Clarke one shy of a ton on return
It was the Michael Clarke of old who entertained a healthy crowd at Allan Border Oval on Saturday, scoring an unbeaten 99 in Western Suburbs’ six-wicket win over Mosman in his cricket comeback.
The champion batsman could not have written a better Hollywood script for his return to cricket, but it was his teammate Alec Baldwin who hit a six to win the game and leave Clarke stranded at the non-striker’s end.
Clarke looked every bit the batsman who scored more than 16,000 international runs and posted 36 centuries at the highest level, albeit at a much lower level.
He left judiciously, drove confidently and danced down the wicket to the slow bowlers at will.
None of the back or hamstring issues that plagued him in the twilight of his career were apparent as Clarke milked ones, jogged twos and hit the bad ball to the rope as he had done throughout his international career that spanned a dozen years.
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