Australia's Clarke continues comeback in Brisbane

The 33-year-old has until Australia's second match of the tournament, against Bangladesh on Feb. 21, to prove his fitness after surgery on a torn hamstring.

Australia's Clarke continues comeback in Brisbane

(Reuters)





He played a club game in Sydney at the weekend and then turned out for the Cricket Australia XI against the Bangladeshis at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Thursday.

Clarke had expected to play just a limited part in the game, but bowled two overs of his left arm spin and was fielding in the slips and on the boundary.

His hamstring was well tested as he took a low catch in the slips to dismiss Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and spent two hours in total on the field.

He also returned to bat and made 34 from 36 balls, including six fours, and looked in no discomfort.

"In my opinion, there's still a gap between where I am now and playing a one-day international for Australia," Clarke, who will head to Adelaide on Friday to join the rest of the Australian squad, told reporters.

"But the fortunate thing is I've got plenty of time to close that gap. I'm trying to get fit and healthy as soon as possible, and then the experts will make those decisions.

"I would have liked a few more runs but it's been nice. I've just got a bit more treatment now but I've pulled up pretty well."

Fitness has not been the only issue for Clarke, with Australian media reporting he could lose the captaincy to either stand-in George Bailey or test skipper Steve Smith.

Coach Darren Lehmann and Clarke have both said in recent days it was not an issue, while opening batsman Aaron Finch added the team would not have a problem following any of the three men at the Feb. 14-March 29 tournament.

"I don't think it makes much difference to the players - we've played under them all," Finch told reporters in Melbourne earlier on Thursday.

"Michael has done an unbelievable job for a long time and so has George in one-day cricket.

"Steve is just starting out in his captaincy career - I suppose it's important that we don't let it distract us.

"From the players' point of view, I don't think it will."





(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington and Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Patrick Johnston)


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world