michael clarke

Born: 02.04.1981
State: New South Wales
Tests: 27
Role: Middle-order batsman
Bat: Right-hand
Bowl: Left-arm slow
Bat Average: 42.00
Bowl Average: 16.00

Australia's pin-up boy, whose elegance at the crease and ease in scoring is reminiscent of Mark Waugh, Michael Clarke was tipped as a future captain before he'd played a Test. When he got the chance he scored 151 on his debut in Bangalore and followed it with another century on his home bow in Brisbane.

But his astonishing start to Test cricket slowed down with quiet series against Pakistan, New Zealand, England, the World XI, and West Indies where he failed to score a century.

After 20 Tests he was dropped for the first time, and had to wait until the two-Test series against Bangladesh for another chance.

A modest return there means no further chance in five-day cricket was available to Clarke before the Ashes, and he therefore comes into the series under real pressure, and may even miss out when the series gets going.

A fixture in the shorter form of the game, where he averages 44 at a strike rate in the 80s, Clarke's Test average has dropped into the 30s and he knows it will need to climb and climb quickly if he is to fulfil his awesome potential.

Clarke is among the world's best fielders, and bowls occasional left-arm spin. Indeed, he boasts one of the best bowling averages in Test cricket after taking six wickets for nine runs in an extraordinary match in Mumbai where Australia failed to chase down 106 in the fourth innings.

Clarke came into Test cricket and made it look ridiculously easy for the first 12 months. But there is a nagging fear that bowlers may have worked him out, and he needs to add greater substance to the undoubted style.