Michael Clarke hits back at Hayden, Symonds and Buchanan

Michael Clarke

The scornful attack was launched by Clarke in his recently released 2015 Ashes Diary.

The genesis of the controversy dates back to Australia’s forgettable 2015 tour of England where, following a shocking team batting display at Trent Bridge in which his side was bowled out for 60, Clarke announced that he would be retiring from the game.

Both Symonds and Hayden went on the record to suggest that Clarke’s timing was poor, and that such an act revealed the sort of captain, and character that he was.

Now retired, Clarke didn’t check his swing when hitting back at the pair, labelling the criticism as “pot shots” and a “low act”.

Clarke suggested in his writings that perhaps the pair had gone on the record in order to heighten their own media profiles, and that such criticism was unwarranted and unfair.

“Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership,” Clarke wrote.

“I’m sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership.

“This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It’s pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks.”

Clarke was also scathing of former national coach John Buchanan, who purported that the culture of the baggy green had depreciated under the captaincy of Clarke.

“I don’t think John knows a thing about the baggy green, having never worn one,” Clarke wrote of Buchanan.

“He’s still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination.”

"Anyone hearing this commentary - and I've had to wear this kind of talk for a very long time - would think I've been the only problem with Australian cricket for the past 13 years.

"That's a tough wrap for someone who has led this team to a World Cup victory at home, won a Test series against the best team in the world, South Africa, in South Africa, won an Ashes 5-0, and in Tests has taken Australia from fifth to number one in the world.

"Any time we've lost, it's apparently been because of me - my personal life, my attitude, the way I've captained.

"Apparently I've been holding us back all along, and now that I'm leaving everyone will get along famously and the Australian team will never lose another game."

Will there be another round in what is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining reality dramas in the Australian sporting landscape?

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