Clarke, Haddin and Rogers' careers in limbo

The careers of Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers are in limbo after an otherwise successful opening day of the first Test against India at Adelaide.

Clarke’s future remains unclear after again injuring his back and being forced to retire hurt, Brad Haddin’s duck leaves him with 71 runs at an average of eight from his past six Tests, and Rogers endured another failure.

Clarke has famously missed only one Test through injury during his storied career, despite carrying a serious back injury for many years.

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But he has never looked as physically fragile as he has this year. Prior to making a fluent 60 on Tuesday, his Test form had been dire for a solid 12 months.

His past eight Tests had seen him score just 357 runs at an average of 27, with almost half of those runs coming during a remarkable 161 not out at Cape Town to set up a wonderful 2-1 series win over South Africa.

His other scores during that period, in order, read: 24, 23, 10, 6no, 10, 6, 23, 17no, 19, 1, 0, 2, 3, 47, 5. Clarke simply has not looked the same player that ran roughshod over opponents in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The most noticeable symptom of his decline has been degenerating feet movement. Nimbleness had been a hallmark of his batsmanship, whether demonstrated by skipping down the track to flay the spinners or swivelling swiftly to pummel short balls from the quicks.

There were signs on Tuesday that, perhaps, he had returned to his free-moving best. On 33, facing Mohammed Shami, he fetched a short of a length ball from well outside off, pivoted, and deposited it with a thunderous pull shot through mid wicket.

It was reminiscent of the imperious cross bat strokes he unfurled while flaying India and South Africa during consecutive seasons of extraordinary dominance in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Yet, less than an hour later, his body betrayed him once again, amid the most innocuous of actions. Clarke swayed gently under an innacurate bouncer from Ishant. That simple movement was enough to leave him first wincing, then crouching, then laying, then departing.

The severity of his condition is not yet clear. Given the manner in which he was rushed back into the side without any match practice, following confusion and quarrelling over his fitness, he may well sit out the rest of the match.

The death of Phil Hughes has left this series heavily compacted, with four Tests in as many weeks. With an impending World Cup and the all-important Ashes on the horizon, Clarke may need a lengthy rest to ensure that he doesn’t miss matches more important than those in this series.

If he sits out the remainder of this Test it will be Haddin who takes over the captaincy, one would assume. The wicketkeeper is fortunate to have retained his position after abysmal returns during first the Test series against South Africa and then the debacle in the UAE against Pakistan.

In South Africa, he was exposed by pace. In the UAE, he floundered against spin. Against India, his presumed lack of confidence saw him rather curiously request a nightwatchman despite Australia dominating at 4-345 against a deflated Indian attack on the flattest of surfaces.

Nathan Lyon was exposed to the new ball, was promptly bowled, and then Haddin belatedly strode to the crease and lasted less time than his tail-ender teammate. Haddin effectively dealt his side a double blow and opened the door for the Indians who, up to that point, had looked a broken bunch.

The veteran gloveman is 37 years old in a side which has seven players in the twilight of their careers. Australia will soon have to begin significant generational change – they have missed a trick by not starting it already – and Haddin is the most vulnerable player, alongside 37-year-old Chris Rogers.

The Victorian opener’s lean run continued as he was caught behind for nine off the bowling of Ishant Sharma. Like Haddin, his returns have dwindled since Australia’s 5-0 flogging of England last summer.

Like Haddin, it seems the Australian selectors are keen for him to stretch his career to next year’s tour of England. Rogers has formed a solid opening partnership with Warner and his vast experience and success in England makes him an attractive Ashes tourist.

He and Haddin both must find touch quickly, however, or they could find their careers won’t last the summer.

Clarke’s finicky chassis could soon condemn him to a similar fate. His mind will be motivated by the twin goals of captaining Australia to World Cup glory on home soil and finally winning a Test series in England, after being part of three successive defeats.

But his body will dictate terms. We may be witnessing the final days of Clarke, Haddin and Rogers.

Fortunately for Australia, they have several young players who continue to blossom and look set to lead Australia into their next generation.

David Warner extended his astounding form surge yesterday, notching his seventh ton in his past 11 Tests. The exhilarating opener’s innings followed a path which is becoming familiar. He took on the new ball, scattered the field and then shifted down a gear and calmly exploited the many generous gaps in the field.

As a younger man he was so determined not to lose the rollicking momentum of his knocks that he would try to manufacture boundaries from deliveries which demanded respect. Now he is prepared to cash in on the easy runs which present themselves once his early belligerence has intimidated the opposition bowlers and skipper.

Warner is now arguably the most valuable Test batsman on the planet. His young teammate, Steve Smith, looks set to compete for that lofty title in the years to come.

Over the past 12 months, the versatile middle order strokemaker has made 782 Test runs at 60. At 78 not out at the close of play, he is within reach of making his fourth ton in that period.

Many of Smith’s highest scores at Test level have come amid rearguard actions necessitated by top order collapses. On Tuesday he had the luxury of striding to the crease with the score at 2-206, following Clarke’s retirement.

Similar to Warner, he looked in complete control of his game and the attack from the start of his innings. The maturation of both Smith and Warner has been a sight to behold this past year.

Their raw teammate Mitch Marsh also gave further cause for optimism with another assured innings. He did not capitalise on his start after moving smoothly to 41, but Marsh’s batting continues to bely his very modest first-class average of 29.

The tall 23-year-old used his feet confidently against India’s spinners and played fluently off both front and back foot to their quicks. While he is yet to play a big, breakthrough innings, returning 205 runs at 41 across your first five Test innings is an extremely encouraging effort.

The future of Australia’s Test team appears to be in good hands. The changing of the guard has begun.