Clarke: Sacking will not impact my friendship with players

Australia skipper Michael Clarke is confident that there will no backlash against him from the four suspended players ufffd Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja

“I don’t think it will have any impact on my friendship with the four guys because I know I’ve got the respect of those guys and they know how much I respect them. That’s probably why I feel comfortable fronting players on these issues.

“I think it would be easy to walk away and let things slide. But they know how much I love playing for Australia like they do,” Clarke was quoted as saying by the Australian media.

Clarke said Watson has no reason to fear being axed as vice-captain. “A lot of people will ask about Watson and the vice-captaincy. I absolutely believe he can bounce back from this and be the vice-captain again.”

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