Clarke will no longer be able to turn to Ponting or Hussey during a time of crisis

2012 has definitely been a year to remember for Australia captain Michael Clarke, who not only broke the country’s record for the most Test runs scored in a calender year, but also became the first Test cricketer to score four double centuries in a season as well, however, the big question on everyone’s mind is how much of a toll has all his hard work has taken on his mind and body.

Clarke picked up a hamstring injury during the Sri Lanka Test series, but seems to have fully recovered as he has regained control of the ODI captaincy from batsman George Bailey once again, who led the team in Clarke’s absence during the limited overs series against the Sri Lankans.

Australia’s recent Test summer has been one of disappointments, shocks and cheers as the Test side lost the opportunity to re-establish themselves as the number one Test team after losing 1-0 to South Africa in a series which saw the retirement of former skipper Ricky Ponting.

Despite whitewashing Sri Lanka 3-0 during the Test series that followed, many Australian fans will consider the series to be more of a loss since veteran batsman Michael Hussey also announced his retirement.

Clarke noted that shedding such an enormous amount of talent and experience was not going to be easy to replace, especially with the country’s upcoming tour of India later this month, which is set to be followed by their back-to-back Ashes series against arch-rivals England.

“Another man down unfortunately,” Clarke said. “It’s been a tough summer to be honest. It’s been nice to have some guys come in and make their debut but it’s been tough to see two fantastic players in Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey leave the game.

“We certainly have a tough year ahead, that’s for sure. I think on our good days we’re very good and can cut it with the best, like the No. 1 team in the world South Africa, but on our poor days there’s a lot of areas we need to improve, both individually and as a team. I think what you’ve seen of the Australian team this summer probably sums up where we’re at. We’re fighting to get better every day, that’s the positive.”

The Australian captain also noted that with Ponting and Hussey gone, all of the other players have to step up and show their true potential if the country is to continue its winning ways.

“The days we aren’t performing as well as we can, whether that be with the ball or with the bat, we’re letting ourselves down,” Clarke said. “At the moment there’s a bit of a gap between very good and not so good but we’ve got a team that’s working very hard. Every day we get out of bed we’re trying to get better.

“I certainly can’t have a go at the boys. I think the commitment throughout the whole summer has been outstanding – the way we’ve trained and prepared, the role the support staff have played … We know we’ve got some work to do but we’re up for the challenge.”

Talking about the upcoming tour of India, Clarke admitted that the batsmen will find it hard to get accustomed to the conditions and spin-friendly pitches of the subcontinent and added that this is potentially where Hussey will be missed the most since he was an expert in the art of playing spin bowling.

“It will be really tough, especially in the second innings on the subcontinent is generally very tough to play spin bowling,” Clarke said. “I think we’re improving.

“There are areas we need to continually get better at. Spin bowling is one of those areas. In a couple of months, we’re going to be faced with conditions that spin a lot, so there’s no better place to get better than on the subcontinent.

“I’m really impressed with the way we finished this summer in the Test format. I was really proud of the way we fought it out against the No.1 Test team in the world. I think we have taken a lot from that series and I think we’ve shown improvement throughout this series.”