Australian coach Darren Lehmann has confirmed skipper Michael Clarke will make his ICC World Cup début against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Rested in Australia’s 111-run demolition of England in the tournament opener last weekend, Clarke is set to make a comeback following a run of hamstring and back injuries which kept him out of the majority of last month’s Test series against India and Australia’s successful ODI Tri-Series campaign also featuring England.
The news broke at a fan event in Brisbane’s CBD on Wednesday. When asked if he’ll don Australia’s green and gold against Bangladesh, Clarke nodded in Lehmann’s direction, telling reporters “That’s a question for the selector”.
“If they pick me I will play – if not I will run Gatorade,” he added.
“Yeah, he’s playing mate,” responded Lehmann.
Replacement captain George Bailey looks most likely to make way for the returning Clarke, however all-rounder Shane Watson has come under media fire for his golden duck against England and some recent lacklustre performances on home soil.
“It will be a tough call on whoever misses out,” he said.
“But you don’t win the game with just eleven. It’s the squad, that’s the mentality we’ve got.”
Clarke passed a fitness test in a practice match against Bangladesh for a Cricket Australia select XI a fortnight ago, but was still left out of the World Cup opener, prompting Aussie great Shane Warne to accuse to Australian side of setting the captain up to fail.
“We had a good conversation (with selectors) last week and thought it was in the team’s best interests to not play against England and give me another week,” Clarke said.
“At this stage I think the selectors are very happy.”
Australia’s third match will be against the 2-0 New Zealand on Saturday, February 28 at Auckland’s Eden Park.
Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images.
