SYDNEY: Australia captain Michael Clarke made his comeback from injury on Saturday, scoring 51 and batting for almost three hours in a Sydney club match before slamming media reports of a rift with team-mates and Cricket Australia.

Clarke made a rare appearance for his Western Suburbs club side on the first day of a two-day match against Gordon in an effort to prove his recovery from hamstring surgery ahead of the Cricket World Cup, two weeks away.

Clarke said speculation his relationship with team-mates had been strained during his rehabilitation was “water off a duck’s back. It’s another day, another newspaper sold.”

“I’m not going to get into it. It seems like some people in particular are going to write what they want to write,” he said. “I’m really happy and comfortable with my relationship with Cricket Australia firstly and certainly with my team-mates.”

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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