Michael Clarke, Australia’s 43rd Test captain and fourth highest Test run-scorer, will retire from international cricket after the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval later this month.
Clarke confirmed the news after Australia slumped to an innings-and-78-run defeat to England 40 minutes into the third morning of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, telling former teammate and close friend Shane Warne that “the time was right”.
“As captain of the team my performances have been nowhere near the level and the standard they need to be an Australian cricketer and to be captain,” Clarke said. “The boys have worked hard, I don’t blame anyone int hat change room. As a team we haven’t performed as well as we needed to to beat England, and as captain I certainly haven’t led from the front.”
Clarke told Warne he made the decision to retire in his Nottingham hotel room after the second day’s play. It followed a disastrous first day that saw Australia all out for just 60. Clarke, with innings of 10 and 13, was the only Australian to reach double figures in both innings of the Test.
He had earlier vehmently denied he was considering retireing, but changed his mind and said “it’s the right time”. “I started this great game at six years of age so it’s hard to walk away, there’s no doubt about it, but I think it’s the right time,” Clarke said.
“I think as a player you build yourself up for big tournaments. The World Cup was that in one-day cricket, and Ashes cricket is that in Test matches.
“Unfortunately I haven’t played as well as I would have liked and I think it’s the right thing and the right time to give the Australian team and the next captain that chance to prepare for the next Ashes series.”
Clarke told his teammates before play began at Trent Bridge this morning that his reign as skipper is over, catching several by surprise. It follows his retirement from one-day cricket that was announced on the eve of this year’s World Cup final, which Australia won.
He was seen to be shaking his hands with his teammates at a rare team meeting called an hour before play was to resume on the third day at Trent Bridge. This was widely interpreted as the 34-year-old breaking the news to the team, although some members of the squad were training in the nets at the time.
It had been reported that Clarke had been told by selectors that he was no longer part of the Test team’s plans after the Ashes, with a two-Test tour to Bangladesh in October to precede the Australia summer with three-Test series against New Zealand and the West Indies.
