Clarke plans slow and steady approach

Michael Clarke has vowed not to look too far ahead after his short-term Test future was sealed with Damien Martyn's sudden retirement. A century at Adelaide not only showed Clarke was ready for an extended stint in the side, but it also led to Martyn walking away from the game mid-series.

The men are close friends and have exchanged text messages since Martyn's decision, a move Clarke believed opened a spot for him during the third Test at Perth from Thursday. "If Watto [Shane Watson] was fit for this game, I still would've assumed I would've been the one to go," Clarke said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "Marto's performances have been outstanding over a long period of time. A player of that class is always going to come good.

"With Marto retiring, I guess there are spots there. But I've got to focus on continuing to score runs. I feel like I'm batting pretty well and my goal is just to focus on that - one ball at a time, not look too far ahead - because as I've seen before it can all be taken away from you very quickly."

Clarke fell away after two brilliant centuries in his first month in the Test arena in 2004 and had to fight his way back. He has batted at No. 6 in the opening two games of the current series and does not expect a move to No. 4, where he sat for a couple of games when Martyn was dropped after the previous Ashes.

"I haven't spoken to anyone but I'd assume I wouldn't go back [to No. 4]," he said. "I don't even really want to think about it. In my opinion, Huss [Michael Hussey] is batting that well it makes sense for him to go to No. 4. I'm rapt just to be in the team at the moment given that a few games ago I was playing for New South Wales. It's slow and steady for me now."

Clarke said he hoped "it's not my fault" Martyn retired. "Marto made that decision because he did what he thought was best," Clarke said in The Australian. "Now this gives us the chance to continue our friendship outside cricket, I guess.

"He's a great mate of mine and I'm not going to get the chance to play international cricket with him anymore. I'm the first guy to congratulate Marto on every single thing that he has achieved. He's helped me a lot. He's a very close mate."