Michael Clarke is taking each step carefully towards his return to cricket with Australia’s second World Cup tie, against Bangladesh on February 21. He batted in a club game, played in a warm-up match and underwent a thorough rehab following his hamstring surgery.
Although Clarke is set to sit out Australia’s warm-up match against India on Feb 8, the Australian captain is confident he will be fit in time for the second group stage match.
"I think I'll get there by continuing to take each step," Clarke said. "My running's close to full speed now, so I'll keep doing a lot of work there.
Keep working hard with my strength, and then doing as much cricket-specific stuff as possible is going to get me to the intensity I need to be.
"Fielding with Mike Young yesterday at Allan Border Field was a real good start. That's probably the area I need to be 100% satisfied that my body can cope with going 100 miles an hour. That's the way I've always played my cricket and that's the way I want to continue to play. I don't want to be restricted in where I field and how I field. I want to be able to play the type of cricket I've played over my whole career."
Clarke has rejoined the Australian squad in Adelaide, the venue where he last captained the team in the first Test against India. Since then the team has done wonders under the leadership of Steven Smith in winning the Test series and then winning the ODI tri-series under George Bailey.
Although Australia has not won a major ICC tournament since 2009, Clarke draws confidence from the team’s recent victorious run in ODIs.
"It is nice we've had success along the way, hopefully that helps us with confidence and momentum going into a major tournament, but in saying that it's one game at a time,” he said.
"You need to build momentum through the tournament but you need to have consistent success. So hopefully how we have performed over the last couple of years, we can take that confidence into this tournament, but we need to be at our best.”
Focusing on his fitness issues once more, Clarke said the methodical preparation he is going through in this phase leading into the World Cup will be ideal for him going into the tournament.
"The preparation I've been doing on a daily basis gives me the freedom and confidence to run at that intensity or move in the field or bowl or bat. My whole career the work I do off the field has given me every chance to have the success I've had on the field, and that won't change.
Between me playing for the CA XI and walking out and playing an ODI, there's still a gap there, but I'll close that gap by the work I do off the field, and once I set foot on the ground I don't hold anything back. I give 100% and back the work I've done."
