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Snapshot * Michael Clarke got back at Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and former Australian coach John Buchanan through his Ashes Diary 2015 * These three had questioned Clarke’s leadership

in August, when the former Australian captain retired after the Ashes series. Former Australian captain Michael Clarke broke his silence on the criticism he received after announcing his

retirement during the recent Ashes series loss in England on Thursday. Both former team-mates Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden publicly questioned Clarke’s leadership in August and Clarke

has used his ‘Ashes Diary 2015’ to get back at them. Clarke also slammed former Australian coach John Buchanan, taunting him for never playing for his country and saying ‘even my dog Jerry’

could have had similar success. > Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I’m sorry > but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership. This is a guy > who turned 

up drunk to play for his country. It’s pretty rich for > him to be throwing rocks. Michael Clarke wrote in his book The pair were close friends at the beginning of the former Australian

captain’s career, however, as Symonds’ behaviour deteriorated and Clarke entered the leadership ranks, they quickly fell out. Symonds eventually had his contract cancelled by Cricket

Australia in 2009 for breaking a drinking ban while in England. The 34-year-old also hit back at Hayden’s assertions he refused to field at bat-pad early in his career. Hayden claimed that

he heard Clarke tell the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting that he would hand back (his) Baggy Green if he was forced to put on the helmet and field in close. However, Clarke says his

record speaks for itself. > I think I’ve shown over the past 12 years how much I’ve valued > representing my country and how much my 389 baggy green means to me. > If Ricky 

(Ponting) had asked me to jump off the Harbour Bridge, I > would have jumped. I loved playing for Australia that much. But Clarke saved his biggest criticism for former coach Buchanan.

> I don’t think John knows a thing about the baggy green (cap), > having never worn one. He’s still living off the fact that he > coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, 

could have coached to > world domination. In August, Buchanan criticised the culture of the Australian cricket team under Clarke’s captaincy. > Players like Steve Waugh, Adam 

Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and others > really tried to make the Baggy Green culture something special but I > could sense it was under threat and under Michael’s captaincy I > can 

sense it has disappeared a bit and that disappointed me. There > were times when I felt Michael did not understand or did not want to > understand. John Buchanan Published: 19 Nov

2015, 4:30 PM IST