Michael Clarke is an Australian former cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. [2] [n 1] He scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test matches and One Day International (ODI) matches on 28 and 8 occasions respectively during his international career. [4] [5] He played 115 Tests and 238 ODIs for Australia, scoring 8,643 and 7,981 runs, respectively. [2] Journalist Peter English wrote that "Clarke could do anything with the bat, but he has matured into one of the game's most professional, reliable and focussed players". [2] He was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 2010. [6] [7] Cricket Australia awarded him with the Allan Border Medal in 2005, 2009, 2012 and 2013. [8] [n 2]
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Clarke scored a century on his Test debut against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, in 2004. [10] [11] His highest Test score of 329 not out – the highest individual score in an innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground – came against the same team, during the 2011–12 series. [12] [13] [n 3] As of 2015, Clarke was the only player to have scored four double centuries (200 or more runs) during a calendar year, and the third to achieve two double centuries in a series twice. [15] [n 4] He has scored Test centuries at sixteen cricket grounds, including eleven at venues outside Australia. [17] He is fifth in the list of Test century-makers for Australia, only bettered by Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Don Bradman. [18]
Having made his ODI debut in 2003 against England at Adelaide Oval, [19] Clarke's first century came against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club in May 2004. [20] [21] His highest ODI score was 130 runs against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in 2007. [22] Clarke played 34 Twenty20 International (T20I) matches, [23] with a top score of 67, before retiring in January 2011. [3] [2]
