Melbourne : Six months after he called it quits, former Australian captain Michael Clarke is eyeing a return to first-class cricket and the lucrative IPL but has ruled out any immediate plan for an international comeback.
There was speculation that the 34-year-old, who retired following Australias Ashes defeat last August, could be aiming for an international comeback after saying that “Ill never say never to anything” in an interview. But clarified in a later interaction that his immediate focus was on T20 tournaments like the Big Bash and the IPL.
Clarke will play for grade team Western Suburbs against Randwick-Petersham in a Sydney club match on February 20-21. “Ill start with playing this grade game for Western Suburbs and see if I miss it as much as I feel like Im going to. If I do, the option is there to train the entire winter and then well see what happens,” local media reported Clarke as having told News Corp. “Theres BBL next summer, Id love to be a part of that, IPL, county cricket. Theres possibly even Sheffield Shield cricket for NSW,” he said.He added: “All I know is, Ill never say never to anything.”
Talking to Channel Nines Today, Clarke later made it clear that his ambition was to pursue his T20 options as he said there was some “unfinished business” with the shortest format of the game. “Im not really making a cricket comeback, because I (only) retired from international cricket, but now Im playing for my grade club Western Suburbs. I got an invitation a couple of weeks ago to come back and play a game for Wests, and I said yes, and I really cant wait ? Im looking forward to it,” he said. “Obviously Ive seen the papers, and it says Im coming back to play cricket for Australia and all sorts of things, but my focus right now — I havent picked up a bat for five months since I retired from international cricket — but Wests asked me to play, and I cant wait, so that is my focus right now.”
Courtesy : PTI