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Senior Australian cricket figures have discussed the option of appointing Steven Smith as the country's permanent captain beyond the World Cup, leaving Michael Clarke's position in the balance.
Clarke remains destined to lead Australia at next month's one-day cricket championship – if he can meet a fitness deadline thrust on him – but Fairfax Media has learnt that after months of tension with selectors and key management personnel there is likely to be a reassessment about his long-term role before this year's Ashes tour of England.
Senior sources in the Australian game say that an ideal scenario discussed is for the 33-year-old to stay in the team, with few disputing that as a world-class batsman he remains in Australia's best XI when fit, but how continuing as a player only under the leadership of the younger Smith would sit with Clarke's pride is yet to be seen.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said of Clarke on Tuesday that he retained "a huge amount of confidence in Michael as a player, captain and a leader". But behind the scenes there is angst over public positions taken by the captain in the past three months and concern about the growing distance between him and Australian teammates. Both Sutherland and CA's Team Performance manager Pat Howard denied on Tuesday night there had been discussions about Clarke being replaced.
Any decision on the captaincy would have to be confirmed by the Cricket Australia board, but would be based on the recommendation of the selection panel, headed by Rod Marsh.
Marsh was among those who fell out with Clarke before the first Test against India over where and how he should prove his fitness, to the point where phone messages were not returned; the wounds from that fiasco have not healed.
It was Clarke's desire to use a day of Sydney grade cricket for match practice rather than bow to CA's desire and head to Adelaide for a two-day match in November that set the two parties on the path to a messy conclusion and there has been further bewilderment at other statements made by Clarke since.
Clarke said this week that he wanted to continue in the captaincy long term, telling Fairfax Media: "I think I've earned that respect." That comment, along with another where he declared an intention to play on until the 2019 World Cup, rankled some at the highest level of the Australian administration.
They believe he has earned no more respect than that afforded to his predecessors, such as Ricky Ponting, who bowed out of the captaincy in 2011 after unhappy Ashes and World Cup campaigns, when tough decisions had to be made.
Clarke's remark to News Corp about playing on for another four years – when he would be 37 – has been interpreted as him digging his heels in, contradicting previous indications that he did not see his international career continuing into his late 30s as did Ponting's and Mike Hussey's.
The reason for those earlier projections was his back condition, which he has managed remarkably well during his career, even scoring an unforgettable hundred through pain in tribute to his fallen friend Phillip Hughes in December.
There is great respect from the hierarchy for Clarke over his handling of the days and weeks that followed Hughes' death and he can hardly be condemned for his tireless bid to match the February 21 World Cup time limit set by selectors for him to recover properly from hamstring surgery.
The deadline itself, though, is the source of more disharmony, with Clarke under the impression from Howard that he would be given until March 4 – when Australia take on Afghanistan in Perth – only to be told by Marsh he would have to be fit to play Bangladesh two weeks earlier or sit out the World Cup. Howard denies that he told Clarke this.
The ongoing internal troubles aside, the subject of Clarke's body is another factor for selectors and the board to contend with, given his wretched run with back and hamstring injuries. It was a major reason behind the appointment of Smith as his interim replacement against India, where the other candidate for the position, Brad Haddin, ended up selflessly rallying for the 25-year-old to fast-track a succession plan.
Smith played a straight bat to talk of a captaincy change on Tuesday.
"It's been really good to take over temporarily and have a taste of it and I really enjoyed it. I don't really like to think about it too much regarding the future but I just like to stay as level-headed as I can and take each day as it comes," Smith said.
"If that kind of thing happens in the future, then great, but if not, that's OK too. I'm just happy with where everything is at at the moment and hopefully I can continue playing well.
"I think when Michael's fit and ready to go again he steps back into that role, I have no issue with that whatsoever. I have no issue with him to take the reins. He's done a terrific job over a long period of time, he's a great person to have in the team, it's all his when he's ready to come back."
