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SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2015
SPORTS Clarke to retire after final Test Precision timing deserts as Clarke falls on his sword
Clarke said ‘the decision is never easy. I started playing
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this great game at six years of age. I’m 34. I wish I could play for another 30 years’
NOTTINGHAM: Australia captain Michael Clarke, described by Cricket Australia (CA) as one of the “all-time greats”, will retire after the final Ashes Test against England this month. Clarke announced his decision to quit international cricket after England won the fourth Test at Trent Bridge by an innings and 78 runs on Saturday to regain the Ashes. “I want to play the last Test at The Oval and give it one more crack. The time is right,” said the 34-year-old, who stepped down from One-day Internationals (ODI) in March. “You never want to walk away. My performances over the past 12 months have not been acceptable to me. Test cricket is about the Ashes. We tried our best, I certainly tried my best, but we got outplayed.” Clarke has played 114 Tests and scored over 8,000 runs, including 28 centuries. “I certainly don’t want to jump ship and leave the boys now,” he said. “I pride myself on leading from the front so (my form has) been disappointing. “One-day cricket is about the World Cup, Test cricket is about the Ashes. We got outplayed, we got beaten. “It’s time for the next generation of players, the next captain, to have his opportunity to try to build the team again and get them ready for the next Ashes series.” Clarke revealed that he made the decision to retire from Test cricket on Friday evening. “I felt my performances weren’t as good as I wanted them to be,” he said. “The decision is never easy. I started playing this great game at six years of age. I’m 34. I wish I could play for another 30 years.” Cook tribute England captain Alastair Cook
‘TIME FOR NEXT GENERATION’: Michael Clarke
FA C T B O X
Factbox on Australia captain Michael Clarke who announced on Saturday he was retiring from international cricket after the final Ashes Test: Born on April 2, 1981 at Liverpool, New South Wales Nickname: Pup, Clarkey Made his Test debut against India at Bangalore in 2004, hitting a century in the match. Has played 114 Tests, scoring 8628 runs with 28 centuries and 27 half centuries and averaging just under 50 His highest Test score of 329 not out came against India in Sydney in 2012 A brilliant slip fielder, Clarke has taken 131 catches in Tests and 106 in ODIs. Groomed as a future leader, Clarke took over as Australia captain after Ricky Ponting quit after the 2011 World Cup. One of the best players of spin bowling, Clarke has often held together Australia’s innings Made his ODI debut against England in Adelaide in 2003 Ended ODI career after leading Australia to World Cup victory in March Scored 7,981 runs from 245 ODI matches with eight centuries and 58 half centuries Clarke averaged more than 44 in ODIs and his highest score of 130 came against India at Bangalore in 2007 A part-time left-arm spinner, Clarke has taken 31 test wickets and 57 in ODIs His best bowling figures, six wickets for nine runs, were also against India, in Mumbai in 2004 Also played 34 Twenty20 Internationals, before quitting that format in 2011 to focus on the longer versions of the game. - Reuters
paid tribute to his Australian counterpart. “To Michael from the England team you were a fantastic player, fantastic leader,” Cook said. “You should be remem-
TORONTO TOURNEY
opportunity to try and build the team and get them ready for the next Ashes series,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to play over 100 Test matches for Australia. “I’ve always said the game owes me nothing, I owe it everything. I’m thankful I’ve been able to play it for so long.” Polarising figure At times a polarising figure in cricket-mad Australia, Clarke made his Test debut against India in 2004, scoring a hundred in his first innings. Clarke, who hails from Sydney’s working-class western suburbs, took over as Australian Test captain in 2011 and a year later he scored his first triple century. In 2013-14, he led Australia to a 5-0 cleansweep at home to regain the Ashes but the first signs that things were starting to fall apart came last summer when he hurt his hamstring playing against India. Troubled by hamstring and back issues since he was a teenager, Clarke retired from the match and did not play again during the series. Still mourning the death of his team mate and close friend Phillip Hughes, he hinted that he might walk away from the game. He briefly changed his mind but not his form and the pressure started to build. Clarke joined a long list of Australian captains whose last year in the job has been a constant struggle after the emergence of a natural successor. In Clarke’s case, his replacement as skipper will be Steve Smith, who led the team against India and has already been appointed as ODI captain. Smith, who will become Australia’s youngest test captain since Kim Hughes, has been on a golden run of form with the bat, including a double century in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. - Reuters
TENNIS
Sharapova withdraws TORONTO: Maria Sharapova’s U.S. Open preparations took a major blow with the Russian world No. 2 forced to withdraw from next week’s WTA event in Toronto. The 28-year-old Russian withdrew due to a right leg strain, the Toronto tournament organisers announced on Friday. The Russian great has not played since she lost to American
bered as a great captain.” CA chairman Wally Edwards acknowledged Clarke’s contribution to the team. “When Michael made his stun-
ning test debut in Bangalore back in 2004, Australian cricket knew it had found a very special talent,” Edwards said in an Australian Cricket Board statement. “He was earmarked as a future leader and as his reputation grew it was clear that he was the right man to one day captain Australia. “Throughout his captaincy, he has been a thoroughly professional player, a brave and daring leader who has given his all for our country.” Edwards praised Clarke’s handling of the death of his close friend and former teammate Phillip Hughes last year after he was struck on the head while batting in a domestic match. “His innings against India in Adelaide last summer stands as one of the most memorable and emotional episodes in the history of Australian sport,” Edwards said. “His leadership throughout that tragic time was a mark of his character. He leaves the game as one of our all-time greats and as an excellent example to young Australians about what they can achieve through dedication to their chosen craft.” - Reuters
iming is everything in the cut-throat world of international cricket and Australian captain Michael Clarke knew the game was up for him. Clarke announced on Saturday that he was quitting the Australian Test captaincy after his side suffered a humiliating loss in the Ashes series against England. One of Australia’s greatest batsmen, with 28 Test centuries to his name, Clarke could hardly have imagined a worse way to exit the game he graced for more than a decade. Struggling with his own form, and trying to rally a team that was badly outplayed, the 34-year-old fell on his sword, knowing that if he did not jump he would eventually be pushed. “I’ll have one more Test and that will be the end of my career,” Clarke said. “I’m retiring from international cricket. I certainly don’t want to jump ship and leave the boys now, so I’ll play the last Test at The Oval, give it one last crack, but the time is right now.” For Clarke, it was a bittersweet way to end his career. Earlier this year, he was on top of the world, leading Australia to an emotional victory in the World Cup final on home soil. The signs were already there. Plagued by a hamstring injury, he had almost missed the World Cup but made it back just in time and played a starring role in the final, top-scoring with 74 in what was his last one-day International. He was tempted to quit then but the lure of the Ashes was too much. Clarke said he would continue playing tests but his lean run with the bat, coupled with losing the Ashes, convinced him it was time to give it up, even if it was not the ending he wanted. “Now it’s time for the next generation of players, the next captain to have his
world No. 1 Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals on July 9 and played just 10 tournament so far this year. The Rogers Cup in Toronto is a key stop on the North American hardcourt circuit before the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in New York. The U.S. Open takes palce from August 31 to September 13. - Reuters
Djokovic makes return in Montreal MONTREAL: A month after winning Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic will pick up a racquet once again as the world No. 1 plays as top seed in the Montreal Masters, which begins on Monday. The Serb, who won the first of his three Canadian titles in 2007 in Montreal, also added another in 2011 and a 2012 honour in Toronto to his list of North American success stories. Since beating Roger Federer -who will not compete next week but will save his energies for the Cincinnati Masters and US Open to follow — Djokovic has seemingly done everything possible to keep his distance from tennis. He missed the Davis Cup quarter-finals last month to rest and was seen on holiday with the family and on the golf course in and around his base of Monte Carlo. The 28-year-old had said following Wimbledon that he would be decompressing after a tough first half of the ATP Tour season which yielded four Masters 1000 titles and a third Wimbledon. “There is no reason not to be satisfied with what I have achieved. In contrary, I’m thrilled and very proud with all the success that I had so far in the career, everything I reached,” Djokovic said after his All England Club success. “If you would ask me as a 14-year-old back in Serbia trying to find my way, that this is how I’m going to end up at 28, of course I would sign the deal and take it right away.” Murray to become a dad The Serb and the remainder of the leading seeds benefit from firstround byes in the Quebec City whose tennis stadium was carved from what was originally a baseball pitch. With world No. 2 Federer miss-
If you would ask me as a 14-year-old back in Serbia trying to find my way, that this is how I’m going to end up at 28, of course I would sign the deal and take it right away
Novak Djokovic World No. 1
ing, Andy Murray takes the second seeding, with the Scot trying to put aside an embarrassing opening-match loss in the Washington Open. He won back-toback Canadian trophies in 2009 and 2010 but has not been past the quarterfinals since. Murray is about to join fellow tennis elites Federer and Djokovic as a new father, with British tabloids reporting wife Kim Sears is due to give birth in February. Stan Wawrinka, the French Open champion, takes the third seeding, with the Swiss now healed from a shoulder injury which bothered him at Wimble-
don and forced him from an appearance on home clay in Gstaad. Japan’s Kei Nishikori, seeded fourth, is in a similar situation after weeks of leg muscle problems which seem to be improving. Newly married Czech Tomas Berdych is seeded fifth, ahead of US Open winner Marin Cilic. Rafael Nadal will be on seventh as the Spaniard takes his first tentative steps onto the hard courts which have been so damaging to his body. The Spaniard built up a small store of confidence by winning the Hamburg clay title this month, but that will likely count for little on the gruelling cement.
Canadian Milos Raonic, also returning from injury after foot surgery in May, is seeded eighth and will carry local weight after losing the 2013 final to Nadal and going out to Spain’s Feliciano Lopez last year in the quarters. French players take four seeding spots, with Gilles Simon on ninth, 2014 holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on tenth and Richard Gasquet seeded 11th. Gael Monfils is seeded 15th. Spain’s David Ferrer withdrew due to a long-running elbow injury which has kept him off court since the week prior to Wimbledon Championships. - AFP