Clarke eyes England recall

11 April 2008

Rikki Clarke hopes to regain the England place that he last held during 2006 © Getty Images

Rikki Clarke plans to draw on the knowledge of Mahela Jayawardene in his first season as Derbyshire captain – and hopes the Sri Lanka skipper can help him to win back his England place.

Jayawardene, the highest run-scorer and century-maker in Sri Lanka Test history, will play the first half of the county season as Derbyshire’s overseas player.

Clarke left Surrey last summer after things had “gone stale” at the Brit Oval and felt he needed a new challenge to help revitalise his international prospects.

The 26-year-old has played two Tests and 20 one-day internationals but has not appeared for his England since they played Pakistan in an ODI at the Rose Bowl in September 2006.

Clarke though has been handed the captaincy at the County Ground in his debut season and is keen to utilise the presence of a proven world-class player to further his own ambitions.

“I am definitely going to pick Mahela’s brains – he is a wonderful player with a lot of experience and I am sure he we will great to have around,” Clarke said.

Mahela Jayawardene will play for Derbyshire in the first half of this season © Getty Images

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“For me, being a young new captain, it’s fantastic having someone like him here who I can speak to, get ideas from, and also help develop my own game.

“I left Surrey because I wanted to play for England again. I had a very positive meeting with head of cricket John Morris and it was one of the things I felt that this was the club to be at to get my England place back.

“I felt that I needed a change because things had got a bit stale at Surrey and I was ready for a new challenge.

“Representing England is a terrific honour and having had a taste of it, I want to get back there.

“I believe that moving to Derbyshire will help me in that aim because I can taking on the responsibility of the captaincy and hopefully that will mature me as cricketer.

“Having someone like Mahela around will be great from that point of view and I am sure I will learn a lot from him which can only benefit myself and the club.”

Clarke revealed he is relishing the prospect of leading the county, who have underachieved in recent seasons, into a new county season.

He said: “Captaining Derbyshire is a terrific honour and a great honour. I have always said that I want to be a leader and now I have that opportunity with a new-look Derbyshire side in 2008 and beyond.

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“It is an exciting time and a new era for the club. I am not setting the team any specific targets but it is important we can compete in every game, win as often possible and who knows what we might achieve.

“The success of any side depends on quality of the squad and with players such as Chris Rogers, John Sadler and Nayan Doshi as well Mahela we have players of proven talent.

“Also we have the likes of Tom Lungley and Graham Wagg who both took lot of wickets last season.”

Derbyshire have a friendly against Durham UCCE on Saturday before they travel to Bristol for their opening LV County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire on April 16, and Clarke admitted he is now eager for the competitive matches to get underway.

“We have had two weeks in Grenada and it was good for us to get out and play some cricket but now we can’t wait for the season proper to start,” Clarke added.

“People are talking about us as a side – but we’re playing it down. We want take the pressure off ourselves

“We just want to concentrate on our games and worry about ourselves, not what people might be writing or saying about us.

“We’ve got a very talented young squad who are very adaptable. We can be competitive in all cricket so we’re excited and keen to get on the field and prove ourselves.”