After ‘tough summer’, Michael Clarke prepares for fresh challenge

Clarke’s comeback from surgery to help his team win a fifth World Cup triumph on home soil was a fairytale finish for his one-day career and a decisive answer to critics who had written him off as a physical and emotional wreck.

Though preparing Australia’s bid to sweep West Indies 2-0 and retain the Ashes in England next month, Clarke looked back on a tumultuous period in his life when his grief for team mate Hughes and struggle for fitness played out in the full public glare.

“I think my main focus at the time was getting through the passing of Phillip and supporting his family as much as I could,” Clarke told reporters in Jamaica.

“And then when I was doing that I guess I made the decision to have surgery on my hamstring to give myself any chance, in my opinion, of making it back to the World Cup.

“So I didn’t get too many days to stop and reflect, which I think for me personally was probably a good thing.

“I just think when you lose someone close it’s hard to not think about them but if you’ve got something else on your mind, sometimes that can drive you. And that’s probably the way I tried to use it.

“The fact that I was able to get myself fit for that World Cup, help the team make the final, help the team win the final, I was really proud of myself to be able to do that.

“I don’t think there was too many people who thought I was going to make it. That was really satisfying.

“To get that result was icing on the cake for what was a tough summer off the field.”

Clarke has played with a back condition throughout his career but said his body was feeling “outstanding” as he prepared for his 110th Test.

“I’ve had degeneration in my back for my whole career but I’ve managed it,” he added. “But since surgery I haven’t felt my hamstring. Long may that continue.”