Michael Clarke

Clarke had been through a rough patch in his career. He was struggling in all forms of the game and recently also stepped down from the captaincy of the Australia T20 team because of his poor form. He averaged a meager 21.44 in the Ashes Test Series making 193 runs. And, before the ODI on Sunday he had made just 70 runs at a sloppy average of 17.50.

At the recent ODI encounter between Australia and England at the Gabba, Michael Clarke was booed by fans. But, Cricket Australia has firm belief in the sportsperson that he will win the fans back with good batting performances. Later the match was won by Australia by 51 runs and the embattled captain Clarke also made a decent contribution of 54 runs.

Earlier, Clarke also had said that he had no concerns about being booed by local fans. “I haven’t performed as well as I would like so I don’t blame the public for being disappointed with my performances. But, it was nice to finally contribute and help the boys get a win — it’s a great feeling”, he said.

And, now the Cricket Australia has also come supporting the maverick all-rounder. “There’s absolutely no doubt that over the eight years he’s been remarkably popular. At the fundamental core, when you look at why sponsors go to him, it’s because their own research shows he is remarkably popular with the public. At the moment he’s had a lean summer and he’s getting an earful from the Australian crowd who do that,” CA’s head of public affairs, Peter Young, was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Young however was disappointed with boos and said that he would have rather wanted the crowd to be supportive.  He also said that this is a lean patch in his career and every high-profile sportsperson passes by this!

Tags: Australia, Boos, CA, Cricket, Cricket Australia, Michael Clarke, ODI Match, Peter Young, Sydney Morning Herald