Michael Clarke would have expected some public sympathy after the announcement of his retirement and emotional speech after losing the Ashes series following the fourth match at Edgbaston.
While he may have a lot of kind words from the general public, he has been heavily criticised by former Australian cricketing alumni including former teammates Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. Former coach John Buchanan is the latest to criticise Clarke’s tenure as captain and said Clarke’s captaincy led to dilution of Australia’s team culture. ALSO READ: Michael Clarke once threatened to return baggy green, reveals Mathew Hayden
Buchanan was appreciative of Clarke’s ability as a player and praised for his contribution as a batsman but made it abundantly clear that his views on Clarke’s captaincy were highly unfavourable. Buchanan said he always felt Clarke was aloof and never learnt about the nitty-gritty’s of the famed ‘Baggy Green’ culture. ALSO READ: Michael Clarke’s captaincy not special, opines Andrew Symonds
“Players like Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and others really tried to make the ‘Baggy Green’ culture something special, but I could sense it was under threat and under Michael’s captaincy I can sense it has disappeared a bit and that disappointed me,” Buchanan told News Corp. ALSO READ: Michael Clarke lived by the sword and died by it
“I can remember guys like Hayden and (Justin) Langer sitting him down in a corner and trying to get him to understand what we were trying to achieve. There were times when I felt Michael did not understand or did not want to understand,” Buchanan added of his memory of a young Clarke.
