Runs alone are unlikely to persuade those who feel he lacks gravitas, writes Tom Sturrock.
Australian captain Michael Clarke has been in imperious form against India, prompting his supporters within the establishment – former skippers, respected pundits – to insist the tide of public sentiment would turn as a result. The truth is, though, that if Clarke is unloved, it has more to do with the nation’s expectations of its cricket captains than anything that is Clarke’s fault.
The issue is that, in the minds of many, Clarke lacks the gravitas of his predecessors: Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Taylor was likeable and tactically astute, while Waugh, cussed and taciturn, insisted on the mental disintegration of opponents – he went out on one leg against England, even though it was a dead rubber, and scored a century, just to make a statement, just to demonstrate the gulf in toughness. That’s what Australians love. Even Ponting, often criticised as a captain, was the best batsman in the world when he took the reins. He was better placed than any to lead from the front.
By comparison, Clarke has been pigeonholed as being a little too keen on fast cars and expensive hair product. In short, the stink of trendy, Gen Y metrosexuality has attached itself. And not only are Australians hostile to those traits in their cricket captains, there’s an unabiding sense that, by producing this kind of cricketer, Australia has forsaken the unflashy resolve and grim stoicism that made it great. Some will remember, for example, Mitchell Johnson on the eve of the last Ashes, talking at length about the new cherry blossoms tattooed on his forearm. This was, to many Australian cricket fans, a thumbnail sketch of everything that had gone wrong. An Australian paceman talking about his new floral tattoos. What the fuck? Did Glenn McGrath ever pull that shit?
It is, of course, unfair to Clarke. He may not be Taylor or Waugh or Ponting but he deserves the opportunity to forge his own style of captaincy. That will take time, though, so it’s crazy to pretend that one or two great innings, or even runs alone, will persuade the detractors.
