Michael Clarke’s continual slump in the Ashes series has sparked calls for his captaincy demise. The statistics don’t help him win over fans. In his past 28 Test innings, Clarke has scored two centuries but has failed to reach 50 on any other occasion. This is a far cry from the outstanding form seen in Australia a few seasons ago, form that included a triple century against India in Sydney.
With the current Ashes tour looking like falling to pieces for him, that amazing form all seems like a long lost memory for the Australian captain.
Michael Clarke in Biggest Fight for Captaincy yet
It is said that being the captain of the Australian cricket team is one of the most criticised roles in sport, and with a country that is sports mad, if the national side doesn’t perform, it seems to start and end with the captain. Shane Watson was axed from the squad after the first Test for a similar slump in form, so how long now until Clarke gets the same treatment? Clarke scored a total of 13 runs in the third test, but all the Australian batsmen struggled, so Clarke cannot be blamed for the lose, though he didn’t help the matter.
Steve Smith is the next in line for captaincy. Given his remarkable performance at Lord’s in the second Test and his form prior to that, it could be argued that the placement of Clarke as captain of Australia will be seriously reviewed after the Ashes, no matter what the result of the series — a series that at this stage is leaning highly in favour of England. Smith could take the captaincy role from Clarke even if Australia come back to clinch this Ashes series.
Clarke isn’t the only captain to struggle in England trying to win the Ashes though. Australia have not won a Test series in England in fourteen years.
Clarke said to the media after the loss in Birmingham that he still has his self-belief with him, and given the traumatic year he has had off the field, this has to be taken into account from a leadership perspective. Clarke is one of the bravest sportsmen in Australia and has been thrown under the bridge by the media time and time again. His problem is the length of his current slump in form. Will it be too late to convince the masses if he doesn’t fire until Australia are back playing Test cricket on home soil? One would think so.
The difference between a good captain and a great captain is the ability to win the big games away from home, and recently, Clarke hasn’t been able to do that in any form of the game, not the least of which in the Ashes.
Clarke not only faces the problem of turning his own form around. He must now pick up a side that was completely outplayed the last time it took the field. The next game is a must-win, and from the perspective of his captaincy, it will all be on the line over the course of the next couple of weeks.
Clarke averages under 50 in Test cricket, but his history speaks for itself. He has it in him to score a century, perhaps a double century, but he has to do it away from home to save this Ashes series.
Everyone, it seems, wants to see him fail, and if he doesn’t turn it around fast, failure will be inevitable.
