"Don't Question My Leadership, Integrity": Michael Clarke lashes out at sports broadcaster
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Clarke wrote, "For Gerard Whateley to insinuate that I am responsible for the ball-tampering issue makes him nothing more than a headline-chasing coward."
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, former Australian skipper and legendary batsman Michael Clarke lashed out at broadcaster Gerard Whateley, calling him a "headline-chasing coward".
"For Gerard Whateley to insinuate that I am responsible for the ball-tampering issue makes him nothing more than a headline-chasing coward," Clarke wrote.
"If you think that the current No.1 team in the world in cricket right now puts being liked as of higher importance than being respected and playing to win inside the rules of our game than you're as delirious as you are ill-informed."
Earlier, Michael Clarke has advised the current side to "play tough Australian cricket", saying too much emphasis on being nice guys on the field will lead them nowhere.
"Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected," he told commercial radio.
"Play tough Australian cricket. Whether we like it or not, that's in our blood."
However, on this the reaction from Gerard Whateley sparked a scathing Instagram response from veteran Clarke.
"Clarke's interpretation of the predicament the Australian men's Test team finds itself in is breathtaking," said Whateley.
"That he would continue to rely on the line - the fiction his and subsequent teams used to excuse all manner of boorish behaviour - might be the single greatest piece of nonsense over the past nine months."
The top-ranked India will face Australia in a Test series, starting in Adelaide on December 6.
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