[1]Michael Clarke’s future as Australia’s Twenty20 captain will be decided next week following his dismal performance with the bat during the World T20 championships in the Caribbean.
Victoria captain Cameron White, who led his side to the Big Bash title, is being tipped to be the new Australian T20 skipper after incumbent Clarke’s tenure comes under review over his suspect batting in the shortest version of the game.
Cricket Australia chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch’s first job when he returns home from the Caribbean will be to hold a telephonic conversation with his fellow selectors to pick Australia’s three teams for a tour of Britain, including the squad for two Twenty20 games against Pakistan.
The meeting is likely to be held at the weekend, the Age reported.
Clarke is sure to face further scrutiny of his tenure as a T20 batsman and captain after his admission that the selectors “will have to have a look at my performances”, which he conceded were “not up to scratch”.
Clarke is favoured to assume the Test and one-day leadership when current skipper Ricky Ponting retires, but the issue of his T20 form has become so sensitive that Cricket Australia officials have refused to discuss it until the selectors name captains for the England tour, which also includes two Tests against Pakistan and five one-dayers against England, the daily said.
Clarke has conceded that his position will come under review following Australia’s seven-wicket loss to archrivals England. He finished with 92 runs in the tournament at 15.33. White, on the other hand, scored 180 runs at 45 with a strike rate of 146.34 as compared to Clarke’s 80.7.
It is a difficult consideration for the selectors because of Clarke’s astute leadership and excellent winning record. But his not holding his place in the T20 team as a batsman is proving to be a critical weakness. — ANI
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/sp05204jpg-131