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Michael John Clarke
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Personal information
Full name Michael John Clarke
Born 2 April 1981 (1981-04-02) (age 42)
Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname Pup
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox
Role Batsman, Australian Test and ODI captain
International information
National side Australia
Test debut (cap 389) 6 October 2004 v India
Last Test 1–5 March 2014 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 149) 19 January 2003 v England
Last ODI 26 January 2014 v England
ODI shirt no. 23
Domestic team information
Years Team
2000– New South Wales
2004 Hampshire
2011– Sydney Thunder
2012–2013 Pune Warriors India
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 105 236 174 304
Runs scored 8,240 7,683 13,168 9,607
Batting average 51.50 44.66 48.41 42.50
100s/50s 27/27 8/55 44/46 9/70
Top score 329* 130 329* 130
Balls bowled 2,387 2,549 3,579 3,259
Wickets 31 56 42 83
Bowling average 37.16 38.03 44.14 32.20
5 wickets in innings 2 1 2 1
10 wickets in match 0 - 0 -
Best bowling 6/9 5/35 6/9 5/35
Catches/stumpings 125/– 100/– 190/- 126/–
Source: CricketArchive, 9 March 2014

Michael John Clarke (born 2 April 1981) is a professional Australian cricketer and captain of the Australian cricket team for both Test and ODI cricket. Nicknamed "Pup", he is a right-handed middle-order batsman, and an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He represents New South Wales at a domestic level. In January 2011, Clarke stood down as captain of the Australian Twenty20 cricket team to concentrate on his Test and ODI performance. On 22 November 2012, Clarke scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, thereby winning the Cricketer of the Year 2013 and also the Test Cricketer of the Year 2013.

Career[]

Michael Clarke made his first class debut for New South Wales as an eighteen-year-old in the 1999–2000 Sheffield Shield. He made his One Day International debut in January 2003 against England at Adelaide and his Test debut for Australia in October 2004 against India. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1999–2000.

On 1 May 2012 Clarke made his debut in the Indian Premier League for Pune Warriors India.

In 2013 Clarke was named captain of the Sydney Thunder in Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash League. Due to international commitments and injury, Clarke did not play any games for the Thunder and they went on to lose all eight games and finish bottom of the ladder.

International career[]

Clarke was chosen to make his Test debut against India at Bangalore, October 2004, despite having a first-class average below 40. He succeeded on debut, scoring 151 and consequently helping Australia to victory, invoking comparisons to past Australian batsmen such as Doug Walters and Mark Waugh. The innings, felt Peter Roebuck, was especially notable for its aggression and freedom. "Not that the assault was reckless," he added. "Indeed the control was impressive. Clarke calculated the risks and took his brains with him down the track. Of course he need a bit of luck, was plumb in front in the nineties, but few begrudged him his hundred. And everyone except his weary foes celebrated with him and his tearful family when he reached three figures. After all, he had advanced both the match and the game."

Clarke went on to play a major part leading both the batting & bowling averages for the series in Australia's 2–1 series victory, their first in India in over thirty years, contributing figures of 6 for 9 off 6.2 overs in the Fourth Test, which Australia lost. On his return to Australia he made another debut century, his first home Test in Brisbane against New Zealand, becoming one of the few Test cricketers to have achieved the feat of Test centuries on both their home and away debuts. In recognition of his performance in the 2004 calendar year, he was awarded the Allan Border Medal in 2005.

Clarke's poor form during the 2005 Ashes series and his failure to score a Test century for over a year saw him dropped from the Test team in late 2005. Clarke had previously remarked that one of his career aims was to never be dropped from the Test team. In early 2006, after making his first first-class double century and scoring heavily in ODIs, Clarke was recalled for the tour of South Africa. He was then picked over Andrew Symonds for the April 2006 Tests against Bangladesh. Two consecutive centuries in the second and third Ashes Tests while Shane Watson was injured helped Australia to regain the Ashes and cemented Clarke's position in the Test team.

Clarke then helped Australia retain the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies where they did not lose a game. After Damien Martyn's retirement he was elevated to number five in the batting line up. He had a superb tournament making four 50s including a 92 and a 93* against the Netherlands and South Africa. He also made an unbeaten 60 against South Africa in the semi final to guide Australia into the final at Barbados, against Sri Lanka.

Clarke faced only four balls for three runs in the ICC World Twenty20, when Australia were knocked out by India in the semi final. Two weeks later he made 130 against India in the first of a seven-match ODI series. He did not maintain that form in the remaining 6 matches mustering up just one fifty. He opened the batting in the final two games after a hip injury ruled out Matthew Hayden and he made two golden ducks. In the tour-ending Twenty20 match Clarke dropped back down the order with the return of Hayden, and scored 25 not out in a heavy defeat.

On 9 November 2007, Clarke notched up his fifth Test century against Sri Lanka in a two Test series. Clarke shared a 245 run partnership with Mike Hussey at the Gabba in Brisbane, Hussey departed on 133 but Clarke went on and had a partnership with Symonds who made 53*, the pair were unbeaten when Ricky Ponting declared the innings, Clarke top scoring with 145 not out. On 5 December 2007, Cricket Australia named Clarke as captain of Australia for their one-off Twenty20 game against New Zealand in Perth, after deciding to rest Ponting and Hayden.

On 6 January 2008, Clarke dismissed Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma in the second last over of the day, with just eight minutes remaining, to claim the final three wickets and win the Test match for Australia (at one stage he was on a hat trick, dismissing Harbhajan Singh and RP Singh on consecutive deliveries). His innings figures were 3 for 5 in 1.5 overs. Australian captain Ricky Ponting had declared that morning, setting India a total of 333 to chase and allowing Australia arguably too little time to bowl out the visitors. Clarke's wickets ensured that Australia retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 and kept their world record equalling 16 match win streak alive.

After the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, in April 2008 Clarke was named vice-captain of the Australian side. Clarke missed the start of Australia's 2008 tour of the West Indies following the death of Bingle's father, meaning Hussey took over as vice-captain for the start of the tour. Soon after Clarke joined up with the squad, he scored a century in the second Test in Antigua, going on to captain the side in the final two One Day Internationals, both of which were won, in the absence through injury of Ponting.

He was named man of the series in the two-Test series against New Zealand in Australia with scores of 110, 98 and 10, as well as being the top run-scorer in the three-Test series against South Africa in Australia. Clarke won the 2009 Allan Border Medal in a tie with Ricky Ponting both scoring 41 points, and was named Test Cricketer of the Year.

Clarke has been unpopular with some members of the public. Some of the criticism revolves around his batting position at number five in Australia's Test line-up, with detractors accusing him of using much more inexperienced batsmen to protect him by having them bat higher up the order.

Clarke has now (2013) won the Allan Border Medal, considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian cricket, four times, in 2005, 2009 (jointly with Ricky Ponting), 2012 and 2013. Only Ponting has won it as many times.

Captaincy of Australia[]

Clarke was named as captain of Australia's Twenty20 side in October 2009, taking over from the retired Ricky Ponting. In January 2011, Clarke was named as stand-in captain for the fifth Test of the 2010-11 Ashes Series at the SCG, replacing the injured Ricky Ponting. He announced his retirement from Twenty20 International cricket on 7 January 2011, to concentrate on the longer forms of the game. When Ponting stood down from the captaincy of the Australian Test and ODI sides after the 2011 World Cup, Clarke was appointed as his permanent replacement in both roles.

In January 2012, in the second Test of Australia's home series against India and after a string of Test centuries since becoming captain, Clarke became the first Australian batsman since Matthew Hayden in 2003 to score a triple hundred. He joined with Ricky Ponting (134) in a partnership of 288, then added 334 with Michael Hussey (150*) before declaring on 329*. This match against India was the 100th test to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and Clarke's score was both the highest ever made in an Australia-India test (surpassing V. V. S. Laxman's 281 from the 2000/01 season) and the highest ever achieved at the ground. The ground high score record had been held for more than a century by Englishman Reg "Tip" Foster's 287 scored in the 1903/04 season. Clarke led Australia to a 4–0 win and was named the player of the series, having scored 626 runs at an average of 125.20. He joined his triple century in Sydney with a double-century (210) in the first innings of the fourth Test in Adelaide. His 386-run partnership with Ponting (who scored 221) was the fourth-highest in Australian Test history. Following the Frank Worrell Trophy 2012, Ian Chappell said Clarke "is quickly establishing a well-deserved reputation for brave and aggressive captaincy. His entertaining approach is based on one premise: trying to win the match from the opening delivery. This should be the aim of all international captains, but sadly it isn't."

Three weeks before 2013 Ashes Series, Michael Clarke has requested to stand down as his role as a selector, which also coincided with the sacking of coach Mickey Arthur and the naming of Darren Lehmann as his successor. After the first Ashes Test against England at Gabba Clarke was fined by ICC for using abusive language towards James Anderson.

Test centuries[]

Key
  • * denotes that he remained not out.
  • denotes that he was the captain of the Australian team in that match.
Test Match Centuries of Michael Clarke
# Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 151 1 Flag of India India Bangalore, India M. Chinnaswamy Stadium 2004
2 141 5 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Brisbane, Australia The Gabba 2004
3 124 24 Flag of England England Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2006
4 135* 25 Flag of England England Perth, Australia WACA 2006
5 145* 28 Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka Brisbane, Australia The Gabba 2007
6 118 33 Flag of India India Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2008
7 110 34 Flag of West Indies West Indies North Sound, Antigua Sir Vivian Richards Stadium 2008
8 112 38 Flag of India India Delhi, India Feroz Shah Kotla 2008
9 110 41 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2008
10 138 44 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 2009
11 136 49 Flag of England England London, England Lord's 2009
12 103* 50 Flag of England England Birmingham, England Edgbaston 2009
13 166 58 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Hobart, Australia Bellerive Oval 2010
14 168 59 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 2010
15 112♠ 72 Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka Sinhalese Sports Club Ground 2011
16 151♠ 73 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Cape Town, South Africa Newlands 2011
17 139♠ 75 Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Brisbane, Australia The Gabba 2011
18 329*♠ 78 Flag of India India Sydney, Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 2012
19 210♠ 80 Flag of India India Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2012
20 259*♠ 84 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Brisbane, Australia The Gabba 2012
21 230♠ 85 Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2012
22 106♠ 88 Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground 2012
23 130♠ 90 Flag of India India Chennai, India M. A. Chidambaram Stadium 2013
24 187♠ 95 Flag of England England Manchester, England Old Trafford 2013
25 113♠ 98 Flag of England England Brisbane, Australia The Gabba 2013
26 148♠ 99 Flag of England England Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 2013
Clarke is the highest run-maker in Test matches at the SCG on 329*, succeeding Reginald Foster, who previously held the record, with a score of 287.

After his double century at the Adelaide Oval in November 2012, Clarke became the only player in Test Cricket history to score 4 double centuries in a single calendar year. This feat also includes an unbeaten triple century.

External links[]

Flag of Australia
Australia T20I cricket captains

2005–2009: Ponting • 2007: Gilchrist • 2007–2010: Clarke • 2009: Haddin • 2011: White • 2012–2014: Bailey • 2014–present: Finch • 2015–2016: Smith • 2016: Watson • 2016–2018: Warner • 2020: Wade

Flag of Australia
Australia squad 2007 Cricket World Cup

8 Clark 11 McGrath 14 Ponting (c) 17 Hodge 18 Gilchrist 23 Clarke 25 Johnson 28 Hayden 31 Hogg 32 Tait 33 Watson 48 Hussey 57 Haddin 59 Bracken 63 Symonds Coach: Buchanan
Brett Lee was replaced due to injury by Stuart Clark.

Template:Australia Squad 2010 ICC World Twenty20

Flag of Australia
Australia squad 2011 Cricket World Cup

7 White 11 Nannes 12 Ferguson 14 Ponting (c) 18 Krezja 23 Clarke 25 Johnson 29 D. Hussey 32 Tait 33 Watson 36 Paine 41 Hastings 48 M. Hussey 49 Smith 57 Haddin) 58 Lee Coach: Nielsen

Batsmen with a Test batting average above 50 vte
Australia Donald Bradman (99.94) • Greg Chappell (53.86) • Michael Clarke (52.96) • Ricky Ponting (51.85) • Jack Ryder (51.62) • Michael Hussey (51.52) • Steve Waugh (51.06) • Matthew Hayden (50.73) • Allan Border (50.56)
England Herbert Sutcliffe (60.73) • Eddie Paynter (59.23) • Ken Barrington (58.67) • Wally Hammond (58.45) • Jack Hobbs (56.94) • Len Hutton (56.67) • Ernest Tyldesley (55.00) • Denis Compton (50.06)
India Vinod Kambli (54.20) • Virat Kohli (53.76) • Sachin Tendulkar (53.78) • Rahul Dravid (52.31) • Cheteshwar Pujara (51.19) • Sunil Gavaskar (51.12)
New Zealand Kane Williamson (53.38)
Pakistan Javed Miandad (52.57) • Mohammad Yousuf (52.29) • Younus Khan (52.05)
South Africa Graeme Pollock (60.97) • Jacques Kallis (55.37) • Dudley Nourse (53.81) • AB de Villiers (50.66)
Sri Lanka Kumar Sangakkara (57.40)
West Indies * George Headley (60.83) • Everton Weekes (58.61) • Garfield Sobers (57.78) • Clyde Walcott (56.68) • Charlie Davis (54.20) • Brian Lara (52.88) • Shivnarine Chanderpaul (51.37) • Viv Richards (50.23)
Zimbabwe Andy Flower (51.54)
Batsmen with a ODI batting average above 40 vte
Australia George Bailey (40.58) • Michael Bevan (53.58) • Michael Hussey (48.15) • Adam Voges (45.78) • Michael Clarke (44.58) • Dean Jones (44.61) • Matthew Hayden (43.80) • Ricky Ponting (42.03) • Shane Watson (40.54) • Callum Ferguson (41.43) • Damien Martyn (40.80) • Greg Chappell (40.18)
Bangladesh
England Jonathan Trott (51.25) • Kevin Pietersen (40.73) • Nick Knight (40.41) • Chris Broad (40.02)
India Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50.57) • Virat Kohli (59.70) • Shikhar Dhawan (44.90) • Sachin Tendulkar (44.83) • Sourav Ganguly (41.02)
New Zealand Glenn Turner (47.00)
Pakistan Zaheer Abbas (47.62) • Misbah-ul-Haq (43.40) • Mohammad Yousuf (41.71) • Javed Miandad (41.70)
South Africa Hashim Amla (49.46) • AB de Villiers (53.50) • Jacques Kallis (44.36) • Boeta Dippenaar (42.23) • Lance Klusener (41.10) • Gary Kirsten (40.95)
West Indies Viv Richards (47.00) • Gordon Greenidge (45.03) • Ramnaresh Sarwan (42.67) • Shivnarine Chanderpaul (41.60) • Desmond Haynes (41.37) • Brian Lara (40.48)
The Netherlands Ryan ten Doeschate (67.00)
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