Katich and Whateley defend Australian cricket’s new culture after criticism from Clarke

Katich claimed he was “missing the point”, while Whateley went as far as suggesting that the thinking that led to the ball-tampering incident in March could be traced back to Clarke’s leadership

Simon Katich and Australian journalist Gerard Whateley have responded to criticism from former Australian captain Michael Clarke of the new ethos that is being spread through Australian cricket.

Katich claimed he was “missing the point”, while Whateley went as far as suggesting that the thinking that led to the ball-tampering incident in March could be traced back to Clarke’s leadership.

Clarke and Katich have history and were involved in a much-discussed dressing room bust-up at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2009. Both Katich and Clarke have discussed the incident, along with Mitchell Johnson, in which the pair apparently squared-up to each other.

“Australian cricket I think need to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected,” Clarke told Macquarie Sports Radio on Tuesday.

“Play tough Australian cricket, because whether we like it or not, that is in our blood. If you try and walk away from it, yeah we might be the most liked team in the world, we’re not going to win s**t, we won’t win a game. All we can want to do is want to win.”

^{Michael Clarke was Australia Test cricket captain from 2011 to 2015}

Whateley responded to Clarke’s comments on Wednesday on his own radio show on SEN, claiming: “In cricketing terms, Michael Clarke is proving himself the last of the great climate deniers.

“Tim Paine’s Australia isn’t trying to be the most liked team in world cricket. It is very specifically trying to no longer be the most despised team in world cricket, a scourge that is part of Clarke’s legacy.”

Katich followed this up on Wednesday, telling SEN: ”Once again we find someone [Clarke] missing the point.

“We were caught for blatantly cheating and we have to rectify that as quickly as possible and to earn back the respect of the cricketing public in Australia and worldwide. Our behaviour is a big part of that.”

Clarke issued a response of his own to Whateley on Twitter, which outlined what he had achieved during his time as captain and how he had conducted himself, finishing by stating that “if he [Whateley] was talented enough or courageous enough to make it onto a cricket pitch he would have a better perspective than from behind a microphone”.