The Australian cricket selectors’ biggest worry this summer will be Test skipper Michael Clarke.
Not his batting, he’s one of the very best in the business, nor his captaincy as he’s one of the most positive in world cricket, but his consistent injury toll keeps rising.
Australian can’t afford to have a captain who is seemingly fit one week, and not the next. It leaves the team in limbo.
The Australian Test cricket captaincy is the highest job in the land after the Prime Minister, and it can’t be chopped and changed around on the fitness of the incumbent.
Clarke’s had a dicky back for years, but now it’s hamstring problems, and this one is taking far too long to heal. Has the skipper’s frame become too frail to play international cricket?
There are two Tests coming up against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and four Tests against India at the Gabba, Adelaide, MCG, and SCG from December 4 to January 7.
Then the ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand starts on February 14, with the final at the MCG on March 20.
All things being equal, Clarke would be Australia’s captain right through all those games. But there’s no certainty in that. So who should be the Test and World Cup captain if the worst happens?
Quite obviously the Test skipper would be keeper Brad Haddin, who will turn 37 on October 23. But as good as he is, he’s close to calling it a day. Haddin would do an excellent job in the interim, as would George Bailey at the World Cup.
But looking past this summer, and even further, who could captain the Test side?
There are only two possibilities – Steve Smith and David Warner – with Bailey unable at this stage to make the five-day side.
Both Smith and Warner are first-choice selections in the Test side, so making either captain wouldn’t be a punt.
Smith is 25, and Warner will be 28 on October 27, so both have a good few years ahead of them at international level.
Smith has shown his liking for leadership by captaining NSW to the 2013-14 Sheffield Shield success in the final at Manuka over Western Australia.
In the five-day game, Smith, batting at three, scored 75 off 147 balls and an unbeaten 103 off 229, proving he can play with responsibility for his side without having to blaze away. We know he can do both, but for mine Smith has the inside running if a Test captain is needed for an extended period.
Warner has aspirations as well, he’s a great thinker about the game, and we all know how he loves to get on with it as one of the most devastating batsmen in world cricket. But my pick would be Steve Smith.
With no disrespect to either Smith or Warner, if would be the ultimate for Australian cricket that Michael Clarke is fit enough to do the job he does so well in all departments.
But it’s nice to know there are two genuine alternatives if the skipper keeps falling apart physically.
The mammoth rise of Jake Fraser-McGurk - his enormous potential and the destructive shot-making that he possesses makes him a very tempting option.
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