“I’ll have one more Test and that will be the end of my career”

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Australia captain Michael Clarke has confirmed that he will announce his retirement from international cricket at the end of the ongoing Ashes series against England.

Clarke’s comments come after Australia failed to retain the Ashes following their innings and 78-run loss in the fourth Test in Nottingham.

“I’ll have one more Test and that will be the end of my career,” Clarke told Channel Nine. “I’m retiring from international cricket. I certainly don’t want to jump ship and leave the boys now, so I’ll play the last Test at The Oval, give it one last crack, but the time is right now.

“You never want to walk away from the game but I think my performances in this series and the last 12 months have not been acceptable to me. I pride myself on leading from the front, so that’s been disappointing. You build yourself up for the big series, the big tournaments. One-day cricket is about the World Cup and Test cricket is about the Ashes.

“I certainly tried my best, the boys tried their best and we got outplayed. We got beaten. Now it’s time for the next generation of players, the next captain to have his opportunity to try and build the team and get them ready for the next Ashes series.”

Clarke revealed that his decided to call it quits after the second day of the fourth Test. With Clarke set to hang up his boots at the end of the series, it is highly likely that Steven Smith was be named as his successor and lead Australia during their next assignment in Bangladesh.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play over 100 Test matches for Australia,” Clarke said. “I’ve always said the game owes me nothing, I owe it everything. I’m thankful I’ve been able to play it for so long.”