Clarke takes indefinite break to assess future

Michael Clarke with wife Kyly Boldy. The couple are expecting their first child in January.

AFP/MelbourneFormer Australian captain Michael Clarke yesterday pulled out of his Big Bash League deal with the Melbourne Stars and said he will take an indefinite break from the game. The 34-year-old, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, retired from international cricket last month after the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval. Clarke was expected to honour a two-year contract signed in April with the Stars in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 league, but he said he needed time away from cricket. “Right now for me, I just think my body and my mind need some time away from the game of cricket... and just see what that’s like to be without it,” he told Triple M radio. Clarke, who has long battled back problems, said quitting international duties had prompted him to consider his wider playing future, as his pregnant wife Kyly prepares to give birth to the couple’s first baby in January. “It’s been a big part of my life and I just think that with my retirement from international cricket now I just need to take myself away from the game of cricket for a little while and just see what that’s like. To actually be without it,” he said. “You push yourself to the max when you’re playing sport at the highest level and now I’ve pressed stop on that part, in regards to international cricket, I just think my body... and my mind just needs that break.” As well as his injury issues, Clarke also cited the continuing psychological impact of close friend and teammate Phillip Hughes’ death as a factor in his decision. “I guess that’s part of it as well. How big a part? Right now I’m unsure,” he said. “I just need this time to allow myself to go through whatever I need to go through to be able to move forward.” Hughes died last year after being hit on the head by a bouncer at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with a shattered Clarke giving a moving eulogy at his funeral. But Clarke did not rule out returning to the crease at some point, leaving open the possibility of playing the second year of his contract with the Stars.     “I’m really hopeful that love and passion that I’ve always had for the game will come back,” said the batsman, who scored 8,643 runs in 115 Tests. I’ve got a two-year deal at the moment, so hopefully it all turns out ok and I come back and play next year. “But even if they decide they don’t want me to play, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to help the club have success in another way.”  Clarke is currently taking a break in Europe with his family, and that has given him the opportunity to take stock of his future, he added. “Kyly and I are going to go away for a week or so before I fly back home. And that’s just going to give me some time to have a think about what I’m going to do when I get home. “I haven’t had a chance to press stop and have a think about things. “Now I’ve finally got that opportunity I just want to make the most of that and spend some time with her and have a really good think. “I’m really hopeful that love and passion that I’ve always had for the game will come back.” Clarke, who would have teamed up with controversial former England batsman Kevin Pietersen at the Melbourne Stars in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), added he still had the opportunity of pursuing the second year of his contract. “I’ve got a two-year deal at the moment, so hopefully it all turns out okay and I come back and play next year,” Clarke said. “But even if they decide they don’t want me to play, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to help the club have success in another way.” Clarke, who played 115 Tests for Australia, battled chronic back problems throughout his career, which became difficult to manage in the past two years and struggled with hamstring problems due to the back injury. He struggled with the bat since returning after surgery earlier this year and was woefully out of form on the Ashes tour.