“I don’t think John knows a thing about the Baggy Green, having never worn one”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Ex-Australia captain Michael Clarke has slammed former head coach John Buchanan for criticising him when he decided to retire after the recent Ashes series against England.

During Buchanan’s tenure as coach from 1999 to 2007, Australia won a world-record 16 consecutive Test matches, to go along with three World Cups and three Ashes series.

However, after Buchanan expressed his disappointment towards Clarke following his retirement, the former Australian captain said that his dog could have led the Baggy Greens “to world domination” in the 2000s.

“I don’t think John knows a thing about the Baggy Green, having never worn one,” Clarke wrote in his Ashes 2015 Diary. “He’s still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination.”

However, Shane Watson, who was a former Test vice-captain, believes that Clarke’s comments about Buchanan were “incredibly harsh”.

“I sit back and see what John Buchanan did and how he was able to keep those very strong personalities and strong egos… and kept them moving in the same direction,” Watson told Fox Sports TV. “And looking back now, he’s got an incredible skill to be able to do that.”

Clarke also targeted former team-mate Andrew Symonds after the latter questioned his leadership credentials.

“Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I’m sorry but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership,” Clarke wrote. “This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It’s pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks.”