Ashes 2013: Former coach Mickey Arthur threatens to disrupt Australia by suing over dismissal

The tourists, who lost a thrilling first Test by 14 runs in Nottingham on Sunday, have been beset by dressing room discord for months. They hoped that the astonishing removal of Arthur and his immediate replacement by Darren Lehmann would still the listing ship.

It appeared to have worked and their obdurate performance at Trent Bridge, allied to regular briefings that they were all friends together have been persuasive. But Arthur’s incendiary statements in a submission to the Fair Work Commission in Sydney have put the focus firmly back on the relationships in the team, especially between Clarke and Watson, with the Second Test beginning at Lord’s on Thursday.

Arthur, a South African, is claiming $Aus4m from his former employers, Cricket Australia, and one of several grounds of his complaint alleges racial discrimination. He has also stated that CA did not support him last year when he dropped four players from a Test match for failing to fill in a team questionnaire, in an affair which inevitably became known as Homeworkgate. Watson was one of the disciplined players.

It was an open secret that Clarke and Watson were not bosom pals but since Arthur was removed from his post they have been intent on showing the world that they can at least rub along. For most of the match in Nottingham they stood next to each other at first and second slip, though there was an eloquent moment late in England’s second innings when neither moved for a catch as the ball flew between them off an edge from Stuart Broad.

Arthur claims in the documents lodged by his lawyers and obtained by the Australian network, Channel 7, that he was “the meat in the sandwich” between conflicting camps. According to his statement, the Clarke and Watson factions in the dressing room were constantly at loggerheads.

But the former coach also suggests that he was discriminated against because he “didn’t understand the Australian way.” His employers decided to sack him following the incident during the Champions Trophy when the opening batsman, David Warner, punched the England batsman Joe Root in the face in a Birmingham bar hours after the sides had played each other in the Champions Trophy.

In his court submission, Arthur states that it was Watson who told him what Warner had done, although the player has denied doing so. Warner was banned for two matches, fined $Aus11,500 and is currently on secondment with the Australia A team in southern Africa so he can have time in the middle.

The emergence of Arthur’s detailed claim was deeply embarrassing for Australia and may unravel the good work that appeared to have been done since Lehmann took over. It was certainly the last thing they would want as they try urgently to regroup after their heartbreaking loss at Trent Bridge.

Clarke said when he fulfilled a sponsor’s engagement at a London hotel: “First I'm not going to get involved in it, the most important thing is that we as a team are as focused as we can be on Thursday. We've obviously got a huge game in front of us, the boys are feeling great, as we showed in the last Test match we're here to fight and do as well as we possibly can in this Test series, and I think we showed that the other day."

Nor was his vice-captain, Brad Haddin, who replaced Watson in the position, eager to comment on the latest revelations.

“For legal reasons I can’t go into it,” said Haddin. “All I can say is that it’s pretty obvious where the team is going, that’s as plain as the nose on your face. All the other stuff we talk about it is white noise. It hasn’t affected the side at all.”

Arthur himself, who is on holiday in his native South Africa, was aghast that the documents had been placed in the public domain. He had been hoping that his negotiations with CA could be kept private.

“I am extremely upset and disappointed that confidential documents appear to have been given by others to the media,” he said in a statement issued through his lawyers. “The matters raised by my application to the FWC concerning issues within the Australian cricket team are very sensitive, which is why I was at pains to keep them confidential, especially at this time.

“I have kept them confidential, unfortunately others have made them public. I want to stress how important to me the members of the team were, and still remain to me. The welfare of the Australian is utmost to me.”

There is much sympathy at the way in which Arthur was treated, although it was becoming clear that some members of the team had not responded to his methods. But he was shown scant understanding by Shane Warne, the former leg-spinner, who told Sky Sports: “It sounds like sour grapes to me and it's pretty disappointing. He should have been grateful for the opportunity to coach the Australian team.” When Clarke and Watson emerge from the Long Room on Thursday all eyes will be on their every move.

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Ashes 2013: Michael Clarke called Shane Watson 'a cancer on the team' alleges fired Australia coach Mickey Arthur

The tourists, who lost a thrilling first Test by 14 runs in Nottingham on Sunday, have been beset by dressing-room discord for months. They hoped that the astonishing removal of Arthur and his immediate replacement by Darren Lehmann would right the listing ship.

It appeared to have worked and their obdurate performance at Trent Bridge, allied to regular briefings that they were all friends together have been persuasive. But Arthur’s incendiary statements in a submission to the Fair Work Commission in Sydney have put the focus firmly back on relationships in the team, especially between Clarke and Watson, with the second Test  beginning at Lord’s tomorrow.

Arthur, a South African, is claiming A$4m (£2.44m) from his former  employers, Cricket Australia, and one of several grounds for his complaint  alleges racial discrimination. He has also stated that CA did not support him last year when he dropped four players from a Test match for failing to fill in a team questionnaire, an affair which inevitably became known as “Homeworkgate”. Watson was one of the disciplined players.

It was an open secret that Clarke and Watson were not bosom pals but since Arthur was removed from his post they have been intent on showing the world that they can at least rub along. For most of the match in Nottingham they stood next to each other at first and second slip, though there was an eloquent moment late in England’s second innings when neither moved for a catch as the ball flew between them off an edge from Stuart Broad.

Arthur claims in the documents lodged by his lawyers and obtained by the Australian TV network Channel 7, that he was “the meat in the sandwich” between conflicting camps. According to his statement, the Clarke and Watson factions in the dressing room were constantly at loggerheads.

But the former coach also suggests that he was discriminated against because he “didn’t understand the Australian way”. His employers decided to sack him following the incident during the Champions Trophy last month when the opening batsman David Warner punched the England batsman Joe Root in the face in a Birmingham bar hours after the sides had played each other.

In his court submission, Arthur states that it was Watson who told him what Warner had done, although the player has denied doing so. Warner was banned for two matches, fined A$11,500 and is currently on secondment with the Australia A team in southern Africa so he can have time in the middle.

The emergence of Arthur’s  detailed claim was deeply embarrassing for Australia and may unravel the good work that appeared to have been done since Lehmann took over. It was certainly the last thing they would want as they try urgently to regroup after their heartbreaking loss at Trent Bridge.

Clarke said yesterday when he fulfilled a sponsor’s engagement at a London hotel: “First, I’m not going to get involved in it, the most important thing is that we as a team are as focused as we can be on Thursday. We’ve obviously got a huge game in front of us, the boys are feeling great, as we showed in the last Test match we’re here to fight and do as well as we possibly can in this Test series, and I think we showed that the other day.”

Nor was his vice-captain, Brad Haddin, who replaced Watson in the position, eager to comment on the latest revelations.

“For legal reasons I can’t go into it,” said Haddin. “All I can say is that it’s pretty obvious where the team is going, that’s as plain as the nose on your face. All the other stuff we talk about it is white noise. It hasn’t affected the side at all.”

Arthur himself, who is on holiday in his native South Africa, was aghast that the documents had been placed in the public domain. He had been hoping that his negotiations with CA could be kept private.

“I am extremely upset and disappointed that confidential documents appear to have been given by others to the media,” he said in a statement issued through his lawyers. “The matters raised by my application to the FWC concerning issues within the Australian cricket team are very sensitive, which is why I was at pains to keep them confidential, especially at this time. I have kept them confidential, unfortunately others have made them public. I want to stress how important to me the members of the team were, and still remain to me. The welfare of the Australian cricket team is utmost to me.”

There is much sympathy over the way in which Arthur was treated,  although it was becoming clear that some members of the team had not responded to his methods. But he was shown scant understanding by Shane Warne, the former leg-spinner, who told Sky: “It sounds like sour grapes to me and it’s pretty disappointing. He should have been grateful for the opportunity to coach the Australian team.”

When Clarke and Watson emerge from the Long Room tomorrow all eyes will be on their every move.

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Ashes 2013: England and Australia ready for opening salvoes

England's captain, Alastair Cook, warms up against Essex before the first Ashes Test with Australia at Trent Bridge. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images

Here we go then. Thankfully the time for speculation is almost gone. On Wednesday at Trent Bridge Shane Watson or Alastair Cook will take guard in sunshine, so it seems, and cricket's oldest private battle will be resumed.

It will not be that private. The press box will be packed and so, too, the stands; the TV cameras will zoom in on every combatant exposing any signs of anxiety or fear on the faces of every cricketer lucky enough to be involved. On two continents even those with a passing knowledge of cricket will want to know the score. They may not be too bothered in Mumbai or Multan but from Melton Mowbray to Melbourne they will be avidly following the progress of Root or Rogers with furrowed brows.

The first Test of an Ashes series is special. Whether the same excitement will still be there when the two captains toss up in Sydney on 3 January before the 10th consecutive Test between these two nations remains to be seen. If that is the case, we will have witnessed much staggering drama along the way.

The clinical view must be that this series cannot equal the last two in England. In 2005 we witnessed the most dramatic and the best Ashes series of all, when there was never a dull hour, let alone a dull day. The 2009 contest seldom touched those heights but the tension remained until the final day at The Oval, where Cook held the catch which ensured that the Ashes were regained.

This time England set off as favourites, a little uncomfortably as recently they have been prone to play in a constipated manner when expected to win.

Australia's journey to the opening match at Trent Bridge has been eccentric, to say the least, but England's has been as tranquil as it gets. There have been injury concerns over Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad but it now seems as if all three will be fit to play. Maybe the lure of the Ashes really can be a great healer. In considerable contrast to their opponents the make-up of the England side has caused only minimal head-scratching along with some local heartache.

It has been a tough month for Nick Compton. The Ashes is the pinnacle and he is going to miss out at the start of the series. The selectors have opted to open with Joe Root, with Jonny Bairstow batting at six. This may not be fair on Compton but fairness is not – and should not be – the first criterion for selectors. Their duty is to pick what they consider the best, not the fairest, team and essentially they have opted for Bairstow rather than Compton. As it happens, both average 31 in Test cricket.

Compton is probably better informed about the Australian bowlers than anyone else. He has faced all of them in the last week either for Somerset or, remarkably, for Worcester, a state of affairs that may have left him both mystified and miffed. One can only assume that after the second Test at Lord's we will see Compton striding out against the Australians once again – for Sussex at Hove.

The Australians will certainly target the two young Yorkshiremen, Root and Bairstow, who are the only players in the England side not to have experienced the peculiar thrill of an Ashes contest (Australia are likely to have five Ashes debutants in their team).

It will also be tough for whichever bowler England choose to omit. The choice will be between Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn. If Bairstow is the bolder choice when selecting the batsmen, Finn is probably the more aggressive selection among the bowlers. However, Bresnan may like to point out that in his last two Tests at Nottingham, in 2011 and 2012, he took 15 wickets against India and West Indies. Moreover Bresnan did score a century, which qualified as first-class – for a couple of days at least – against Essex in England's desultory warm-up match.

The make-up of the Australian side is harder to predict but the assumption is that they will stick with the bowling attack used at Taunton: James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon. This quartet is not so experienced as England's. Pattinson and Starc will bowl wayward spells but, when they click, they are dangerous.

Australia's new coach, Darren Lehmann, has been as candid as he can be about his batting line-up. He has already said that Watson and Chris Rogers will open – a month ago it might have been Ed Cowan and David Warner. My guess is that they will bat Cowan at three, Michael Clarke and Phil Hughes at four and five and that they will take a punt on Warner at six, even though his suspension meant that he has been unable to play in either of Australia's warm-up games. Whoever they select, England will have the more experienced line-up.

Even the Australians acknowledge that England are the favourites. In fact they seem happy as underdogs. Starc made a point of mentioning the 1989 series the other day as a source of encouragement for the Australians (Starc, by the way, must have been doing his homework, for want of a better phrase, because he was not born until 1990).

In 1989 Australia were also second favourites; they had lost the previous two Ashes series and the anticipation was that Allan Border's side would be swept away. That was the summer during which Graham Gooch was usually lbw to Terry Alderman and half the England side were eyeing an ill-conceived but highly lucrative rebel tour to South Africa. Australia won 4-0.

Do not expect that scoreline to be repeated this time. But nor should anyone anticipate an easy victory for England. Despite everything the Australians are looking like a team again – and it is the Ashes.

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France 0-2 Australia | Women's football match report

Australia forward Kyah Simon (right) and defender Alanna Kennedy fight to keep the ball during their victory over France Photograph: Alain Jocard/AFP

Australia's women's football team finished their European tour with a 2-0 win over a highly-fancied French side in Angers, France on Saturday.

Two stunning strikes from Brisbane Roar duo Tameka Butt and Katrina Gorry secured the Matilda's victory over the world No6 team in the friendly match at Stade Jean-Bouin.

Despite being ranked only four places behind France, Australia were considered heavy outsiders against a team that had finished fourth at the last FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympics.

But while the French appeared strong in the opening stages the Matildas' resolute defence soon nullified them.

Australia took the lead in the 35th minute through Butt who hit a brilliant volley into the top right corner of the net.

Gorry and Butt also proved crucial in defence, both clearing the ball off the line within moments of each other as the French ramped up their attack in the second half.

France were given a perfect opportunity to equalise just shy of the hour mark when they were awarded a spot-kick.

However, a brilliant diving save from goalkeeper Lydia Williams, who was brought on by Matildas coach Hesterine de Reus as a second-half substitute for Brianna Davey, denied France's Camille Abily.

Against the run of play, Australia doubled their advantage in the 70th minute with a powerful right-footed strike from Gorry.

After disappointing losses to the Netherlands (3-1) and Dutch club Ado den Haag (1-0) the Matildas managed to end the tour on a winning note.

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