Michael Clarke has unexpectedly left Australia’s tour of New Zealand to fly home. Is his girlfriend about to give birth? Did a close family member receive some bad news? Is he mentally exhausted? No. He’s flying back because his partner, the model Lara Bingle, is pursuing legal action over publication of a half-naked photo of her in a shower, taken by an ex-boyfriend years ago.

Wow. Did not see that excuse coming.

Clarke and Bingle, the Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy of Australia’s celebrity scene, have a history of controversy as a couple. Bizarrely, Simon Katich once grabbed Clarke’s throat when he asked if their team song could be sung early so he could meet Bingle. That might sound like an overreaction on Katich’s part and, well, it clearly was. This time, however, Clarke deserves everything that’s thrown at him.

Except, he seems to be getting away with it. Ricky Ponting has said “We’ll give him as much time as he needs and all that we can do is give him as much support as possible.” It’s almost reaching black-armband territory. There will be man-hugs all around, draped in the Southern Cross while Waltzing Matilda blares out. And other clichés.

As we’re dealing in stereotypes, there was a time not so long ago when the typical Aussie cricketer would have embraced this kind of behavior from their Sheilas. Not any more.

This team have gone all touch-feely; if a player wants to leave a tour to be by the side of a model girlfriend who’s upset about a photo, then, well, off you go, mate. I’d love to hear Merv Hughes’ or David Boon’s take on this (the situation, not the photo).

There is, somewhere, a serious point about this episode. Andrew Strauss must be bewildered. He decided to take a break from cricket to refresh himself for a very busy 18 months, and was turned into Heather Mills by the British press.

Yet Clarke seems to have got the full support of the Australian media for leaving a tour on such a ridiculous basis – they are even sympathetically quoting sources saying he’s “confused and lost”. Marcus Trescothick got less sympathy when leaving the last Ashes tour, despite having genuine, sad reasons.

Bingle has previous – the photo was taken by AFL footballer Brendan Fevola, who was married when the two got together. So it’s hard to find sympathy for a cricketer who appears to court the celebrity life and all that comes with it, and then buggers off from a tour when that lifestyle inevitably starts to bite him. It’s not the response to a difficult situation that Australians will want from their captain-in-waiting.

Daniel Brigham is assistant editor of The Wisden Cricketer

Follow him on Twitter: WisdenCric_Dan