HAMILTON - Vice-captain Michael Clarke has quit Australia's cricket tour of New Zealand and is heading home to Sydney for personal reasons.
A spokesman said Clarke had left the team hotel in Hamilton on the eve of today's third one-day international against the Black Caps and it was not knownwhen he would return.
Clarke's fiancee Lara Bingle has announced she's suing AFL player Brendan Fevola over a nude photo she claims Fevola took without her permission.
Woman's Day last week published the photo of Bingle in the shower which was allegedly taken while she and Fevola were involved in a secret affair in 2006.
Bingle has opened up in a magazine interview about the release of the photo, saying she has been deeply humiliated.
Her celebrity agent Max Markson says reports that Bingle, 22, was paid A$200,000 ($249,084) for the interview and photo shoot with Woman's Day were "false".
Bingle told the magazine the nude photo was taken without her permission and she felt exploited and compromised by its release.
The model says she is suing the footballer to restore her "dignity and self-respect" and to show it's "not cool or funny" to distribute nude photos of anyone.
Bingle describes Clarke as amazing and says he has supported her in the "ups and downs that have happened in my life".
Clarke's departure leaves the Australian one-day squad down to just 12 players, with paceman Clint McKay and all-rounder Adam Voges vying for a place in the side with Clarke gone.
A replacement player may be called up from Australia for the final two one-day games in Auckland on Thursday and Wellington on Saturday, a spokesman said.
It's not known if Clarke will return for the two-test series starting on March 19.
The test squad is due to be named later this week.
Clarke, 28, has endured an unhappy two weeks in New Zealand.
He captained the Australian Twenty20 side to a six-wicket victory in Wellington on February 26 before a loss in Christchurch two days later.
His fine innings of 67 in Christchurch ended on a sour note when he needed a boundary to win the match in regulation time but failed to find the rope, getting run out attempting a third run from the final ball of the 20th over.
The talented strokeplayer has failed to dominate the first two matches of the one-day international series against New Zealand, scoring 22 and 11.
Before the first ODI clash in Napier, Clarke was hounded by media at a training session, with one television cameraman following him off the training field from close range despite being told he wasn't allowed on the oval.
The local media then demanded interviews with Clarke while he was still participating in Australia's training session in the nets.
Clarke sometimes donned a cap out in public but wore a brave smile in the past week and did his best to appear bright and chirpy despite Bingle's dramas.
The stylish batsman was runner-up to Shane Watson in February 2010 in the prestigious Allan Border Medal for Australia's player of the year, and is captain of the national T20 side which will contest the World Cup in the West Indies in April-May.
Test vice-captain Clarke is regarded as the likely successor to Ricky Ponting when Ponting's reign ends as Australian skipper.
- AAP
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