But both Clarke himself and coach Darren Lehmann have made it clear the intention is that he will remain in charge for the last Test of a fruitless campaign.
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Strike bowler Suart Broad is up to second in the bowling rankings after taking career-best figures of 8-15 as Australia were dismissed for just 60 in their first innings at Trent Bridge.
Anderson missed the decisive fourth test that England won by an innings and 78 runs on Saturday to regain the Ashes with an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.
Of Smith’s likely promotion, he said: “We have someone in waiting who has had experience as a captain. But we’ve always (previously) wanted five bowlers, so we probably got that selection wrong”, Lehmann was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
James Anderson has praised Alastair Cook’s resilience, admitting there were times he thought England’s Ashes-winning skipper would step down in the face of harsh criticism.
However, the batting legend admitted the inadequacy in batting techniques of the Australian batsmen against the swinging ball – something he feels should be seriously thought about in the domestic circuit.
Clarke and Ryan Harris have already retired this summer and the likes of Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh also appear close to the end following England’s Ashes victory.
Sutherland said a review would be held into the team’s overseas struggles. “He’ll be aggressive as all Australian captains have been, but I think he’ll work out what works for him on and off the field the best”.
“But we have got to get back to producing first-class wickets in Australia that are going to have our players better prepared for English conditions”.
“It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t be happier”, England captain Alastair Cook told reporters.
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said Sunday there would be a review of the team’s “disappointing” Ashes loss to England as he paid tribute to retiring captain Michael Clarke.
“I definitely knew at the start of the series we were capable of achieving what we have”, he said. Clarke wrote that breaking the news of his retirement to his grandfather Ray Fox was the hardest thing to do.
“I’m actually looking forward to the last Test“, said Lehmann.
Hughes, a close friend of Clarke’s, died in November last year from head injuries after being hit by a short delivery in a first-class match in Sydney.
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“We just need to sit down and think about that, how we want to go about it”.
