Waughs back sacked Clarke

Steve Waugh feels Michael Clarke can keep his attacking mindset and succeed as a Test player while Mark Waugh still expects him to captain Australia. Clarke has received the support of both Waugh brothers, who had publicly suggested changes to his game over the past month, and Darren Lehmann since being dropped on Monday.

Steve Waugh said Clarke should benefit from being out of the limelight after a dramatic Test introduction and he told The Courier-Mail he needs only the "odd tweak" to fix his problems. "I went through the new-kid-on-the-block thing when I first started," Steve said. "It has been harder for Michael because he started off in such a fantastic way and people expect him to keep doing that without any hiccups. That is unrealistic. You are getting to know your game and yourself as a person in front of the rest of the world."

A drop from No. 4 to No. 6 would have better-suited Clarke according to Mark Waugh, who predicted his former New South Wales team-mate would take over the reins from Ricky Ponting. "I said he'd be a captain in years to come and I still think he will be ... he's got a great cricket brain," Waugh said. "It's certainly not the end of the world for Michael Clarke, he's just got to get back and enjoy himself."

Lehmann said Clarke's sacking would make him a better player, just as it did for the Waugh brothers. "It's not the worst thing that can happen," Lehmann said in The Daily Telegraph. "He'll come back a better player. All good players go through it. They've obviously made the call he needs to go away and make runs and he'll do that on his ear. He'll be back, no doubt about it."