“We won’t have a captain”, Michael Clarke slams Cricket Australia

Michael Clarke was not happy with Cricket Australia for handling the Tim Paine saga. Michael Clarke feels that Australia will have to struggle a lot to find a new captain with the perfect record. It is going to be a long process to land up with a good option as a captain. 

Tim Paine announced his resignation from the captaincy from the Australian team after the chats where he sent the explicit sexual text messages to the female colleague became public. Tim Paine became quite embarrassed by this saga and he tendered his resignation from captaincy in the Australia team. Many of the Australian players and administrators blamed cricket Australian for first covering up this matter when it came to them and at last when it finally became public, Cricket Australia renounced him. 

Clarke believes that the resignation of Tim Pain has sent the Australian Cricket searching for a good alternative and he believes that Australia may end having a futile search for a captain with the perfect record. 

“Where is the backing of the player as well? You’ll be looking for 15 years (if you want a captain who hasn’t done anything wrong), we won’t have a captain,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast.

He believed that Australian cricket would have made efforts to retain him as captain and should not have let him out in the dry. He would have been proved to be a better captain. He believed that this is the phase that comes in everyone’s life and it is up to a particular person as to how he deals with that and that eventually determines his destiny. He cited the example of Ricky whose beginning of his career was riddled with controversies but he went on to become the legendary batter and captain of the immense success. 

“Go back in my time even to Ricky Ponting. If that’s the case, he never would have captained Australia. He had a punch up in the middle of a Bourbon & Beefsteak. Are you not going to give him the job because of that? He’s a great example. He’s shown you how time, experience, maturity, playing at the highest level, and even the captaincy turned him around,” Clarke added.

Michael Clarke has led Australia in 47 Tests, 74 ODIs, and 18 T20Is. He also led the side to their fifth world title in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2015 held in Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Clarke has also been the successful captain of Australia and under his leadership, Australia played 47 tests, 74 ODIs, and 18 T20s. He also led Australia to a fifth world cup title in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2015 held in Australia and New Zealand. 

Michael Clarke has become the second captain after Steven smith whose stint of the captaincy ended in controversy.  Smith’s captaincy ended after his saga of sandpaper surfaced. He was banned for 12 months from cricket and a further ban of 12 months on the leadership role during the third Test against South Africa in Capetown in 2018. David Warner, who was the side’s vice-captain at the time, was also found guilty and handed a lifetime recusal from all kinds of “leadership roles”.

Australia is currently in the search of a new captain before the Ashes, which is scheduled to start on December 8. All-rounder Pat Cummins and Steve Smith, who has completed his two-year ban from captaincy, are considered frontrunners in the race.