Kato lets rip at Clarke

[Yabba]

Really disappointing from Kato. Rather than opening his mouth (again) he should just let his bat do the talking like it did today and stick it up the selectors.

He has already done that the first time he got dropped. The way cricket is run is atrocious, they don't communicate at all. Knowing how obsessed CA are with 'marketing', it wouldn't surprise me that he was dropped to bring through a young (Hughes) marketable player.

Hodge, Katich, Hauritz (and others) have every right to be pissed off and have a crack. Consider how CA treated Andrew Symonds & Damien Martyn as well. It's no wonder the sport is losing so much credibility.

 

[TheBrownlowMan37]

I think some context of what the tradition of the song is, is needed here.

ww.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/392175.html

Drinking beer after beer for hour upon hour before finally singing the song is not traditional. There is no tradition that states the sprig of wattle in one hand should be accompanied by your 14th can of VB in the other hand. In the old days the song got sung five to 10 minutes after the Test was won. At Old Trafford, scene of Australia's drought-busting 1989 Ashes victory, the players thought it odd that they waited a full hour before singing because captain Allan Border was busy consoling the vanquished David Gower. Later that evening, while Border, Terry Alderman and Geoff Lawson lay in the bath, a showered and fully dressed Boon scaled a four-foot tiled wall and led the team into a second rendition. "I have never," said Lawson, "been involved in such a spontaneous celebration."

Spontaneity - that used to be part of the magic. There is nothing very spontaneous about Clarke having had his fill of celebrating after five uninterrupted hours and being held by the throat so that he could not leave.

Furthermore. Clarke was not going out with Bingle that night. This was clarified years ago, but meatheads who think that grabbing team-mates around the throat will not let it go !

A girl, Lara Bingle, was recently whispered to be responsible for a boy, Michael Clarke, wishing to get the team song sung in a hurry so he could skip out of the dressing room. And it felt like irresistible, slow-coming proof of a softening, a mellowing, in Australian cricket's culture of hairy-chestedness. The whisper turned out to be wonky. Actually, Clarke had made an 11pm restaurant booking for the players and was anxious that they sing up and head out. The girl had nothing to do with it.

The song in question has been a source of rich, shared delight for winning Australian cricketers since the night Rodney Marsh leapt on a dressing-room table and roared four lines he'd picked up from Ian Chappell:

Under the Southern Cross I stand,
A sprig of wattle in my hand,
A native of my native land,
Australia, you f****** beauty.
Marsh did this at the end of the 1972 Oval Test or the 1974 Gabba Test. Memories vary. But the tradition seems to have been bedded down soon after, in Sydney, where a 171-run victory over John Edrich's Englishmen secured for the Australians their long-lost Ashes.

"One of those nights which linger in your memory," Marsh recalled in a subsequent book of his. "There was a lot of singing, whooping, yahooing and carrying on… Most of the side stayed in the rooms until eleven o'clock. [Then] five of us went to a restaurant."

Let us hear that again, to make sure we understand Marsh aright. They celebrated in the dressing room. Then they left. At about 11pm. To go to a restaurant.

The line between Michael Clarke upholding a proud Australian tradition and Michael Clarke committing a disgusting act of treachery is a fine one.

Ponting had asked for the song to be sung so that he could get away a few test matches before Clarke did it. Ponting's reason? No idea and I don't care. It is reasonable for some players to occasionally want to leave earlier than others.

This could be one of the best posts I've read on the cricket board.

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

Consider how CA treated Andrew Symonds & Damien Martyn as well. It's no wonder the sport is losing so much credibility.

I'd have more sympathy if he didn't skip team meetings to go fishing and get pissed before a game or decide to go on the radio.

 

[TheBrownlowMan37]

Pup has Hussey's support.

 

[Phone]

but has he changed his silly team song practices

 

[mattymac]

hussey will support anything that keeps him from retiring. i'm pretty sure i have cringeworthy memories of him supporting hilditch and co. was right behind ricky when ricky was wrecking the team by playing his mates as well

 

[The Speaker]

hussey will support anything that keeps him from retiring.

How cynical.

 

[TheBrownlowMan37]

Negative press on Clarke = True

Positive press on Clarke = Lies, lies I tells ya!

 

[mattymac]

fwiw i'm not a clarke hater at all. he does get special pup treatment to be sure and them going hardball on katto over some comments which evidently struck a nerve and so probably have some foundation in truth (otherwise they would not have warranted a response), merely reinforces the widely held impression that clarke is the favourite child of sutherland et al

he has friends in high places no doubt. i don't really care about that. its endemic in CA. its a notorious boys club. move on

but using hussey's opinion in this saga is ridiculous. he is one of the three who came under consideration for the chop and no doubt the benefactor of clarkes negative opinion toward katich

his current spot in the team depends on clarke being favourable toward him, especially now that clarke is a selector and that CA is bending over backwards to find a coach (who will also be a selector) a prerequisite for whom is that he "compliments michael clarke"

so if hitler has to sack one of himmler, goering or goebbels and sacks goebbels, are we surprised when asked that himmler says "yep, great job skip"?

 

[Cotchin 9]

 

[TheBrownlowMan37]

but using hussey's opinion in this saga is ridiculous.

Just as ridiculous as using Katich's comments as a reason to bag Clarke, but it hasn't stopped people in this thread from doing exactly that.

I like Kat, probably one of my top 4 favourite players ever, but he seems like a hot head and was clearly out of line with the whole song thing. Why is his opinion of Clarke any more valid than Hussey's?

 

[The Speaker]

fwiw i'm not a clarke hater at all. he does get special pup treatment to be sure and them going hardball on katto over some comments which evidently struck a nerve and so probably have some foundation in truth (otherwise they would not have warranted a response), merely reinforces the widely held impression that clarke is the favourite child of sutherland et al

he has friends in high places no doubt. i don't really care about that. its endemic in CA. its a notorious boys club. move on

but using hussey's opinion in this saga is ridiculous. he is one of the three who came under consideration for the chop and no doubt the benefactor of clarkes negative opinion toward katich

his current spot in the team depends on clarke being favourable toward him, especially now that clarke is a selector and that CA is bending over backwards to find a coach (who will also be a selector) a prerequisite for whom is that he "compliments michael clarke"

so if hitler has to sack one of himmler, goering or goebbels and sacks goebbels, are we surprised when asked that himmler says "yep, great job skip"?

Hussey doesn't strike me as the sort of person to care a great deal about that kind of thing. He seems to me to simply be supportive of whoever is chosen - if Katich had stayed and Huss had gone, Hussey would be full of nothing but praise for Katich.

 

[BarneyBent]

fwiw i'm not a clarke hater at all. he does get special pup treatment to be sure and them going hardball on katto over some comments which evidently struck a nerve and so probably have some foundation in truth (otherwise they would not have warranted a response), merely reinforces the widely held impression that clarke is the favourite child of sutherland et al

he has friends in high places no doubt. i don't really care about that. its endemic in CA. its a notorious boys club. move on

but using hussey's opinion in this saga is ridiculous. he is one of the three who came under consideration for the chop and no doubt the benefactor of clarkes negative opinion toward katich

his current spot in the team depends on clarke being favourable toward him, especially now that clarke is a selector and that CA is bending over backwards to find a coach (who will also be a selector) a prerequisite for whom is that he "compliments michael clarke"

so if hitler has to sack one of himmler, goering or goebbels and sacks goebbels, are we surprised when asked that himmler says "yep, great job skip"?

You'd have a point, except Hussey and Katich are good mates and have known each other since they were kids playing in WA. Hussey was Katich's best man! Hussey isn't just going to back Clarke because he survived while one of his best mates got the chop unfairly, especially given his role in the incident between Clarke and Katich.

As such, Hussey supporting Clarke is actually quite telling. How sincere that support is is another matter....

 

[mattymac]

Why is his opinion of Clarke any more valid than Hussey's?

i didn't say it was, but i will say hussey does have a glaring conflict of interest in this and is a stringent yes man at the best of times so his opinion doesn't carry much weight for mine

katich's opinion has been given currency by CA's unmeasured response to it

clarke's comments on the news that kat has not done himself any favours regarding future selection were also immature and incendiary

everyone comes out looking like childish tossbags, but thats not unusual for grown men who play sport for a living. yay cricket

 

[peternorth]

wow this has the potential to be extremely divisive in the australian cricketing fraternity.

whitney sides with katich, so does matthews.

"If you had to go into war, who would you prefer on your shoulder - Simon Katich and Andrew Symonds or Michael Clarke? I hope the ACA (Australian Cricketers' Association) fight tooth and nail for him."

wonder who lawson will pick.

 

[King Elvis]

btw for those wondering.



in today's Malcolm Conn article is a reference to Katich going into that match with the injury. Which of course makes the infamous run-out make a bit of sense - why katich wasn't keen to run - and a lot less sense - why did watson call if he known katich had a leg injury. of course watson might not have known.

Good consistency.

Clarke looked like an absolute cripple in the Brisbane (I think) Test, where his back was stuffed and he could barey move.

Laughable.

I was warming to Clarke again after the way he finally handled the Bingle thing, thought he'd finally matured and become the guy we needed, but the above was one of the most selfish things I've seen on a sporting field.

And now, for an organisation so fixated on marketing, the way they're handling this is an absolute mess as well.

Fining Katich is stupid, even those who agree with his axing generally still have a lot of respect and appreciation for the guy.

Get Clarke to front up casually at a press conference and address it; "I'm disappointed he feels that way, but Katich was a huge asset to this team, who made a fantastic contribution and did his utmost to help guide us through a shakey period. Sometimes things just don't work out, this is one of those times, but Simon Katich deserves our admiration, and he has every right to speak his mind."

Leave it at that.

Clarke would address it and not look like a pussy, it'd take the wind of out Kat's sails and maybe stop him raging a bit, and it'd be forgotten in a week.

CA appears to be modelled on an African dictatorship.

They are virtually unaccountable. They make cr*p decisions based on self-interest and vendettas. And if you complain about your treatment, suddenly you are public enemy No 1, and the little weasel who caused all the trouble in the first place then takes the moral high ground.

That's the same weasel who was happy enough to go out to the pub during the Boxing day Test match, which would have meant punishment if it had been other players. Like I said it resembles a dictatorship, one rule for the chosen ones, another rule for the rest.

Nah it's all Clarke's fault for wanting to leave at a reasonable hour to see family and his missus.

Couldn't have done it the day before?

Couldn't have done it the day after?

Being part of a team means you sometimes do things in the interest of the team, and not just yourself, doesn't it?

Interesting that people point at Katich as the villain, when Hussey, who we all love, clearly wasn't in the mood to appease Clarke either.

The thing that gets me is: Katich is a tough little nugget who has copped a whole heap of harsh calls on the chin throughout his entire career. Hardly a flaky prima-donna who'd sook just for the sake of it.

So for him to come out and say something like this so strongly and so publicly means there must have been incredible bad blood between the two in private, and that he's pretty damn sure Clarke has been involved somehow.

No way a bloke like Katich would put himself out there unless he genuinely believed what he said.

Throw him on the same scrap heap as Symonds.

Two guys who gave their all for Cricket Australia, and were treated like absolute shit in return.

As I said, I actually agree 100% with dropping Katich; North or Huss should've been dropped a year before the Ashes, we needed to get youth into the team.

But that doesn't excuse, or require, you to treat a loyal servant like he's worthless and irrelevant, which they repeatedly do.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I am sure going out for tea and a few drinks after the 4thday of the test match would have been looked on kindly by the Australian media and the Clarke haters.

 

[Bomber Bears]

Ponting and Hussey are hard headed professionals that would be a good example to the younger players coming through. Katich is a hot headed, cry baby, sookie la la who resorts to whingeing and violence when things do not go is way !!

The selectors have been vindicated after yet another of Katich's tantrum.

CA are going over the top sanctioning him though. They should just issue a press release that says "Told you so".

I'd argue that, as a cricketer, Katich has shown far more 'professionalism' in the latter years of his career. Ponting bats like he is still thirty, he has shown no willingness to adjust his game or temprement to age. Which is why he still gets out hooking regularly (because the ball beats him more often than when he was younger) why he is prone to a dumb shot when seemingly settled (trying to be as agressive as he once was) etc, why his career has taken a massive nose dive over the past 3 or so years.

Katich on the other hand got dropped after a poor run of form (something other cricketers dont seem to contend with), went back, adjusted his game to his own strengths and batted extremely well thereafter. Four average tests when injured and career over.

There's more to professionalism than saying the right things in interviews and toeing the company line

 

[legend166]

Yep, Andrew Symonds gave his all for Cricket Australia. So much so he turned up drunk to a match.

 

[peternorth]

Yep, Andrew Symonds gave his all for Cricket Australia. So much so he turned up drunk to a match.

interesting case is he. talented but probably didnt wanna be there in the end.

found it very interesting that matthews (lover of all things nsw) picked symmo over him in this counterproductive debate

 

[Kram]

Yep, Andrew Symonds gave his all for Cricket Australia. So much so he turned up drunk to a match.

Yeah but Roy is a good bloke

 

[JimDocker]

I'd argue that, as a cricketer, Katich has shown far more 'professionalism' in the latter years of his career. Ponting bats like he is still thirty, he has shown no willingness to adjust his game or temprement to age. Which is why he still gets out hooking regularly (because the ball beats him more often than when he was younger) why he is prone to a dumb shot when seemingly settled (trying to be as agressive as he once was) etc, why his career has taken a massive nose dive over the past 3 or so years.

Katich on the other hand got dropped after a poor run of form (something other cricketers dont seem to contend with), went back, adjusted his game to his own strengths and batted extremely well thereafter. Four average tests when injured and career over.

There's more to professionalism than saying the right things in interviews and toeing the company line

I concede that for sure and have said as much on other threads about Ponting still hooking. Ponting would appear to be far less divisive and more professional in getting behind the new captain and mentoring younger players.

Katich does not appear to have that in him.

Also, fair to say that Ponting has more brownie points in the bank than Katich.

 

[JimDocker]

Yeah but Roy is a good bloke

It takes a ****ing man's man to turn up drunk to a match !!! He should of been made captain.

 

[Underarm]

Throw him on the same scrap heap as Symonds.

Two guys who gave their all for Cricket Australia, and were treated like absolute shit in return.

Symonds was a fantastic australian Player who ****ed up his chance to continue his career countless times.

Much like Hodge's repetitive whining about not getting a proper go in the australian side, Katich is destined to never play for australia again. he has all but officially hung up the international boots with his wingefest.. I'm glad he's gone.

 

[dan warna]

It takes a ****ing man's man to turn up drunk to a match !!! He should of been made captain.

didn't hurt Keith Miller.

Probably riled him up a bit