Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg says Stuart Clark’s stinging swipe at Test selectors was “out of order” after explaining why they banned Aussie players from speaking with the ABC after the third day’s play of the fifth Ashes Test. Former Test bowler Clark is a Cricket NSW board member but also works for the ABC, where he made a number of explosive claims about Australia’s selection panel.
Clark questioned the credentials of CA head of cricket James Allsopp and high-performance boss Ben Oliver and whether they had the authority to go against Australia’s star players when it came to selections. He also suggested chief selector George Bailey didn’t have “the gravitas or the leadership skills to tell (Australian coach) Andrew McDonald and Steve Smith or Pat Cummins what to do” when it came to picking the Test side.
Cricket Australia banned Australia’s Test stars from speaking with the ABC in response to Stuart Clark’s (L) criticism of selectors. Pic: Getty
It came in response to Australia’s decision to once again overlook a spinner for the SCG Test after leaving out Todd Murphy. Many, including Clark, believe Smith played a major role in that decision, with Australia’s stand-in skipper insisting the seam-friendly pitches being produced in Australia left them with little choice.
But CA boss Greenberg said Clark “overstepped the mark” with his criticism of the selectors and insisted his comments were “personal” in nature. It explained why no Aussie player was allowed to speak with ABC radio after the day’s play at the SCG on Tuesday, as is customary during a Test series.
CA boss takes issue with Stuart Clark’s swipe at selectors
“When I see criticism of him (Allsopp), I think it touches on the personal criticism. I thought that was unwarranted,” the CA chief said. “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… I thought he overstepped the mark by talking not just about the decisions, but individually about people. I thought that was personal. I said that to him.”
Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg (pictured) says Stuart Clark’s criticism of the Test selection panel was ‘out of order’. Pic: Getty
ABC caller and Fox Footy commentator Corbin Middlemas was among those to critice CA’s ban on the ABC. And while Clark confirmed he’d spoken with Greenberg about the issue, he said the pair disagreed about the nature of the comments, considering the former Test bowler is employed by the ABC to give expert opinion.
“We spoke about it cordially. We obviously don’t agree and that’s cool,” Clark said on the ABC about the meeting with the CA boss. “I am not going to get into a public spat with Todd. I have known Todd for 20 odd years… We have had disagreements. We will continue to have disagreements. We obviously don’t agree (on this).
“The other thing I wanted to say was when they got it right in Adelaide I commended them. There are different times and different stages when we have been very complimentary … that has been missed.”