Skipper Clarke resigns as Australian selector - report

Australian captain Michael Clarke has resigned as a selector of the team just hours after coach Mickey Arthur was sacked, a report said on Monday.

Fairfax Media said Clarke’s decision to relinquish his selection role was part of the coaching restructure that will be confirmed at a Cricket Australia press conference in England later on Monday.

The decision to grant the captain and coach selection powers was a key part of the far-reaching Argus review into Australian cricket in 2011.

Fairfax said Clarke was known to have had differences of opinion on key selection issues with chairman of selectors John Inverarity. It added that there was also a view among certain people in Australian cricket that having the captain as a selector could erode the relationship between players and their skipper.

Clarke’s relationship with some of his senior players, most notably his former deputy Shane Watson, has been central to some of the cultural problems in the Australian team during an unsettling few months, Fairfax said.

Australia’s Ashes campaign in England lurched into further crisis earlier Monday just weeks before the series starts when Arthur was sensationally sacked with Darren Lehmann expected to be announced as his replacement.

“Cricket Australia will hold a media conference with James Sutherland and (high performance coach) Pat Howard in Bristol tonight to discuss the coaching structure of the Australian team,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.