skipper heroically leading his team to a victory in the first match after the death of his best friend.



And while the Cricket Australia lauds the ODI form of Steve Smith, they forget it was Michael Clarke who passionately advocated for his inclusion. Selectors left Smith out for most of the Tri-Series in Zimbabwe despite Clarke’s call for the selection of a player proficient in batting on a spinning deck.

Adding to their embarrassment, Smith is only in the ODI team because Clarke injured himself in the series against South Africa in November. Selectors could be forgiven for making one mistake but considering they ignored the captain again and picked the unpredictable Glenn Maxwell at three for the second Test against Pakistan, their suitability for the job is questionable.

The final indignity of this sorry state of affairs came just a few weeks ago during the press conference announcing the World Cup squad. During the event Rod Marsh, a perennial failure off the pitch, lectured Michael Clarke (who was in the room) in a way that was unbecoming of a national skipper.

Yet while Rod Marsh is happy to chirp away about the captain’s problems, Shane Watson continues to escape any type of scrutiny. There’s no doubt Clarke has work to do, but it doesn’t compare to Shane Watson – a persistent disappointment who has consistently failed to live up to expectations.

Even more galling is that although Watson has constantly been an injury liability, he’s never suffered the same fitness expectations of his skipper despite the fact selectors expect him to be a great all-rounder.

It was Bill O’Reilly who said ‘You don’t piss on statues’. Based on that statement, Cricket Australia in my opinion is going at it like a drunken man on Kings Cross at 3am. Michael Clarke does have issues he needs to resolve before the World Cup but the manner in which the Cricket Australia have treated the situation has been abysmal.