Dec. 30: Michael Clarke will captain Australia for the first time and Usman Khawaja will make an historic debut in next week’s final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), in the absence of injured skipper Ricky Ponting.
Clarke was promoted on Thursday from vice-captain to lead the team after Ponting was ruled out with a fractured little finger. Clarke will also captain Australia in the limited overs and Twenty20 matches against England following the Test series, with Cameron White his deputy.
Pakistan-born Khawaja will become the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia as Ponting’s batting replacement as the home side seeks to level the series.
Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was named vice-captain under Clarke for the Sydney Test, which gets underway on Monday. X-rays reports revealed that during the fourth Test in Melbourne, won by England on Wednesday to retain the Ashes, Ponting had sustained further damage to a fractured little finger suffered earlier in the series.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland said the selectors had recommended Clarke assume the captaincy of the Australian team for the final Test and the one-day series against England.
“This recommendation was unanimously endorsed by (CA) directors,” Sutherland said, despite fans’ widespread opposition to Clarke in newspaper polls. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch indicated that Ponting would lead the team at the ICC World Cup on the sub-continent in February.
“With Ricky being unavailable for this match we are sure that both Michael and Brad will lead this Australian side with great professionalism and the full support of the team as we strive for a victory in Sydney,” Hilditch said.
“We look forward to Ricky completing his recovery and leading this team to a fourth successive ICC Cricket World Cup on the sub-continent at the completion of the Australian summer.”
Clarke said he remained very much a stand-in captain in Ponting’s absence. “No doubt I’ll take a lot of what I’ve learned from Ricky Ponting as a leader onto the field, I think his leadership has been outstanding,” Clarke told reporters.