- Michael Clarke will retire from ODIs after the 2015 World Cup final
- Clarke has scored 7907 runs in ODIs at an average of 44.42, with eight centuries and 57 half-centuries
The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final on Sunday at the MCG will be Michael Clarke's last appearance in ODI cricket. The Australian captain announced his decision to give up the one-day format at the MCG on Saturday, a day before
the tournament final against New Zealand, saying that he had made the decision 48 hours ago given the fact that he would not be playing in the 2019 World Cup.
As he began the customary pre-match press conference, Clarke said: "Tomorrow will be my last ODI game for Australia. Ive just spoken to my team-mates, spoken to James Sutherland and Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann and informed them that tomorrow will be my last ODI game for Australia."
Clarke said that he made the decision after leaving the SCG on Thursday, where Australia beat India in the second semi-final by 95 runs, and told his wife Kyly upon reaching home. He hoped that retiring from ODI cricket would prolong his Test career.
"I'm extremely thankful and grateful - I've just found out that tomorrow will be my 245th one-day game - it's been an honour and a privilege to represent my country for that amount of games. I'm grateful to every player I have been lucky enough to play with and this team is no exception to that. I think it is the right time for me and the Australian team. I was very fortunate four years ago to get the opportunity to captain this one-day team. That was really good preparation for me leading up to this World Cup, I think the next Australian captain deserves the same opportunity. I don't think it is realistic that I'll be fit and healthy and available to play the next World Cup so I believe it is the right time."
Clarke, 33, made his ODI debut in 2003 in Adelaide against England and leading into the World Cup final, he has scored 7907 runs in the format at an average of 44.42, with eight centuries and 57 half-centuries. He was made captain of the ODI team after Ricky Ponting's retirement following the 2011 World Cup, and his record stands at 49 wins, 21 losses and three no-results from a total of 73 matches in charge.
He endured a rigorous training and treatment programme to get his aching body fit for this home World Cup, following a relapse of his hamstring injury during the Tests against India at home in late 2014. In five innings in the tournament, Clarke has scored 145 runs at 29.00, with just one fifty against Sri Lanka in Sydney. Australia have lost just one match, to New Zealand at Eden Park, but Clarke was confident in the team's ability at the MCG on Sunday.
Asked whether he had considered giving up Test cricket earlier to prolong his one-day career, Clarke said: "Never. It never crossed my mind to give up Tests to prolong ODI career. I've always maintained that Test cricket is the toughest, the ultimate.
I've said from the start that the game owes me nothing and i owe the game everything," he added.
Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland thanked Clarke and congratulated him on a glorified career. "Michael informed me and his team mates of his decision earlier today. We congratulate him on a wonderful career in one-day international cricket," Sutherland mentioned in a media release shortly after the announcement.
"From the time that he burst onto the scene as an exciting 21-year old way back in January 2003, he was always destined for great things. While his decision comes as something of a surprise, Michael leaves one-day cricket on his own terms, aiming to finish on an absolute high, in front of a packed MCG as a possible World Cup-winning captain. Thats very special.
"Regardless of the result, he will leave the one-day international game as one our greats. We thank him for his wonderful contribution to one-day cricket and look forward to his continued leadership at Test level."
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