Michael Clarke will fly to the UAE a week before the rest of the Test specialists as Australia do everything they can to ensure his fitness for the Test series against Pakistan. However, the team physio Alex Kountouris said that Clarke was “not a sure thing” for the two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, although he was hopeful that if his recovery continued as planned he would be available.
Clarke has already been ruled out of the ODIs against Pakistan but Kountouris said that whenever he returned to the side, there would be a risk of a recurrence of the hamstring problem he sustained in Zimbabwe. Australia believe that managing Clarke’s travel will be a key factor in ensuring his ongoing fitness, after he has twice in the past 18 months struggled with injuries immediately after long-haul flights.
“He’s coming to the UAE about a week before the Test side is, now that he’s not playing the one-dayers,” Kountouris said on Wednesday. “He’s coming a day or two after the one-day team. He’ll be there well before he needs to be doing stuff over there. Part of that will be continuing his rehab with myself and the doc, and part of that will be to make sure we get him there [for the Tests].
“We’re planning that he’s not going to miss [the Tests], but he’s not a sure thing either. He’s definitely missing the one-dayers but we’re definitely doing everything we can to get him up. But he’s not going to play unless he’s right. That’ll involve him getting back to full training, running at high speed and giving us the confidence that he’s okay.
“There’s never a good time. If we wait until the second Test, or wait until the first one-dayer against South Africa, whatever we wait for it’s going to be a risk. We’re going to have to play him at some point. We think the time-frames to play the first Test are realistic. He seems to be tracking [well] and he’s likely to be okay and available for that series.”
Managing Clarke’s fitness problems looms as a major task for Kountouris and the rest of Cricket Australia’s medical staff over the coming years as he becomes more susceptible to soft-tissue injuries. Clarke has had issues with the hamstring muscles of both legs, which Kountouris believes is partially a byproduct of his ongoing back trouble and in part a result of getting older.
Notably, Clarke’s hamstring pain appeared at Australia’s first light training session in Zimbabwe after the flight from Australia, just as back soreness plagued him in England last year when Australia had just arrived for the Champions Trophy. Adjusting Clarke’s recovery programmes – from both travel and matches – could become a growing challenge.
“That’s probably the thing we’re going to try to change the most,” Kountouris said. “What do we do about his recovery post-travel, post-games and post-tours? He got off the plane to Zimbabwe and all he was doing was a light recovery session, and he felt his hamstring grab a bit. At that level of activity we think there has to be other factors involved, not just the traditional fatigue and lack of strength.”
Prior to Zimbabwe, Clarke’s most recent significant hamstring injury had come when he retired hurt in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart in December 2012. He did not miss a Test, but nursed hamstring soreness through the Test tour of India that followed, eventually being ruled out of the final Test in Delhi due to his back injury.
For the time being, Clarke’s time-frame for recovery is open-ended, and Australia’s major concern is not to rush him back before he is ready. The fact that the injury has affected the tendons in Clarke’s leg is expected to mean a longer recovery time than if the injury was to the muscle only.
“He’s about to start jogging some time this week,” Kountouris said. “It’s been ten days or two weeks since it happened. We anticipate the way we’re planning his rehab and the importance of getting these tendons to heal that it’s going to take another two or three weeks before we’re really testing him at any sort of intensity with his running.”
HADDIN TO CAPTAIN IF CLARKE MISSES TESTS:
Brad Haddin will become Australia’s 45th Test captain if Michael Clarke is ruled out of the upcoming series against Pakistan. Clarke’s hamstring injury will keep him out of the ODIs against Pakistan in the UAE but Australia are hopeful he will recover in time for the two Tests, although that is far from a certainty.
Haddin was named as vice-captain ahead of last year’s Ashes tour. Cricket Australia’s website reported on Wednesday that coach Darren Lehmann had confirmed Haddin would lead the Test side if Clarke was unfit.
“We talk about that [a contingency plan] behind the scenes as a selection panel,” Lehmann said. “The thing is we want our best player playing. He’s been a fantastic player for us for over 100 Test matches now and we need our No 4 playing and making runs.”
