Michael Clarke regrets comparing John Buchanan with his dog

Michael Clarke has stood by his criticism for former coach John Buchanan, but has admitted that his 'dog' reference for the coach was a step 'too far'.

Melbourne: Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has stood by his criticism for former coach John Buchanan, but has admitted that his ‘dog’ reference for the coach was a step ‘too far’. In his new book ‘ Ashes Diary 2015’, Clarke claimed that Buchanan had no impact on the team, stating that even his dog Jerry could have coached that particular Australian side to world domination. Speaking on his claims, Clarke said that although he does stand by his comments, it could have been articulated better, News.com.au reported. The 34-year-old further revealed that he had been highly emotional when had written the book as he had just announced his retirement and had performed badly during the Ashes. Michael Clarke’s comments on John Buchanan incredibly harsh: Shane Watson

Clarke had also slammed his former team-mates Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden, who had criticised him during his difficult time. Earlier, Buchanan had reacted to the criticism, saying that the captaincy role is quite demanding and the former needs to work on it. Meanwhile, Australian all-rounder Shane Watson had also described Clarke’s criticism over Buchanan as ‘incredibly harsh’. Clarke scored 8,643 runs in 115 Tests and retired from international cricket after the fifth and final Ashes Test against England at The Oval. Michael Clarke: John Buchanan did nothing special, my dog could have made Australia world No. 1

Shane Watson has termed Clarke’s comments on former Australian coach Buchanan and former cricketers— Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds as “incredibly harsh”.  Watson was quoted by ABC News Online saying, “I sit back and see what John Buchanan did and how he was able to keep those strong very personalities and strong egos that were in and around the team – and the majority of them were – and kept them moving in the same direction.”