Around the Wicket - Michael Clarke, Australian Captain

Michael Clarke is 27 years old and widely considered the next captain of Australia. For those who know their cricket history – 27 is about the same age Ricky Ponting was handed the captaincy of the One Day International side. It’s also around the same age Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell were given the captaincy of Australia.

Ponting was given the chance to captain the ODI side about 12 months before the 2003 World Cup. Results were sliding, and the team had failed to make the tri-series finals. Players were aging or losing form, and there were calls for changes coming from all corners.

Hmm, sound familiar?

Ricky Ponting is now 34 years old. His best cricket is probably behind him – but he could conceivably play at a reasonably high level for another 3 or 4 years. I hope he does, he’s a great batsman. However, the next captain has to be given time to develop his side. The next captain isn’t inheriting a side with 4 or 5 of the all time greats in it – he’s inheriting a young, developing side.

Ponting is not the man to develop the side for the future. He will be retired in 5 years time. The best thing to do right now is to make Michael Clarke captain of the ODI side. It gives him the chance to develop his own leadership style (which is aggressive from what I’ve seen of it) with a young side. From there, he gains confidence, and learns how to be an international captain before he gets handed the test captaincy. He needs to learn. He has not (to my knowledge) captained his state side; he has not captained a county side. With the schedule the way it is, it’s unlikely that he will in the near future. He has captained the 20/20 side – but realistically, how many game changing decisions can a captain make in the ultra short format of the game? Not many.

Captaining the ODI side through an Australian summer, and a couple of overseas tours will do MJ Clarke the world of good. He still has Ponting around to bounce ideas off (although I hope he doesn’t bounce too many) and learn the finer points from, but he needs to be given the chance to lead an Australian side and make it his own before the World Cup comes around. The players also need to learn to play under him, and what his expectations are, as opposed to Ponting.

If I were a selector, I’d start by resting Ponting from the NZ series, and making Clarke the skipper. Then, depending on the results of the test side up to and including the Ashes – I’d be considering making Clarke the test match skipper for the next home summer.

My final argument is that I believe Shane Warne was the best captain Australia never had. His results for Rajasthan Royals and Hampshire are outstanding. He also captained Michael Clarke at Hampshire, and Clarke and Warne are good mates. If Pup models his captaincy around Warne’s – I see entertaining, aggressive, successful times ahead for Australian cricket.