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Another chance Af-gone-istan after Clarke inexplicably hides

5th March, 2015
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Michael Clarke has faced a grand total of 18 balls during the World Cup. Is he fit, or in adequate form, for the knock-out stages of the tournament? (AFP PHOTO / Saeed KHAN)
Expert
5th March, 2015
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Four games into this World Cup campaign, and Michael Clarke has faced 18 balls. In fact, after sending down five overs against Afghanistan, he’s bowled more than he’s hit.

In the weeks before the Cup, the selectors’ deadline for Clarke was clear. He had to prove full fitness by Australia’s second game. If he didn’t take the field against Bangladesh he would be replaced in the squad.

There was plenty of comment at the time that this was strict, even harsh, with suggestions that the condition was set up to ensure he would fail to meet it. But the selectors seemed to accept that Clarke needed to play at least five of Australia’s six pool games to be ready for the knockouts.

That was all an illusion. Far from encountering strictness, Clarke has been allowed to cruise past the deadline while barely lifting a bat. The Bangladesh game washed away in Brisbane’s rain without a ball bowled. The New Zealand game a week later saw Clarke score 12 runs from 18 balls, while Australia’s time in the field was done in 23 overs.

In Wednesday’s match against Afghanistan, Clarke again had an undemanding session in the field as a captain defending over 400, and inexplicably didn’t seem to think that the most underprepared player in the tournament should probably have a bat.

With Shane Watson dropped, Clarke was listed to come in at No. 3, the perfect position for a sedate long-innings player in a line-up of hitters. Instead, when a wicket fell after three overs, Clarke promoted Steve Smith, a guy who this season has faced more balls than Indiana Jones.

When the next wicket fell in the 38th over, in went Glenn Maxwell. Then James Faulkner. Then Mitchell Marsh. Then Brad Haddin, who was batting at No. 8 last game and has been playing since just after the dinosaurs conked out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! went the fireworks from the bats of David Warner and Maxwell, while Clarke slid down the batting order like Super Mario down a flagpole. “Thank you Michael, but your match fitness is in another pool game.”

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Remember that Australia’s selectors had effectively stated that by their second game of the tournament, Clarke’s time out with injury would mean he couldn’t reliably regain the rhythm of ODI cricket in time for the knockouts.

Now Clarke is about to enter the fifth game of the tournament – a must-win match against Sri Lanka – and still hasn’t had a meaningful innings in the middle. Except now there’s no apparent selectorial objection.

Bluntly, he has fulfilled the letter of their requirement, in being available to play, without fulfilling its spirit in proving match fitness. On the plus side, this has given him more recovery time without pushing his body. On the minus, we have no read on his ability to contribute with the bat, or on whether his body will fail.

The next game is at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Sri Lanka have won four of their last six. Their top order has scored five centuries at this World Cup. Lose and Australia could face a quarter final against South Africa, then an away semi-final against New Zealand. Win and the route could be via Ireland or the West Indies, and India.

What happens if Clarke has another couple of failures, or another rain shower, or another day where his services aren’t required? Can Australia walk into the knock-out stage carrying a captain with no rhythm, no runs, no decent innings under his belt?

What if he can’t find form before a semi-final? A final? Will they have the gumption to drop him if the team needs it? Or will they stick stubbornly to the choice while George Bailey, who’s played almost every game in the last two years, remains a spectator?

Australia’s batting must be in order. If Clarke didn’t feel he was the right man to come in at any stage during Afghanistan’s 50 overs in the field, what the hell was he doing in the side? We flash back to when he led Australia in T20s, bumping himself down the order because he couldn’t hit like other players. Even in that frenetic format less than a third of his innings topped a strike rate of 100.

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Clarke’s bowling against Afghanistan was a belated attempt at participation, but it reminded us of an option. Batting Maxwell at No. 5 and Marsh at No. 6 is not a viable order should a good bowling attack get the top three early.

Bailey must return to No. 5. If Clarke stays then he must combine with Maxwell and Smith to bowl the required overs around his four specialist seamers.

Clarke at his best could still be the core to a one-day innings, but has no recent form to suggest he can currently do it. Australia are thinking themselves favourites for this tournament while carrying a captain riddled with rust and leaving out another captain who is vastly better prepared.

Clarke’s selection was a risk to begin with, and week by week, the vagaries of the pool stage are making it an even greater liability.

This article was first published in Wisden India.

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