Michael Clarke has announced his retirement from international cricket after the Ashes series, choosing rather to jump rather than being pushed and ending speculation of him stepping away after every failure. He will play a part in the dead rubber at the Oval, but after the match he will no further be involved in international cricket, having retired from One-Day cricket after the World Cup this year and quit the shortest format of the game five years ago.
He is in poor form, having an average of 16.71 in the first four matches of the Ashes series, the second lowest by a batsmen-captain in an Ashes series with a minimum of six innings. Only Ricky Ponting worse, achieving an average of 16.14 in eight innings in the 2010-11 series.
His compounding technical problems and back and hamstring injuries has been the main reason for his decision to step away from the game. Clarke is prodding at deliveries that he would have usually left with confidence and peace in mind and feeling for balls outside the off-stump, instead of letting the ball flow onto the bat. He is looking distracted and not certain in his strokes and lacking confidence in his abilities. However he still had a lot to give and could have rediscovered his form, but he put the team’s needs ahead of his own and showed his unselfishness.
“I have one more test and that is the end of my career, the 34-year-old announced in an interview for channel nine. “I am retiring from international cricket. I don’t want to jump ship and leave the boys now, so I will play the last test at the Oval, give it one last crack, but the time’s right now.
When quizzed about if it was a difficult decision to retire, the right-handed batsmen replied: “It always is, you never want to walk away from the game, but I think my performances in this series and the last 12 months have not been acceptable to me and I pride myself on leading from the front. So that’s been disappointing and I think you build yourself up for the big tournaments and series. One-Day cricket is all about the World Cup; test cricket is all about the Ashes and I have certainly tried my best, the boys have tried their best.
We got outplayed, we got beaten and now it is time for the next generation of players or the next captain to have the opportunity to build a team and get them ready for the next Ashes series”.
“I made the decision (to retire) last night after I came home from the day’s play. I felt my performances throughout the series weren’t as I wanted them to be, but for me I didn’t know until I made the decision and the decision was never easy, like I say I started playing this great game at the age of six. I wish I could play the game for another 30 years, but it’s the way it goes. It’s the right time unfortunately”.
“A few surprises, I didn’t think they expected me to walk away now, but like I say I think through so many memories in my career and I have been lucky enough to play over a 100 test matches for Australia. I’ve always said the game owes me nothing, I owe it everything and I’m thankful that I have been able to play for so long”.
“I will take so many memories away. Like I said the game will do me forever, that’s for sure, it’s just time to sit and watch and cheer the boys on. I’m looking forward to that, it’s as great as you, it’s a great team to be part of. Memories last forever and it’s the right time for me to walk away for me now to talk about them, not be in that change room and be able to talk, say some real positive things about them. Who knows, hopefully I will be able to get a microphone and sit inside the commentary box, if channel nine will have me”.
Clarke is a fine player of spin, using his feet well to get to the pitch off the ball and dictating the bowler. His nimble feet movement and elegance and grace has helped him. He has matured into a consistent workhorse for Australia and also grabbed the responsibility of the captaincy role with both hands. The right-handed batsmen has a solid technique and ability to adapt and improvise.
With 8628 runs in 114 matches at an average of 49.30 and the tag of the fourth- most runs in Australian history, he will go down as a great of the game.