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Australian cricket captain denies friction between players amid his shock retirement

Xinhua, August 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Retiring Australian Test cricket captain Michael Clarke has slammed media reports of unrest in his team's dressing room, labeling allegations of a divide as "absolute garbage".

Talking to Triple M radio in Melbourne, Clarke said a News Corp report published on Monday was nonsense.

On Saturday, Australia lost the Ashes Test series against England, following a limp performance that put Clarke's leadership squarely in the firing line. He then announced he would be retiring from Test cricket after the dead-rubber fifth test, to be played in London later this month.

The report said Clarke chose to isolate himself from his teammates throughout the tour - according to News Corp, Clarke had opted to travel to the matches by private car and not the team bus, a decision which had created rifts in the ranks of the team.

However Clarke lashed out at the media report on Triple M Melbourne's Hot Breakfast radio show, saying the report was a knee-jerk reaction to losing the Ashes.

"When you don't perform there's always going to be Chinese whispers and 'he says, she says'," Clarke said on Monday.

"At the end of the day the players are the ones who walk onto the field, we have to perform and we haven't performed well enough."

Clarke said there were no pent-up issues within the group, saying the team was as tight-knit as ever.

"I can guarantee you the feeling in this group is exceptional. There's no disharmony in this group whatsoever. The players are as tight as any team I've been a part of," he said.

"Traveling in different cars? What a load of garbage.

"Wives and girlfriends being on tour is a distraction? What a load of rubbish. That's absolute garbage."

The News Corp report also said there was a "long-running" feud between the wives of two senior players and there was unresolved internal backlash to selection issues.

The last match in the five-Test series is yet to be played, but Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has already indicated that an internal review of the tour would take place.

The fifth Test begins on August 20 at The Oval in London. Endi