Australia skipper could have surgery on troublesome hamstring
Clarke in doubt for Tests: Howard
Australia captain Michael Clarke’s involvement in this summer’s four-Test series against India is in doubt, according to Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager, Team Performance, Pat Howard.
Following a recurrence of Clarke’s hamstring injury in last Friday’s ODI win over South Africa, Howard said surgery was a possibility, with a view to the skipper being fit for the ICC Cricket World Cup, beginning February 14.
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"We are putting the World Cup and Ashes right up there and if he's right for the Indian Test series so be it,” Howard told Fairfax Media.
“But we've seen him rushed back (before) and what we'd hate is for him to play a Test or two and then break down.
"Everything is on the table at this point.
“We saw Nathan Coulter-Nile go through hamstring surgery and come back in eight weeks, so obviously that is one possibility, yes.
“But we are actually going through having a look at all processes at the moment, and making sure we get player buy-in.
“It's important that Michael as the patient believes he is assessing all possible options.”
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With Australia hosting 50-over cricket’s showpiece event with New Zealand next year before heading to England to resume Test cricket’s premier rivalry, Howard was philosophical about Clarke’s potential absence from the series against India, the world’s sixth-ranked Test nation.
"I have talked about the priorities and what they are,” he said.
“Sometimes you have got to take a little bit of a long-term and a medium-term picture.
“If we do this well, we can get extra years out of Michael who is a world-class player, rather than thinking in days and tournaments.
“We have an opportunity to really get the best out of the last couple of years of his career.”
If Clarke is ruled out of the India Tests, 37-year-old Brad Haddin, who is also in the process of returning to full fitness after injuring his shoulder in Australia’s Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, would be named captain for the first match (pending Cricket Australia board approval), beginning December 4 in Brisbane.