Ben Fordham calls out 'coward' Michael Clarke for not addressing his Noosa brawl trends now

Radio host Ben Fordham has ripped into Michael Clarke for refusing to address his Noosa brawl during the cricketer's first radio show of the year on Monday. 

Clarke, 41, fell silent on Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast when a listener called in to defend him over the incident, letting his co-host Gerard Middleton do the talking. 

'How cowardly can you get?'  2GB Breakfast host Fordham, 46, said of Clarke during Monday's broadcast.  

'I mean, he's got a microphone in front of him, he's sitting in a radio studio, it's the story everyone's talking about and Clarkey squibs it. Clarke, you wuss,' he added. 

Clarke had an awkward return to the airwaves on Monday as he hosted his first radio show of the year - less than a week after footage of his blazing row with girlfriend Jade Yarbrough went viral.

The former Australian cricket captain was stunned into silence when a female listener called in to defend him over the incident, which took place in a public park in Noosa earlier this month, forcing one of his co-hosts to step in and say 'it's a private matter'.

During a segment where listeners discuss their 'heroes and villains' of the week, the woman praised Clarke for being 'discreet' by not fuelling the scandal with further commentary.

Clarke refused to be drawn into a dialogue, however, and his colleague took over the conversation by stressing the matter would not be discussed on air.

'My hero is Clarkey for being discreet in what happened, and my villain is the person that filmed it and sold to the media,' the listener said.

'I mean, come on, you know, it's a private matter. Leave it at that. It didn't need to be [made] public.'

Clarke remained silent as his co-host Middleton stepped in.

'It was a private matter and early this morning we said that, at the end of the day, this is a private matter that was made public,' Middleton said.

'And there's a lot of factors at play, so we're certainly moving on and letting the private matter be private this morning, but we really appreciate you calling,' he added. 

Earlier in the program, the hosts of Big Sports Breakfast briefly mentioned the Noosa incident - but only to say they wouldn't be discussing it.

Middleton said shortly after 5:30am: 'Now, of course, [there is] enormous fascination into Clarkey's life and we are just hitting this on the head straight away.'

'It is a private matter that Clarkey's obviously been dealing with, a very, very private matter, which unfortunately was made public,' he continued. 

'There's a lot of factors in play here and Clarkey's made his statement last week and due to all the factors in play we are moving forward on The Big Sports Breakfast this morning.' 

Despite the serious tone, Middleton couldn't resist joking about the hamstring injury Clarke sustained during the January 10 brawl.

At the start of the broadcast, Clarke told his co-hosts Middleton and Laurie Daley his injury was 'on the mend' as the trio discussed their summer breaks.