Greg Buckle
MOHALI, India, March 12 AAP – Australia captain Michael Clarke has blasted four suspended players for disrespecting head coach Mickey Arthur over the controversial homework-gate affair.
Arthur announced that vice-captain Shane Watson, Test quick James Pattinson and squad members Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson had been ruled out of contention for Thursday’s third Test against India in Mohali.
Australia trail 2-0 in the four-match contest and Arthur had asked each member of the squad to make a presentation to him, either in person or in written form, about how the team could fight their way back into the series.
The four players failed to meet a deadline of Saturday night to make their presentations.
“It took a lot of thinking because you had to look at your game and where you thought you could improve, what you had learnt and what you could do to help this team level this series,” Clarke said.
“The four players to not do it, not only does it let the team down, it also shows a lack of respect for the head coach and in the Australian cricket team that is unacceptable.”
While former players including ex-skipper Allan Border have ridiculed the suspensions as schoolboy stuff, Clarke says it hasn’t just been one incident that has led himself, Arthur and team manager Gavin Dovey to take dramatic action.
“There have been a number of issues on this tour where I don’t think we have been hitting our standards,” Clarke said.
Watson has also been juggling family commitments and headed back to Sydney on Monday night for the birth of his first child. There’s confusion over whether he’ll return for the fourth Test in Delhi on March 22.
The 31-year-old says he’s shattered by his suspension and feels harshly treated.
“I am going to spend the next few weeks with my family and weigh up my options as to exactly which direction I want to go,” Watson said.
“I am at a stage where I have to weigh up my future with what I want to do with my cricket in general.”
Pattinson took a more grown-up approach to his suspension.
“It should have been done. All the other players bar four got it in,” the 22-year-old quick told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was part forgetting and at at this level you can’t forget.
“It’s pretty cut-throat and personally not good enough.
“It wasn’t a hard task at all and it was something that was very valuable for the team going forward.
“People talk about it as a harsh punishment but looking deeply into it you realise probably it’s not.”