Michael Clarke refuses to quit Twitter, asks critics to take ‘a chill pill'

Australia's stand-in cricket Michael Clarke has said that he will not quit Twitter unless ordered by Cricket Australia.

Clarke, 29, has contributed a solitary half-century in 12 test and one-day matches this summer, but became embroiled in another Twitter storm on Monday.

Clarke felt compelled to Twitter in search of a date for the Allan Border medal for desperate Steve Smith on Saturday.

He has now hit back at criticism of his tweeting, telling critics to "take a chill pill", News.com.au reports.

"They (Cricket Australia) introduced me to Twitter and I guess organised me to be on Twitter and set it all up for me to get to the fans and get as many people watching and supporting cricket as possible. And I have enjoyed it, to be honest," Clarke said.

"If they think it's in my best interests to get off Twitter, then I will certainly do that, but right now it's certainly not a concern," he said.

Clarke has also made it clear today that he won't buckle under intense media scrutiny over his batting form.

Clarke's prolonged batting slump has manifested in analysis of everything from his batting style, fashion sense and his frequent use of social networks such as Twitter.

He said the spotlight was trained on him because of a lean scoring summer - in his past 12 innings for Australia, he's averaged just over 20.