Following recent comments from broadcaster and NSW board member Stuart Clark on ABC, CA boss Todd Greenberg stressed the attacks were personal and banned the ABC from interviewing Australian players after the conclusion of the third day’s match at the SCG, for crossing an invisible line that everyone knows is there.
Australia had one of the most exciting days on the field with the bat in this entire Ashes series, where two of their batters reached hundreds on the same day. However, after a flurry of runs, ABC cricket failed to get a bite out of any of the Australian players due to a ban imposed by Cricket Australia.
Stuart Clark’s personal attack on cricket chief and CA selector George Bailey
Former Australians player and current ABC presenter Stuart Clark has questioned the abilities of chairman of selectors George Bailey, including launching a direct personal attack on CA cricket chief James Allsopp.
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He believed they were not prepared to withstand Australia’s selection woes and claimed Allsopp did not have the level to speak out in front of head coach Andrew McDonald or captain Steve Smith.
“James Allsopp, who runs cricket in Australia, the head of cricket and community cricket, is a club cricket coach who throws underarm balls to kids,” Clark told the ABC.
“It’s his journey. He’s a lovely guy, don’t get me wrong. But he runs all the cricket now. He can’t tell (coach) Andrew McDonald or (captain) Steve Smith what to do.
“Then you have George, who is the chairman of selectors. Does he have the seriousness or the leadership skills to tell Andrew McDonald, Steve Smith or Pat Cummins what to do? He should do it 100 per cent, but I don’t think he does,” Clark added when he felt Bailey was not showing a need to give direction to any of the Australian leaders.
ABC bans player interviews under Cricket Australia directive
CA boss Todd Greenberg spoke to broadcaster and Cricket NSW board member Stuart Clark on Tuesday, saying his comments, particularly those about Allsopp, seemed very personal.
“When I see criticism against him (Allsopp), I think it touches on personal criticism. I thought it was unwarranted,” the AC chief said, as quoted by Fox Cricket.
He added: “On this occasion I thought he had overstepped the mark by speaking not only about decisions but about people individually. I thought it was personal. I told him that.”
“When they succeeded in Adelaide, I congratulated them,” defends Stuart Clark on ABC.
“We’ve talked about it cordially. We obviously disagree, and that’s cool,” Clark said on ABC about his discussions with Greenberg, but he immediately said it was okay to have some disagreements, but there was no disrespect for each other. He, too, called Greenberg a longtime friend.
“The other thing I wanted to say is they did well in Adelaide, I congratulated them.
“There are different times and different stages where we were very complimentary… that were missed,” Stuart Clark said, defending his comments on ABC.
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