Michael Clarke not impressed by James Anderson's story
Australian captain Michael Clarke has rejected claims of being hit with a pad by England fast bowler James Anderson during the visitors 5-0 drubbing in the 2006/07 Ashes series.
"That one was news to me. But I hope it sold Jimmy a few books," Clarke said, in an interview to GQ magazine.
The 32-year-old fast bowler has described in his autobiography about how the current Australian skipper’s arrogance made him feel bitter during Australia's six-wicket Test win at the SCG in that series.
Anderson on Clarke
"The Australians displayed great levels of humility throughout that Test series, except, that is, for Michael Clarke,” Anderson wrote. "While others chatted with opposite numbers about the game, Clarke was being a complete pain, whistling away to himself and carrying on in a most arrogant manner."
Anderson, who is four short of becoming England’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, has also gone on to write that he was drunk at the end of that SCG Test when he decided to vent his frustration on the Australian batsman.
"I picked this pad up and cuffed Clarke with it, making the biggest thud imaginable in the process, and causing everyone in the room to stop nattering. For a split second, there was complete silence," he said.
But Clarke has completely rubbished that claim in his recent interview, casting doubt about the rest of Anderson’s claims in his autobiography too.
Clarke talks about homework gate
In the interview, the Australian skipper also declined to make any excuses about the infamous homework controversy that took place last year in India.
"It was horrible, but we were at a stage as a team where something needed to happen or we'd never turn it around. We were letting ourselves down, not representing Australian cricket as we should have been and playing such terrible cricket together that we looked doomed to stay ranked as fifth or sixth in the world.
"It was rock bottom, but also where we drew a line in the sand and said, 'This is where the team's going. If you're not on board, you're not welcome,'" he added.
Four Australian players – James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson and vice-captain Shane Watson – were sent home after they had failed to finish their homework. Mickey Arthur, the then coach of Australia, was sacked a few months later.
Clarke went on to say that he was close to current coach Darren Lehmann, even though the two have had disagreements at times.
"He's like a big brother. And sometimes we disagree but there's always been respect and friendship between us," he said.
One among them was publicly spoken about last month, when Australia suffered a shock loss to Zimbabwe in the tri-nation tournament that was held in the African nation.