Michael Clarke emerged as a batsman of highest class in the 2009 Ashes and was the only Australian among four Englishmen when Wisden named its Five Cricketers of the Year in 2010. Malcolm Conn paid this tribute to the Australia star.
Michael Clarke went on to feature in 115 Test matches for Australia, captaining the side in 47 of them. His finest year was 2012, which yielded 1,595 runs at 106.33 and confirmed his status as one of the world’s premier batsmen.
This article was first published in the 2010 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. See more from the Almanack archive.
Previously from the Almanack: David Gower: Poetry in motion
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There was a time when Michael Clarke was viewed even by some of his teammates as a bit of a glory boy. Richly talented and with an impeccable pedigree, this kid was along for the ride – the only twentysomething in a team of hard-nosed thirtysomethings who ruled the world, a Generation Y in a group of uncompromising streetfighters.
Even when he was made vice-captain after Adam Gilchrist retired early in 2008, Gilchrist was one of those warning that Clarke should not assume he would be Australia’s next captain. Was he tough enough when it counted? He has been answering in the affirmative almost ever since.
It became the defining moment of his cricket career. “I was shattered. I flew home and cried with my dad for hours on the couch,” recalled Clarke. “He said very clearly, ‘Mate, you can stay here, you can be upset, there’s a shoulder here to cry on for as long as you want, or you can go the other way, get back into the nets, train your backside off and get back into the team.’ That week after I got dropped had an impact on where I sit as a person as well as a cricketer. There are major things that happen in your life which change your thinking, and that’s the biggest challenge I’ve faced in cricket.
“I know my game better. My shot selection has improved out of sight, my disciplines off the field have improved enormously. Cricket always comes first now in regard to endorsements or sponsors. My preparation is always my No. 1 focus. Before I was dropped, I didn’t know how to prepare.”
Pre-axing, Clarke averaged 37 in 20 Tests, including those two hundreds. From his return in 2006 to the end of January 2010, he averaged 57 with 11 centuries, raising the question of when, not if, he will succeed Ricky Ponting. And the first part of the answer came in October 2009 when, aged 28, he was appointed Australia’s Twenty20 captain.
