Michael Clarke had to leave the ongoing visiting series tour against New Zealand to resolve some “personal matters”. However, he is expected to have sorted out the issues and would return to New Zealand for the one-day series against the hosts.
The deputy for Cricket Australia, Michael Brown said that he had a talk with the vice-captain about his expected return, “I’ve talked to him over the last few days and we have a Test tour looming. I would hope he’s part of that group. But unless he’s ready to go, there’s no point going. We’ll talk again over the next couple of days and our intention hopefully is to get him back in the side for the Test match.”
Clarke was declared the vice-captain for the Test squad at the ongoing series and would be serving under Ricky Ponting as the captain. The 14-man Test squad was named for the two-match series against New Zealand. Andrew Hilditch is the NSP Chairman and spoke about the same to the media, “The NSP today announced a 14-man squad for the two Test matches on Australia’s VB Tour of New Zealand. The core of the squad is the Australian Test team that performed so well during the Australian summer in defeating West Indies and Pakistan. Ryan Harris, having overcome injuries at the start of the season, has played really well for Australia in the shorter formats of the game. The NSP are confident that if Ryan gets an opportunity he has the ability to have an impact for Australia in what will be a very hard Test series against New Zealand.” He further added that, “Phillip Hughes has also been in excellent form at state level and richly deserves his selection on the back of another fantastic season in the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield. Steve Smith has had an excellent Shield season, including a big century against Tasmania recently, and of course has already demonstrated his ability to cope with the pressure of international cricket. He adds great flexibility to the squad with his exciting stroke-play, leg-spin bowling and gifted fielding.”
Ryan Harris and Steven Smith have been selected in the squad for their debut Test matches. While Smith has been a batsman as well as a leg-spinner, another new comer, Phillip Huges is roped in to provide some extra batting support. Hilditch said, “The core of the squad is the Australian Test team that performed so well during the Australian summer in defeating West Indies and Pakistan. Ryan Harris, having overcome injuries at the start of the season, has played really well for Australia in the shorter formats of the game.”
The skipper, Ponting, has said that he wants Clarke to return only when he thinks he is ready to givehis 100% to the game. Brown said about the matter, “There is no point in forcing any player to go back into a cricket team when he’s not comfortable because the team won’t be comfortable to have him and that’s the message the captain has given me.” He further added, “He wants Michael back 100 per cent committed to cricket, that’s when he wants him back.”