Michael Clarke and his girlfriend Jade Yarbrough have been fined by Queensland Police over their altercation in a Noosa park earlier this month.
The Courier Mail is reporting police issued the fines to the pair for creating a public nuisance and have now closed their case.
“Queensland Police have issued a 30-year-old Queensland woman and 41-year-old New South Wales man with Public Nuisance Infringement Notices, following an alleged incident between the pair depicted in footage at Lions Park on Gympie Terrace in Noosaville earlier this month,” police told the paper.
“No other offences were detected during the investigation.”
The fine is truly the least of Clarke’s worries as he faces the loss of a relationship and a highly-lucrative commentary gig in India for Australia’s upcoming tour of India.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) is reviewing its plans to include the 41-year-old cricket great in its commentary team for the highly-anticipated tour, which gets underway on February 9.
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The upcoming commentary gig is worth an estimated $150,000 for the four Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Clarke was due to feature on the series coverage as the Australian voice of the global commentary feed alongside Matthew Hayden.
However the BCCI is reportedly ‘fickle’ with its appointments and has dismissed prospective commentators in the past for as little as a difference of opinion with the board.
Fox Sports will televise the series in prime time in Australia, but has no say in the makeup of the global commentary team and therefore declined to comment on the matter when contacted by news.com.au.
The loss of the commentary role would be another brutal blow for Clarke, who’s already seen a prospective sponsorship deal with a skincare brand get ripped up within hours of the footage of his altercation being published on Wednesday evening.
News.com.au has also contacted Clarke’s major sponsors, R.M. Williams, Hublot and Ribco for comment on the matter.
The former Australia Test captain is expected to address the incident when he returns to the airwaves for The Big Sports Breakfast on Monday morning.
A spokesman for Tabcorp, the company that owns Sky Sports Radio, producers of the Big Sports Breakfast, told news.com.au “the company doesn’t comment on the personal matters of its employees”.
Meanwhile, Clarke’s planned trip to India in February was referenced by Yarbrough in their screaming match, as she hinted that Clarke had asked his ex Pip Edwards to accompany him to India.
“You want to send her to India with you?” Yarbrough can be heard screaming in the video.
“‘You’re the love of my life Pip, come with me to India’.”
On Wednesday night, Clarke told The Daily Telegraph: “I accept full responsibility for this altercation and am shattered by my actions.”
The fight began when the two high-profile couples and their celebrity accountant friend Anthony Bell were at dinner at a beachside restaurant.
Watch the video of the incident here.
It’s understood Edwards and Yarbrough had been in contact, sparking the confrontation with Clarke.
The footage shows a shirtless Clarke limping in a park surrounded by a group who are trying to calm the situation, while a furious Yarbrough screams at him then slaps him across the face.
“You f**ked her on December 17 … You f**ked her, you’re a f**king dog,” she screams.
Clarke responds: “Baby you’re wrong, you’re wrong.”
The screaming match took place in front of multiple people in a park, about 9.30pm, and was so confronting that an onlooker could be heard yelling “there’s children over there” as they encouraged the group to take the fight elsewhere.
The bystander who filmed the fight said he was first alerted to the drama when he spotted Clarke and Stefanovic in a heated exchange.
