Clarke vs Katich and the boat party rift: Yours truly,Michael Hussey
In his autobiography,Hussey has promised to spill the beans on the Clarke vs Katich fiasco.
If youre willing to shell out close to AUD 49.5 Rs 2930,then a tell-all story on the rifts and splits and cliques in the Australian dressing room is yours on Thursday. In his soon-to-be-released autobiography,Underneath the Southern Cross,former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey has promised to spill the beans on the Michael Clarke vs Simon Katich fiasco,an event that eventually polarised the members of the dressing room with,or against,the incumbent Test skipper.
In an excerpt published in News Ltd newpapers on Sunday,Hussey also admits to having unintentionally played a role in the ongoing saga by not attending a boat party following his final Test match. The extract outlined the goings-on surrounding a team party to celebrate the end of Australias cricket summer after the Sydney Test against Sri Lanka had finished in January this year.
During the last Test,Gavin Dovey the team manager told me Pup Clarke had organised a night out on James Packers boat several months in advance. When the arrangement was made,of course nobody had known it would be my last Test, writes Hussey. It turned out that no children would be allowed on the boat,for safety reasons… but we had all four of our kids and extended family and friends too… All this was pretty straightforward to me. I said to Gavin,I just want some hours to celebrate with the boys in the dressing room. I dont want to stop them from having the celebration on the boat.
Adds Hussey: We had a fantastic time in the dressing room… A few people spoke some really nice words,and then the time came for everyone to go: the team to the boat,and me to my family.
Those by his side
With Hussey not leaving for the boat party on Sydney Harbour,a few of his team-mates,namely Peter Siddle,Nathan Lyon and Shane Watson,wanted to stay back with him. I talked Nathan into going… Sidds was fine. He said it was a bit disappointing that the whole team didnt stay with me,but he accepted it, Hussey said. Watto was not so accepting. He was adamant that the team should have changed its plans and stuck with me.
A few days later,the players were brought to notice of an email in circulation which spoke of a rift between Hussey and Clarke. And a few months later,the email got second wind after the Homeworkgate,where four Australian cricketers including vice captain Watson were banned by the captain and the coach from playing the third Test in Mohali.
While Hussey denies talks of a rift with Clarke vehemently in the book,he does however speak in detail of the dressing room altercation between Clarke and Katich that he and his team-mates had witnessed.
The team-song sung at the end of every successful match remains a special event in the Australian dressing room. For the longest time,Hussey was in charge of deciding when it would be sung. After beating the visiting South Africans last year,Hussey postponed the song-moment to let the feeling of victory sink in.
I didnt realise that Michael Clarke had organised a bar for the post-dressing room celebrations. Feeling under time pressure,he was asking Steve Bernard,team manager to get me to hurry up and sing the song… While I was completely oblivious to Pups mounting panic,Kato was on the other side of the room with a clear view of Pup talking to Steve Bernard and getting frustrated, says Hussey. This is when the proverbial hell broke loose.
Then,out of nowhere they came together in the middle of the room. There was a big confrontation and I thought,what the hell is going on? Kato was put back down in his seat and Pup left the dressing room altogether.
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