Cricket is a team game, there is no doubt about it. But it is played by individuals and sometimes the acts of one are more than enough to alter the dynamics of the group, especially if that someone happens to be the captain.
Michael Clarke has had an uneasy few months leading up to the World Cup. He first got injured during the Test series against India late last year and given his long-standing hamstring and lower back issues, was given until February 21, the day the Aussies played their second World Cup match against Bangladesh, to prove his fitness.
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Clarke’s poor recent fitness record and Cricket Australia’s stringent parameters for gauging his readiness made for an unwan-ted spectacle at the start of the mega tournament.
The Australian team was flying high without Clarke’s presence but the spotlight shifted to his fitness. They managed to trounce England in the opener while the clash with Bangladesh was washed out. That allowed ‘Pup’ to be fully fit and he replaced George Bailey, who had scored a fifty against the Englishmen.
In Clarke’s first match on his return, the Aussies crumbled against a sustained pace onslaught by the Kiwis and lost a low-scoring affair by one wicket. After the game, Clarke said the team did not prepare against the swinging ball, which was seen as a subtle attack on coach Darren Lehmann’s tactics.
Clarke’s mentor and legendary spinner Shane Warne has gone on record asking Lehmann to not encroach on Clarke’s on-field leadership. Warne’s views, along with Clarke’s complaint about poor preparation, must have soured the mood in the Aussie camp.
If a captain does not like how the team is preparing, what’s stopping him from making the necessary changes there and then? And why is a close friend and revered figure like Warne fighting Clarke’s battles for him?
The Clarke fitness saga was an unnecessary exercise that affected the team’s focus. The Aussies seem a cohesive bunch without the 33-year-old in the picture and a restless one with him in the side. Clarke’s personal equation with Cricket Australia and the coach is attracting a lot more attention than it should and it’s the fault of both the board and the player.
Great day for it!!! Australia v Afghanistan in the @cricketworldcup at the @waca_cricket! Are you coming?! #CWC15 pic.twitter.com/gdGIEeWa0Z
— WACA (@waca_cricket) March 4, 2015
Cricket Australia should have seen this situation arising a long time ago. It is clear the players are happy to play under Steven Smith and the Clarke sideshow is getting too much to handle.
They could have easily made Smith the captain as Clarke was not fully match-fit at the start of the World Cup.
And Clarke has made the situation worse by pointing fingers at the coaching methods after playing one match. When a team is bowled out for 151 and the opposition is reduced to nine wickets in the chase, some credit must be given to the fast bowlers who had a rare good day in one-day cricket.
Only Clarke knows about the intention behind those comments. But it is clear he has provided yet another unnecessary distraction at such a huge tournament at home.
He is without doubt a contemporary great but Clarke is beginning to look like a third wheel.
