'Let me tell you the truth!' Michael Clarke opens up on coming to blows with a teammate 'because he wanted to leave dressing room celebrations and see then-girlfriend Lara Bingle'
- Michael Clarke maintained he had no involvement with Simon Katich's sacking
- Katich grabbed Clarke's throat in an argument in the SCG change rooms in 2009
- It was widely rumoured Clarke wanted to leave to meet up with Lara Bingle
- Katich was sacked two years later when Clarke became the captain of Australia
- Clarke said selectors picked two from Katich, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey
Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has revealed the truth behind his infamous stoush with Simon Katich after a Test match in 2009.
Katich grabbed Clarke's throat in an argument in the Sydney Cricket Ground change rooms after clashing over when the team song should be sung.
It was widely rumoured Clarke hurry along the traditional post-match celebration to meet up with his then-girlfriend Lara Bingle, which upset the left-handed batsman.
Katich was dropped from Cricket Australia's central contract list two years later after Clarke became Australian captain.
Michael Clarke has maintained he had no involvement with Simon Katich's sacking in 2011
It was rumoured that Clarke wanted to leave the SCG change rooms to meet up with then partner Lara Bingle (pictured together in 2009), which upset the left-handed batsmen
A caller to The Big Sports Breakfast on Monday suggested Clarke played a central role in the sacking of Katich.
'Incorrect. Let me tell you the truth because you're going off what you've heard or what you've been reading in the paper,' Clarke responded.
'Simon and I did have an incident in the change room. But from my perspective, because I can't talk for Simon, it was done and dealt with. We had a conversation the next day, it was dealt with.
'What people don't understand is, because I became captain of Australia, I have no say in who gets a contract. Simon Katich was not dropped from a team when I was captain of Australia or when I was a selector.'
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Clarke claimed selectors were torn in 2011, with only two contracts to be handed out to three senior members of the Australian squad, which pitted Katich against Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting.
After missing out on a contract, Clarke said he vouched for Katich to return to the Australian team in 2013 Ashes series in England.
'You are entitled to feel whatever you feel but I can tell you now, on that Ashes tour I fought to have him back into that squad because, I agree, we needed a top order batsman, and his numbers were outstanding over a long period of time,' he said.
Katich joked about the incident years later in 2015, claiming Clarke had rubbed him the wrong way before the altercation.
'Lara Bingle has undeservedly copped a lot of flak over that. It wasn't her fault at all,' he said, as reported by Fox Sports. 'She had nothing to do with it from my point of view.
'A lot was made that it was about the song. It did happen because of the song, but it wasn't entirely about the song being sung, it was more about what Michael said to me that night.
'The hardest part about the whole affair was that it took me a month to get the fake tan off my hand.'
Katich and Clarke leave the field at Trent Bridge during the Ashes series against England in August 2005
