JOIN USDismissing the booing fans at the Gabba one-dayer against England as a “small minority”, CA said they would be back to supporting the batsman once he gets back in form, signs of which he showed during his knock of 54 in the final match of the series that Australia won by 51 runs on Sunday.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that over eight years he’s been remarkably popular,” CA’s head of public affairs, Peter Young, was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
“At the fundamental core, when you look at why sponsors go to him, it’s because their own research shows he is remarkably popular with the public. At the moment he’s had a lean summer and he’s getting an earful from the Australian crowd.”
Young said what Clarke faced at Gabba was normal for any high-profile sportsperson to go through when having a lean patch.
“Every Australian player you talk to will tell you that from time to time their harshest critics are the Australian fans in the stadiums,” he said.