Brotherhood set to survive Noosa showdown as police drop investigation

Over the decades they’ve navigated rough seas together in the public eye – from marriage bust ups to courtroom showdowns and even nightmarish swells that forced them to abandon their quest for line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

So, this week’s revelations of a wild melee on the Sunshine Coast embroiling cricketing legend Michael Clarke and his high-profile accountant Anthony Bell looks unlikely to rock their long-standing friendship.

Best mates: Anthony Bell and Michael Clarke have forged a decades-long friendship.Credit: Getty

Nor is it likely to result in criminal charges, with sources saying Queensland Police had spoken to those involved and decided against pursuing an investigation on Friday.

The drama unfolded after Bell dined out on Noosa’s waterfront with Clarke and his partner Jade Yarbrough, who were on a family holiday with Yarbrough’s sister Jasmine and her husband Karl Stefanovic.

Stefanovic is a television personality on Nine, the owner of this masthead.

There were chaotic scenes as Yarbrough yelled expletives and slapped Clarke over an alleged tryst with his ex-girlfriend, activewear queen Pip Edwards.

In footage of the incident, taken by a bystander and leaked to The Daily Telegraph, Clarke then unleashed a verbal tirade at Stefanovic before Stefanovic and Bell attempted to defuse the situation.

Clarke emphatically denied any infidelity in the footage, but later told News Corp he accepted responsibility for the altercation and was shattered by his actions in the lead-up to it.

A source close to the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Bell and Clarke’s relationship had emerged strongly intact after they found themselves at the centre of a media storm this week.

“There are no problems as a result of what happened,” the source said.

The source added that Clarke was accustomed to confrontations on and off the cricket pitch and was coping with the fallout from the scandal.

“He’s strong, he’ll be OK,” they said.

Bell and Clarke go back at least 15 years when the pair were first spotted toasting Christmas drinks aboard Bell’s 80-foot luxury yacht, Stealth, which would later end up at the bottom of Sydney Harbour after it sunk near Rose Bay.

A business client-turned-best mate, Clarke purchased a three-bedroom apartment from Bell on Bondi’s famous Campbell Parade for $6 million in 2009.

Clarke and Bingle before their relationship unravelled. Credit: James Alcock

Bell played MC at Clarke’s lavish engagement party to Lara Bingle and was a shoulder for Clarke to cry on when the relationship unravelled.

Clarke returned the favour when Bell’s marriage to TV presenter wife Kelly Landry ended in an ugly courtroom showdown.

Clarke also accompanied Bell, an avid sailor, on board his supermaxi Perpetual Loyal when it was forced to turn back amid wild seas in the 2015 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.

The friendship circle later widened to include the likes of television presenters Larry Emdur and Stefanovic, as well as AFL star Buddy Franklin.

The brotherhood bonded as they soaked up million-dollar views during summer soirees aboard Bell’s yachts on Sydney Harbour.

It remains to be seen whether Clarke and Stefanovic’s relationship will survive the heated encounter.

“One would hope in the fullness of time … there’s a long history there,” the source said.

On Friday News Corp reported a series of photographs had emerged of Yarbrough and Clarke looking tense, taken just 48 hours before their public altercation.

The Daily Telegraph reported Jade was upset and embarrassed when the footage came to light, while Clarke had been on the phone trying to salvage the relationship.

Yarbrough accused Clarke of sleeping with Edwards on December 17 last year, which the cricket star denied during the altercation, telling her he had instead been with Bell.

It is understood Bell was in Noosa on the night in question.

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