Just when it seems it could not get any more humiliating for Australia’s disgraced cricket team, there’s an even bigger storm brewing behind the scenes with our WAGs officially declaring war.
As former Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke, 37, threatens a comeback after the ball-tampering scandal that sent shockwaves through the international sporting world, the current Aussie WAGs have gone into complete meltdown – at the prospect of his wife Kyly Clarke, 36, also making a return.
A second innings
“If you thought the Australian team are divided between the good guys and the bad boys since this cheating scandal, then the girls are even more estranged. Throw into the mix there’s a real chance Kyly could step back into the leading role… suffice to say, things are very tense,” a former WAG, who asked not to be named, tells Woman’s Day.
“When that footage surfaced of Cameron [Bancroft] tampering with the ball, our hearts broke – he’s the kid in the team who is the pleaser. Since then, everyone has retreated and everyone is very guarded.”
“Then came reports Michael would consider a return if asked by ‘the right people’, and we [past and present WAGs] went into a collective state of shock.”
“Kyly was not popular. She would turn up wearing Jimmy Choos and carrying expensive handbags, when some of the wives had been up all night with a sick toddler.”
“She was very aloof, and for some reason some WAGs believe it was Kyly who leaked that Candice [Warner] was pregnant – there’s no love lost there. And there’s the impression Michael thinks Dave [Warner] is just a ‘cashed-up bogan.'”
“Candice is the unofficial number one now, so who knows what will happen if Kyly returns. There are just as many big personalities among the WAGs as there are in the team, and it won’t be pretty.”
David Warner’s wife Candice is now leading the pack.
Under pressure
Disgraced captain Steve Smith’s fiancee Dani Willis, 27, also feels the pressure to keep up with other more high-profile WAGs like Candice, 33, despite having a girl-next-door reputation.
“Steve, at his own expense, put Dani into another hotel away from the team during their days off,” reveals our source.
“And it was the One & Only, the most luxurious in Cape Town, which costs $2000 a night.”
“Steve is very private and often he and Dani eat alone in their room. He’s incredibly serious. To make things worse, Dani had left to go wedding shopping in New York three days before the scandal broke. Steve had to suffer through it alone, and you could see he was struggling without her support.”
Disgraced skipper Steve Smith is “struggling” without his fiancee Dani by his side.
But there’s one solution to averting an all-out war among the WAGs – and that’s by banning them.
Woman’s Day can reveal the Cricket Australia board could rule that this “doomed tour” is the last hurrah for the pampered WAGs.
One former cricket official said last week that many senior officials have lobbied for years that a cricket tour is no place for families – and now even some of the WAGs agree it may be time to take their advice.
With now-disgraced big names like David, 31, and Steve, 28, raking in millions and splashing their cash on tour, many fans think they have lost touch with average Aussies.
“There’s going to be a lot of very unhappy wives and girlfriends when they realise there’s no more first-class trips and five-star restaurants and hotels,” says the former WAG.
Splashing the cash
“How do fans feel knowing Dave earns over $6 million a year, and still he and Candice apparently expect Cricket Australia to part pay for her to be a tour groupie?”
“Candice and Dave are by nature shockingly ostentatious – they even booked a chopper to take them to a local Cape Town winery area known as Constantia, when it’s a comfortable 25-minute Uber drive from the team hotel!”
With ex-captain Michael Clarke slated to return, his “aloof” wife will be on tours, too.
“They also snuck away to the luxury Sabi Sands [private reserve] in Kruger National Park, a side trip during official time off, which would have cost them about $5000 a day.
“Steve earns more than the highest paid NRL and AFL player combined – and so does Dave!
“Everyone is now holding their breath and hoping the Clarkes – albeit that Michael is a great player and a reasonable captain – don’t make the comeback that’s been speculated. I don’t think previous blow-ups among the WAGs could match what might erupt if Candice and Kyly are forced to reunite.”
