Cricket: Aussies in verbal war on eve of the Ashes

Australia's Michael Clarke. Photo / AP

Australian cricket is embroiled in a civil war just over a fortnight before the test team goes into battle against an England side attempting to make Ashes history.

Michael Clarke is spearheading a mission to stop England winning four straight series for the first time since the 1800s.

But heading into the first test in Brisbane on November 21, the skipper could be forgiven for thinking the real enemy is within.

Clarke has found himself at the centre of an internal row triggered by a passage in Ricky Ponting's autobiography, At the Close of Play, critical of his attitude and approach when he was vice-captain. Ponting and Clarke exchanged text messages last week which were supposed to put any simmering tension to bed.

But Clarke's "best friend", Shane Warne, ensured the subsequent innuendo about the Australian dressing room is unlikely to go away.

Warne savaged Ponting in an interview with the British press, accusing his former skipper of being motivated by "jealousy".

"To bring up the stuff about Pup [Clarke] - maybe there was a bit of jealousy, because Pup was batting so well and Ricky was not making any runs," Warne said.

"To me, Michael's very well respected. The best captains keep stuff in the dressing room. No one ever finds out about it. That's what good leaders are about. So to hear all this in a book is pretty ordinary."

TV commentator and former Aussie captain Mark Taylor also slammed Ponting last week, believing he put Clarke under the bus for the sake of making a dollar.

Coach Darren Lehmann says they should sort it out themselves.

Clarke has stayed largely silent on the Ponting matter, but interestingly, he's also getting in on the book game.

On the eve of the Brisbane team announcement on November 11, Clarke will release his Ashes tour diary from the winter, which will examine the sacking of Mickey Arthur and the disciplining of batsman David Warner.

Elsewhere, Ian Chappell revisited his damning criticism of George Bailey's batting ahead of the Tasmanian's potential test debut at the Gabba.

That in turn prompted another test great, Matthew Hayden, to rebuke Chappell.

Warne, however, has backtracked on his initial harsh assessment of Bailey.

"I put my hand up to say I was wrong about George Bailey, and it's fantastic to see the form he's in," he said. "He has to be in the top six."

- AAP