Former captain Michael Clarke has told the Australian team to stop trying to be the nice guys and concentrate on winning matches.
Australian cricketing has been battling an image problem since the ill-fated tour of South Africa earlier in the year that saw ball-tampering and sledging scandals, resulted in one-year bans for Steve Smith and David Warner and culminated in a cultural review of Australian cricket.
The entire top hierarchy was booted out as Australia tried to improve its image. After an independent review into the scandals revealed a bullying culture, the team came up with a ‘Players’ Pact’, asking Australians to “compete with us, smile with us, fight with us, dream with us”.
Test captain Tim Paine insisted on shaking hands with opponents before a series, which is in contrast to the way the Aussies played earlier.
Clarke, however, is having none of it and wants winning to be the priority.
“Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected,” Clarke was quoted as saying by AFP.
“Play tough Australian cricket. Whether we like it or not, that’s in our blood.”
Clarke said Aussie fans wanted victory more than anything else.
“If you try and walk away from it, we might be the most liked team in the world, we’re not going to win,” he said. “We won’t win a game. Boys and girls want to win.”
