Michael Clarke row poses threat to Australia’s bid for World Cup glory

• Captain and Cricket Australia believed to be in dispute over his fitness

• Clarke struggling to be ready in time for next month’s tournament

• Mike Selvey on the rise of Australia’s new leader Steve Smith

Australia’s attempt to win next month’s World Cup and, potentially, the forthcoming Ashes in England, appears to be being threatened by a bitter, behind-the-scenes fallout between Michael Clarke and Cricket Australia.

Clarke, the national team’s captain, is facing a race to recover from a torn hamstring in time for Australia’s second game of the World Cup against Bangladesh in Brisbane on 21 February. That is the deadline handed to him by the governing body and given that Clarke’s camp are said to have previously, and privately, agreed a return date for the team’s fourth match of the tournament, many are interpreting that as his superiors setting the 33-year-old up to fail.

Related: Australia’s Steve Smith makes fools of his critics after stellar year | Mike Selvey

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source Sport | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1y2VwqM