Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle. Photo / Getty Images
After missing the third one-dayer against the Black Caps in Hamilton yesterday to be with fiancee Lara Bingle, Australian cricket vice-captain Michael Clarke is expected to be named in the test squad to face New Zealand.
Clarke dramatically quit the limited-overs segment of the tour on Monday night to return
to Sydney. His absence didn't prevent an easy win for the Australians.
But it highlighted the intrusion of the personal on his professional life and cast a shadow over his seemingly inevitable rise to the test captaincy.
He was last night unsure when he would rejoin the team, but he was keen to get back in time to take part in the test series.
The first test begins at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on March 19.
"Michael has arrived home to support Lara through this difficult time," said his manager, Chris White.
Model Bingle, who fronted Australian tourism's "Where the bloody hell are you?" advertising campaign, has been in the media spotlight since Woman's Day published a nude photo of her.
Clarke's exit from Hamilton to be with her was so hurried some of his team were unaware he had left.
Bingle's only public actions yesterday were to post the message "Wish you were here ..." on the social networking site Twitter, before making a single-finger gesture to camera crews hovering around the couple's Bondi apartment in mid-afternoon.
The episode followed legal action Bingle has decided to take against her former love interest Brendan Fevola, the AFL player who took the nude photo of her during a brief relationship in 2006. The photo circulated widely among footballers before its publication.
The Australian newspaper reported Bingle, who has hired publicist Max Markson, gave an interview to Woman's Day.
Markson denied reports that she was paid A$200,000 ($260,000) but said a portion of her fee would be paid to an anti-bullying charity.
Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh said Clarke trod a delicate path between the personal and the professional, and such episodes would not enhance his standing.
"[His personal life] has encroached on his cricket. That's not the way you want to be playing your cricket and living your life," he said.
- AAP
