Bluey Zarsoff
Active Member
Ricky Ponting has a new book out called "At the Close of Play". In it he provides his account of the now infamous Michael Clarke / Simon Katich incident.
From an article in the daily newspaper on Ricky Ponting's book:
Michael Clarke's relationship with Lara Bingle put him at odds with his teammates and could have cost him the Australian captaincy according to Ricky Ponting in his new book.
"It never worried me if a bloke didn't want a drink in the dressing room, but I did wonder about blokes who didn't see the value in sticking around for a chat and a laugh and a post-mortem of the day's play. Pup hardly bought into this for a couple of years and the team noticed".
Ponting doesn't mention Lara Bingle by name in the book, but it's clear he believes Clarke lost his way during his relationship with her.
Ponting also puts his on the infamous dust-up between Clarke and opener Simon Katich in the change rooms after the 2009 Sydney Test, when Clarke wanted to leave early with Bingle.
Ponting says the outburst, where Katich is believed to have grabbed Clarke by the throat, "was indicative of an on-going frustration a number of the senior players, including me, were having with our new vice captain."
Comment: So it's apparent from the article and the book that Katich wasn't the only one getting pissed off at Michael Clarke, and the incident with Simon Katich can't have come as that great a surprise to those in the know.
From an article in the daily newspaper on Ricky Ponting's book:
Michael Clarke's relationship with Lara Bingle put him at odds with his teammates and could have cost him the Australian captaincy according to Ricky Ponting in his new book.
"It never worried me if a bloke didn't want a drink in the dressing room, but I did wonder about blokes who didn't see the value in sticking around for a chat and a laugh and a post-mortem of the day's play. Pup hardly bought into this for a couple of years and the team noticed".
Ponting doesn't mention Lara Bingle by name in the book, but it's clear he believes Clarke lost his way during his relationship with her.
Ponting also puts his on the infamous dust-up between Clarke and opener Simon Katich in the change rooms after the 2009 Sydney Test, when Clarke wanted to leave early with Bingle.
Ponting says the outburst, where Katich is believed to have grabbed Clarke by the throat, "was indicative of an on-going frustration a number of the senior players, including me, were having with our new vice captain."
Comment: So it's apparent from the article and the book that Katich wasn't the only one getting pissed off at Michael Clarke, and the incident with Simon Katich can't have come as that great a surprise to those in the know.