Embattled Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has spoken out for the first time about his much publicised departure from his team’s tour of New Zealand.
He ended his relationship with model Lara Bingle before returning to the tour amid unprecedented media interest.
An upbeat Clarke thanked his former Australian teammate Shane Warne for his friendship and support during the toughest period of his career.
"I have spoken to Warney, I've spoken to all my friends and family," Clarke said.
"He's been a wonderful friend of mine for a long time.
"He's excited to see me back in New Zealand and he has wished me all the best for the first Test match."
Clarke refused to discuss his personal life or his break-up with Bingle.
"It's been a very interesting couple of weeks but it's great to be back here with my teammates," Clarke said.
However, he conceded the attention he’d been facing over the past week was part of the job.
"It’s part of what we do. Being a professional athlete, it’s not just what you do on the field, it’s what you do off it as well."
He defended his decision to leave the team last week: "It was obviously something that I felt was important and needed to be done."
Clarke would not give details of why he left, but said, "I guess that’s part of my personal life and I felt I needed to do that at the time".
The Australian vice-captain returned to Wellington on Monday and trained with the team at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday, with TV cameras attempting to get footage of him in the foyer of the team’s hotel and some media crews being asked to leave the premises.
A Channel Seven camera crew turned up on Clarke’s business class flight from Sydney to Wellington on Monday.
Clarke today said he expected to be sledged by Kiwi players during this week’s first Test and he was confident he was in a good frame of mind for the battle.
‘‘I made the decision firstly to go home but then to come back to New Zealand knowing there’s a big Test match starting on Friday and I knew I’d be capable to get up for that,’’ Clarke said.
‘‘Preparation has been important to my throughout my whole career and it’s no different now.’’
It has been a tumultuous fortnight for Clarke, who announced his split from model Lara Bingle on the weekend amid the fallout from the Brendan Fevola nude photo scandal.
It is understood the move followed Bingle arranging an exclusive interview with Woman's Day about the nude photograph.
She claims AFL footballer Fevola circulated the photo of her taken in a shower during an affair between the pair in 2006 and is seeking to sue him in court.
It was reported last week that Clarke was opposed to Bingle granting the interview, saying it would resurrect old news and intrude into the couple's private life.
It has been reported Bingle was paid as much as $200,000 for the interview and photo shoot, but her manager Max Markson and the magazine have denied this.
- with stuff.co.nz, agencies
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