Buchanan looks ahead to Clarke era

Australia should give Michael Clarke more leadership responsibilities in a bid to groom him as the country's next long-term captain, according to John Buchanan. Clarke has been hailed as future captaincy material since his international debut but Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey have repeatedly stood in when Ricky Ponting is unavailable.

Buchanan was the national coach when Clarke first emerged and he believes the only way to prepare him as Ponting's potential successor is to throw him in the deep end. "What needs to happen is we actually need to see him in that role," Buchanan told the Herald Sun.

"That might mean he captains his state side or takes more of a leadership position within the Australian team. Michael needs to be given roles in terms of captaincy or vice-captaincy in certain tours and let's see how he handles that."

Clarke, 26, was named as vice-captain to Hussey for the Chappell-Hadlee tour of New Zealand in February but a hip injury meant he missed the trip. Gilchrist, 35, is likely to retire in the next couple of years and Hussey, 32, is the same age as Ponting. That means Clarke, who captained Australia at the Under-19 World Cup in 1999-2000, is the most realistic long-term leadership candidate.

However, Buchanan conceded Clarke could be overtaken in the next few seasons. "As I look at it, Michael Clarke is the person being groomed for the Australian captaincy," Buchanan said. "If Ricky goes for another four years, that takes a lot of players out of the equation.

"In four years who knows who could come into the side. Someone like Adam Voges [who is 28] is seen to be a very important leader of Western Australia."

One option to test Clarke's credentials would be to have him take over from Simon Katich as the captain of New South Wales. However, as Clarke is a regular member of Australia's Test and ODI sides his availability for his state would be very limited.