Pakistan vs Australia

Pakistan vs Australia, 2nd Test, Headingley, Leeds

Pakistan vs Australia 2nd Test, Headingley, Leeds, On Jul 21, 2010 from 09:30 GMT | 15:00 IST Onwards

Michael Clarke may be Australia’s captain in waiting but for now the batsman is adamant his main priority is to focus on making a success of his new role at number four. Clarke was made captain of Australia’s Twenty20 side after star batsman and Test captain Ricky Ponting opted out of that format.

But the responsibility of leading at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean did not appear to do too much for his run-scoring, with Clarke averaging 15.33 in a tournament where Australia lost to England in the final in Barbados in May.

Clarke has spent the bulk of his Test career at five but, such has been his form over the past 12 months, Ponting has asked him to move up a spot and so swap with Michael Hussey.

His previous experience of life at four was not a successful one, with a top score of 39 in five innings after the 2005 Ashes before he was dropped from the Australia team. When he returned, six months later, it was at number five.
“Ricky came and grabbed Michael Hussey and myself at training the morning of the Derby game and told us what was happening,” Clarke told reporters at Headingley here on Monday ahead of the second Test against Pakistan.

“For me it hasn’t fazed me. When I was younger I cared more about the position I batted. After getting dropped from the Australian team, for me it was always just about being the team, it doesn’t matter where I bat.

Clarke has enjoyed success at Headingley, where the Pakistan finale starts on Wednesday, having scored 93 at Yorkshire’s headquarters during Australia’s innings win in the fourth Test against England here last year. But given his own experience of being dropped, and the fact his career has been played out against the backdrop of a degenerative back condition, Clarke is taking nothing for granted.