Shoaib Akhtar was as fast as any of them, if not faster: Michael Clarke

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke chose Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar as the fastest bowler he has ever faced during his career. Clarke, speaking on The Back Page, said that he was fortunate to have practised against some of the best quicks in the world which helped him prepare for against such bowlers. However, he describes Akhtar was as fast as fast as anybody, if not the fastest.

“I was fortunate in one way and unfortunate in another,” Clarke said. “When I had Brett Lee in the nets, Mitchell Johnson in the nets, Jason Gillespie in the nets, Shaun Tait in the nets. They all bowled 150kms. So it was good practice, but then the other side I had Shoaib Akhtar in the game. He was as fast as any of them, if not faster.”

Clarke also talked about a couple of more topics. He said being able to cope with exceptionally quick bowling was one of his strengths, but acknowledged he noticed his powers slipping as he got older due to a few factors.

“When I think through my career I think that was one of my major strengths, especially as a young player, he said. I didn’t feel like I was scared of the speed of the ball or the length the bowler bowled. When you sit back and look at it now, I think ‘Oh my God, what was I thinking?’

“I think towards the end of my career, and unfortunately, it had a bit to do with how Hughesy passed away, if it was my subconscious I think I just thought a little bit more about what can happen in the game of cricket,” he added.

“And I think when I look at the back end, the last 12 months of my career there was certainly a difference between being fearless and no matter how quick they were I wanted to take that challenge on versus being just a tiny bit behind and balls probably got to me a little bit quicker than they would’ve earlier on in my career.”

Clarke also discussed his relationship with Australian coach Darren Lehmann and chief selector Rod Marsh.

“Both still very good. I think the one thing I love about Rod and Boof is that they’re very straight. They’re very honest. Boof was like that when I played with him. He’s no different as a coach. Rod was like that as the head coach of the cricket academy when I was a 17-year-old boy and I went there. And he was exactly the same as chairman of selectors. I think I’ve made it very clear we had a lot of tough, honest conversations.” Clarke said.

Michael Clarke recently made a stunning decision to return to cricket after retiring in 2015. He scored 48 on his return to cricket, playing for Western Suburbs, Sydney, February 20, 2016, against Randwick-Petersham. His reason to make a comeback is simple; he says that he missed the game which he has been attached to as a six-year-old.

“I think time away really allowed me to miss the reason I started playing cricket as a six-year-old boy,” he said. “The simple things. The wake-up at five o’clock in the morning and look outside the curtains and pray it’s not raining. And you see sunshine and you go ‘yes, we’re playing today.’

Clarke also discussed how he was feeling during his ‘retirement’ days and how the fire inside him to play cricket kept burning despite saying goodbye.

“Two major things happened within three weeks of each other. My father rang me and told me he was playing a game of cricket on a Saturday. I went, ‘Dad, your 63 years of age, you’ve had two knee reconstructions, you’ve had a back operation. You’re not playing cricket.’ He said: ‘I’m not ringing for approval I need a bat tomorrow.’ So I gave him the bat and he scored 87. He bragged to me all day Sunday about it.

“On that Monday, I drove to the hospital to pick up my little girl, Kelsey Lee. I went past Centennial Park and there were three or four games of junior cricket, under 10s or whatever it was, and I just stopped and watched that for, I don’t know, it might have been 20 minutes, half an hour — and that’s the part that you miss.”