Cricket Australia reportedly “denied” access to player interviews to a well-known Australian broadcaster on day three of the fifth Ashes Test due to a former player’s on-air comments.
Given the fact that Australia had retained the Ashes by December 21 after just three Test matches - with wins in Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide - you’d expect those associated with Cricket Australia to be grinning from ear to ear, but this does not appear to be the case.
The issue involves former Australia bowler-turned-pundit Stuart Clark, who has been working for broadcaster ABC during the Sydney Test.
Clark, 50, who took 94 wickets in 24 Tests for Australia, openly criticised Cricket Australia – the national governing body for the game in the country – live on air during day two of the fifth Test between England and Australia.
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The 50-year-old Cricket New South Wales board member aimed at Cricket Australia head of cricket, James Allsopp, and selector and ex-Australia batsman George Bailey, suggesting that they lacked the knowledge needed for their respective roles.
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Clark described Allsopp as a “grade club cricket coach” who works with kids before adding that he “can’t tell Andrew McDonald or Steve Smith” what they should be doing.
He added: “[Ben Oliver] runs high-performance cricket, but I’m not really sure what he does now.
“Then you have George [Bailey], who is the chairman of selectors. Does he have the gravitas or the leadership skills to tell Andrew McDonald, Steve Smith, or Pat Cummins what to do? He should do, 100 per cent, but I don’t think he does.”
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has since replied and said that Clark’s comments were both “unwarranted” and “out of order”.
It was even reported by nine newspapers that Greenberg confronted Clark at the SCG on day three of the Test, before the broadcaster Clark had been working for, ABC, was denied interview access with players after the close of play.
Speaking during the middle session of day three, Greenberg said: “When I see criticism of him (Allsopp), I think it touches on the personal criticism. I thought that was unwarranted.
“It was made very clear to me that they were not comments attributed to Cricket NSW. They were comments attributed to Stuart personally.
“I’m not going to get into a war of words with Stuart because I’ve got very high regard for him, but when I think that someone’s got it wrong, I’ll say it.”
The Cricket Australia boss then revealed that he “thought that was personal” and told Clark that he felt that way.
Greenberg was also keen to reiterate that Australia remain the number one-ranked Test team on the planet, with a 70 percent win rate over the past four years.
Clark then spoke out about the supposed feud during a radio interview with ABC and said the pair “spoke about it cordially” before suggesting that they will “probably have a laugh about it” next time they meet.
Luke Davies