By IANS,
Melbourne : Australian paceman Stuart Clark has dismissed Indian coach Gary Kirsten’s comments suggesting Andrew Symonds’ absence in next month’s cricket Test series will lessen the tension between the two teams.
Symonds is likely to miss the Indian tour as he undergoes professional counselling at the behest of Cricket Australia (CA) after being punished for breaching team discipline. He along with Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh were central figures in the acrimonious series between the two sides during India’s tour to Australia earlier this year.
“It’s a tough one because Symonds is such a larger than life character. I wouldn’t have thought so,” Clark was quoted as saying in The Australian Saturday.
“As much as what happened, people still love to see him playing cricket and people love playing against him and competing against him, because he’s that type of person.
“That feeling stuff (between Australia and India), I’ve said all along it’s a media thing. The sides get on well – off the field especially. There’ll be a little bit of competitiveness, which I hope is in any game of cricket or any sporting match between two countries. I wouldn’t have thought there’d be too much niggle as far as the nasty stuff,” Clark said.