Michael Clarke has hit back at media reports stating the reason for Australia's Ashes 2015 series loss has been several off-the-field incidents involving Clarke.
A report from News Corp stated that there had been a long-running feud between the wives of two of the senior players in the Australia side, one of them believed to be Clarke's, and that has been one of the reasons why the skipper failed to inspire his team to a favourable result in the Ashes this year.
The report also says the the 34-year-old batsman, who will call it quits from international cricket after the fifth Ashes Test this year at Oval on 20 August, refused to travel on the team bus and interact with his teammates prior to the Test matches.
And not only that, the Sydney Daily Telegraph also mentioned the off-field relationship between Clarke and his teammates has gone downhill over the past 12 months.
These reports did not go down well with Clarke.
"When you don't perform, there's always going to be Chinese whispers or there's going to be 'he say, she say'," Clarke, who made his test debut in 2004 against India, said on Australian radio Triple M.
"There's no disharmony in this group whatsoever. The players are as tight as any team I've been a part of,".
"Travelling in different cars. What a load of sh**.
"Wives and girlfriends being on tour is a distraction? What a load of sh**. That's absolute garbage.
"I'll give back 10 of my Test 100s if it wasn't for my beautiful wife."
If those aforementioned reports were not enough, Monday's edition of the Brisbane Courier Mail showed the ICC World Cup-winning captain in a far from flattering light, as they put a "From loner to loser" front-page headline.
The report was slammed by Australian duo Ben Cutting and former cricketer Ryan Harris, as they reverted to the same.
