AUSTRALIAN cricket legend Alan Davidson has hit back at Michael Clarke’s critics, saying many of the ex-players who have jumped on board the anti-Clarke bandwagon don’t realise how tough the retiring skipper has had it in recent times.
It didn’t take long after the announcement of Clarke’s retirement for grievances to start being aired, with former Test stars Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds both revealing less than favourable thoughts about their former teammate.
The most damning condemnation of the outgoing captain came from former coach John Buchanan, who said the culture around the fabled Baggy Green cap “disappeared” under Clarke’s leadership.
But Davidson, one of Australia’s greatest left-arm fast bowlers and someone who first saw Clarke play when he was a teenager, believes much of the criticism isn’t warranted.
“I think it was the fact the boys performed very ordinarily in the last Test match at Trent Bridge, but then again that’s just one game,” Davidson told foxsports.com.au when trying to explain why there’s been so much negativity surrounding Clarke’s retirement.
“You’ve got to remember the side he’s got for this game – the blokes that were criticising him were all blokes that were playing in the era when you had McGrath, Warne, all the champions.”
Asked if the likes of Hayden and Symonds don’t appreciate how good they had it compared to the current group, Davidson said: “That’s the sad part”.
Davidson, 86, saved his sternest words for the many critics who have taken aim at Clarke for being arrogant or cocky.
“I’ve always been a great one on self-belief,” Davidson said. “It’s (about) pride in yourself. It’s not cockiness.
“(Those that accuse him of arrogance are) usually people that have never achieved anything anyway, or achieved anything to that level.
“Those that were in Sydney when he scored that 329 not out (against India in 2012), he was just a player that had enormous confidence. He wasn’t cocky in that innings, he just played with beautiful confidence and absolute superb skill.
“I hadn’t seen him play before, and when you look at some kids … I can remember seeing Steve and Mark Waugh at about the same age, and you automatically know they’re going to be somebody.
“There was just something about him that was different.”
