Former Australian captain Michael Clarke, in a recent interaction, claimed that he is open to captaining the Baggy Greens again if consulted.
An emotional Clarke condemned Steve Smith’s action, terming the entire scandal as ‘disgraceful.’
“It is right for match officials and Cricket Australia to investigate the full extent of what has transpired. If I was asked by right people, then I would think about my answer,” commented Michael Clarke as reported by Sydney Morning Herald.
Further, Clarke suggested that making Bancroft the scapegoat for ball-tampering, is a failure of leadership in Australian Cricket.
Bancroft is the juniormost cricketer in the current Australian lineup. Smith and co. asking Bancroft to deliberately alter the condition of the ball and not willing to do it themselves, remains catastrophic for the Aussie leadership group.
We’ve got the best bowling attack in the world. We don’t need to cheat: Clarke
“Cameron Bancroft, this is his eighth Test match. I can’t believe if the leadership group has made a decision to do this that they’ve gone and got the young kid … as a leader you can’t ask somebody to do something you’re not willing to do yourself,” added Clarke.
With the likes of Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins in their ranks, Clarke reckoned that there was no need for cheating to beat anybody.
“Steve Smith is such a lovely, lovely guy … I really feel sorry for him. We’ve got the best bowling attack in the world. We don’t need to cheat to beat anybody,” Clarke quoted.
The World Cup-winning captain for Australia in 2015 predicts that Smith would not remain captain as it is not looking good for the number one Test batsman in Test cricket.
“I’m not sure he (Smith) can remain captain. I think it’s a pretty tough position to hold after you’ve admitted to what you’ve admitted to, (to be able to) carry on with any faith from anyone watching,” concluded Michael Clarke.
Read more:
