Insiders confirm Michael Clarke set to be dumped from commentary gig

Under-siege former Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke’s luck may be starting to turn around after he revealed he was in talks for a new gig following reports he was set to lose his lucrative commentary deal for Australia’s tour of India.

The walls have been caving in on Clarke since his public fight with girlfriend Jade Yarbrough over cheating allegations in Noosa was revealed.

Since then, Clarke has been slammed for his actions, including cursing out Today host Karl Stefanovic and, after not talking about the incident on his Big Sports Breakfast radio show when he returned on Monday morning, was labelled as “cowardly” by 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

It’s now set to cost Clarke a $150,000 commentary gig in India after reports over the weekend the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) was reviewing its plans to include the 41-year-old cricket great in its commentary team for the highly-anticipated tour, which gets underway on February 9.

On Monday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported “multiple senior cricket sources, who did not wish to be named in order to speak frankly”, confirmed other former players were being sounded out to replace Clarke.

Clarke was due to feature alongside Matthew Hayden as the Australian voice of the global commentary feed.

However, the BCCI is reportedly “fickle” with its appointments and has dismissed prospective commentators in the past for as little as a difference of opinion with the board.

On Monday afternoon, The Daily Telegraph reported Clarke was set to be replaced by Test great Mark Waugh.

However, it may not be all bad for Clarke as he revealed he had been sounded out for a potential commentary gig during the Pakistan Super League, which also starts February 9 and runs until March 19.

The First Test between India and Australia starts on February 9, and the tour runs until the third and final ODI on March 22.

“I’ve just been asked to commentate on the PSL, the Pakistan Premier League, and you should see the internationals they’ve got,” Clarke said on Sky’s Big Sports Breakfast. “So many overseas players are going and playing in that tournament.”

The PSL is set to feature the likes of Aussie stars including Tim David, Andrew Tye and Matthew Wade, and international stars like Rashid Khan, Alex Hales, James Vince, Harry Brook, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro among others alongside Pakistani stars such as Babar Azam, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The new role would certainly soften the blow for Clarke, who had a prospective sponsorship deal with a skincare brand reportedly get ripped up within hours of the footage of his altercation being published on Wednesday evening.

However, there have been supporters of the former Aussie skipper including Tabcorp, who owns Sky Sports Radio, who have stood behind Clarke.

While Clarke was expected to address his side of the drama on his return to breakfast radio, host Gerard Middleton moved the show off the topic from the beginning of the show.

“Now of course enormous fascination into Clarkey’s life and we are just hitting this on the head straight away,” Middleton said.

“It is a private matter that Clarkey’s obviously been dealing with, a very, very private matter which unfortunately was made public.

“There’s a lot of factors in play here and Clarkey’s made his statement last week and due to all the factors in play we are moving forward on The Big Sports Breakfast this morning.”

In a statement issued to The Daily Telegraph last Wednesday night, Clarke said he accepted “full” responsibility for the altercation and was “shattered” by his actions.

“I’m absolutely gutted I’ve put people I hold in the highest regard in this position. My actions in the lead-up to this altercation were nothing short of shameful and regrettable,” he said.

“I am shattered that because of my actions I’ve drawn women of class and integrity, and my mates, into this situation.

“I own this fully and am the only one at fault.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission