Sydney Oct 17 (CRICKETNMORE) Former Australian captain Michael Clarke opened a can of worms when he said that some cricketers were "like a tumour" on the sport, but denied calling ex-teammate Shane Watson "a cancer".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Appearing on Australian Channel Nine's 60 Minutes programme on Monday, Clarke spilled the beans on many of the controversies that defined his 115-Test career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He spoke about how he thought he was a bad vice captain and had riled former team-mates, but attempted to clarify previous comments about them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I said that there is a number of players, a group in this team at the moment, that are like a tumour and if we don't fix it, it's going to turn into a cancer," he told Channel Nine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Asked if that applied to Watson, Clarke replied: "Shane was one of those players, yes."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Clarke also spoke of an infamous dressing room flare-up at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2009 after the Test win over South Africa.Team-mate Simon Katich reportedly grabbed then vice captain Clarke by the shirt over a disagreement about when the team song would be sung.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He said he had "every reason" to be angry, but "I don't think my language was appropriate".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Clarke also revealed that cricket has never been the same for him after the tragic death of Phillip Hughes, a very close pal to Clarke.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Hughes was hit on the neck by a bouncer in November 2014 during a domestic match and died a few days later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I guess I probably tried to tell myself that there was a chance he'd be OK," Clarke said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"But I think I knew there wasn't. I spent the whole night talking to him. That breaks my heart the most.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It was always hard to play cricket after that. I felt fear for the first time in my life when I played cricket."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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