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