After two months of rehabilitation and intense speculation, Michael Clarke will captain Australia on Wednesday.
While selectors are yet to indicate if he’ll play in Saturday’s World Cup opener against England at the MCG, Clarke will at least get the chance to show how far he has progressed against the United Arab Emirates in the warm-up clash.
The UAE fixture will see Clarke lead the national side in a 50-over contest for the first time since tearing his hamstring in Perth on November 14.
“He’s our captain, so it’s great to have him back,” paceman Josh Hazlewood said on Tuesday.
“He’s doing everything he can to get back (for the World Cup).
“Hopefully he gets through tomorrow night.”
With chronic back and hamstring woes and the rise and rise of stand-in captain Steve Smith, there were doubts that Clarke would even get this far.
Regardless of how he fares in the warm-up game, Cricket Australia is expected to want him on limited duties for a further week before they face Bangladesh in their second Cup match on February 21 in Brisbane.
Clarke batted and bowled against Bangladesh last week while turning out for a Cricket Australia XI.
The 33-year-old trained with team physio Alex Kountouris watching on at the MCG on Tuesday.
Explosiveness in the field looms as the final box he must tick to show Kountouris and coach Darren Lehmann that he is ready for the World Cup.
If Clarke is unable to prove his fitness before February 21, he’ll be dropped from the squad.
James Faulkner is not expected to have recovered from his side strain for that game, or indeed the February 28 date with New Zealand in Auckland.
But Faulkner will be retained in the squad, with the allrounder viewed as one of the most important players in the squad.
“The sooner we can have him back, the better,” Hazlewood said of Faulkner, who batted in the MCG nets on Tuesday.
“To have him in the team at eight (is an edge Australia have over World Cup rivals).
“Other teams have bowlers who can bat a bit, we’ve got Jimmy down there who can finish it off.”
Hazlewood agreed his side’s final tune-up for the tournament would be “not quite a full hit-out”, but was keen to make the most of it.
“Any overs you can get out in the middle against a team, it’s much better than bowling in the nets,” he said of facing the UAE.
“There’s always competition for spots.
“As long as I keep contributing and doing my thing, that goes a long way for me to keep my spot.”
UAE vice-captain Khurram Khan vowed his side would not hold back against the returning Clarke.
“Definitely,” Khan said, when asked if his teammates would be going hard at the right-hander.
“We’ve worked really, really, really hard and we’ll be trying our best.”
