North a captaincy bolter as Clarke's popularity wanes

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MARCUS NORTH has emerged as a shock contender for Australia's Test captaincy as Michael Clarke's popularity within the side continues to wane following a bitter tour of India. More... North a captaincy bolter as Clarke's popularity wanes Jamie Pandaram November 4, 2010 Support for Michael Clarke to become Australian test captain is dwindling as the team loses its sixth straight game Wednesday. MARCUS NORTH has emerged as a shock contender for Australia's Test captaincy as Michael Clarke's popularity within the side continues to wane following a bitter tour of India. The team is not divided to the point of implosion, but a number of senior players remain firmly opposed to the idea that Clarke will succeed Ricky Ponting. Clarke has been able to harness great support among younger members of the side, who realise their backing would be rewarded should Clarke gain the captaincy full-time. While the rumours surrounding Clarke's demeanour in India have been publicly aired this week, the Herald has been told the latest issues stem from comments he made regarding Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger's Champions League participation before the first Test. He is also said to have rankled Ponting when denied a chance to bowl in the final session of the fateful Mohali Test, which India won in extraordinary circumstances courtesy of a ninth-wicket stand between V.V.S. Laxman and Ishant Sharma - to whom Clarke was desperate to bowl. Selectors have been unwavering in their support of North, even as he continued a woeful run of form that threatened his position in the team, and it now seems there is more to their faith of the Western Australia skipper. North's leadership qualities and personable nature are admired by influential figures, and if he can find consistency with the bat he will be a strong chance to take over should Ponting retire before the 2013 Ashes - despite being older than Clarke. Cricket Australia anointed Clarke as the heir apparent years ago and has been resistant to sway from that path. However, some in the anti-Clarke camp have been promoting a number of candidates as potential replacements for Ponting - including two not even in the Test team, Callum Ferguson and Cameron White. Some players were angered by Clarke's suggestions that Hussey and Bollinger had put cash before country by playing in the Champions League instead of preparing in Mohali for the opening Test. In fact, both players were forced by CA to participate in the Twenty20 tournament, which is part-owned by CA. Clarke had said: ''You don't have to play IPL. You don't have to play Champions League. For me, personally, right now it is about representing my country, and every game I can play for Australia, I will do that. ''That's my priority. If, as an individual player, you are tired or your body needs some rest, you need to make that commitment outside of international cricket. You need to, maybe, play less in the IPL or play less in the Champions League.'' Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has alleged Clarke was rejected by the IPL after demanding a $1m reserve for the auction. That claim appears to be backed by former Test opener Matthew Hayden in his new biography. Hayden wrote of Clarke: ''I remember him saying to Modi, 'I'm worth X amount of dollars.' Modi laughed at him.'' Clarke was not available for comment last night, but has previously said he has not participated in the IPL because of family reasons and to rest for international cricket. Ponting made it clear to his team that CA forced Hussey and Bollinger to play in the Champions League, and told reporters in India: ''I had to spell it out to the players when we got here that those guys wanted to be here, because there was a bit of talk around the group as well about how late they could arrive. So I made it really clear that those players wanted to be here, and their contractual situation didn't allow that to happen.'' CA chief executive James Sutherland was also forced to admit the same after Hussey became angered by suggestions he was bound by his IPL contract to play in the competition in South Africa, which is not the case because international cricket takes precedence in IPL contracts. ''Michael Hussey made it clear to CA before and during the CLT20 that his strong preference and preferred intention was to leave earlier than the final to prepare for the Test series in India, and it was only because of our requirement and the performance of his franchise that he stayed until the end of the CLT20 final,'' Sutherland said. ''Michael had nothing but the best intentions … for his country.''

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Hussey denies infighting Mike Hussey says rumours of a rift between several senior Australian players and captain-in-waiting Michael Clarke are well wide of the mark. More...

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North rejects skipper talk Marcus North has quashed suggestions he may be in line to be Australia's next Test captain, saying such newspaper stories were 'scraping the barrel'. More... North rejects skipper talk 04/11/2010 Paul Barbieri Marcus North has quashed suggestions he may be in line to be Australia's next Test captain, saying such newspaper stories were 'scraping the barrel'. Following Australia's humiliating one-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in Wednesday night's one-day international at the MCG, reports have emerged there are deep divisions in the Australian team over Michael Clarke being groomed as Ricky Ponting's successor. Clarke's captaincy of the Twenty20 and one-day sides in Ponting's absence has been called into question recently after Australia lost the past two games where he's led the team. But, according to the reports, there are deeper divisions in the Australian camp that have existed for years, some of these coming to light after Clarke questioned Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger's participation in the Champions League Twenty20 competition, in the days prior to the recent first Test against India in Mohali. North, however, emphatically quashed these suggestions when asked on Thursday morning. "What I've woken up and read this morning is completely unfounded," declared North. "I've never seen it." "I must be playing in another cricket team if that's a fact." "Yesterday the feeling in the media is who can replace North and then the next minute I'm being touted as Australian captain." "In an Ashes summer you can expect a bit of hype and a few stories but, I think we're scraping the barrel there a bit." "Obviously Ricky's here to stay for a number of years yet and Michael Clarke's been the one that's being groomed as the next captain," North added when asked if he would consider the captaincy if offered it by Cricket Australia. "When he (Clarke) has taken over from Ricky he's been very, very good at leading the side, it's something that certainly doesn't enter my thinking at all." "It's a bit of humour to me, you know it's just another story, it will be forgotten about tomorrow." Instead, North said he was concentrating on leading Western Australia in Friday's three-day tour game against England, saying the Warriors were intent on hitting an early blow against the travelling side. North, though, said he was never in two minds about playing this game and exposing himself to England's bowlers ahead of the Ashes starting in Brisbane on November 25. "I never hesitated at all," said North. "When Western Australia gets an opportunity to play a touring side, it's something that we always honour and look forward to as state players." "It just gives me a great opportunity to keep playing another first class game against a quality opposition." "If I'm worried about (whether) they're going to come hard at me, well they're going to come hard in the first Test so I expect nothing different come tomorrow." In other Australian news, batsman Shaun Marsh will miss the rest of the Commonwealth Bank series against Sri Lanka after suffering a lower back injury during the loss on Wednesday night. South Australian Callum Ferguson will replace Marsh in the squad for the remaining two games of the series in Sydney and Brisbane.

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ROFL! North

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ROFL! North

ur so opinionated aren't you? :winky:

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^ Cmon, M.North :hysterical:

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^ Cmon' date=' M.North :hysterical:[/quote'] :dontknow: I wuz talkin abt u babeh, don't go offtopic now :winky:

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But you were talking in the context of me mocking M.North as skipper flamingo having some :canabis: I suppose

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No team disharmony: Ponting Ricky Ponting angrily refutes "completely made up" reports of disharmony in the Australian cricket team as the Ashes series looms. More...