SYDNEY: Michael Clarke, long the heir apparent to Ricky Ponting, finally assumed the throne when he was named Australia's 43rd Test captain Wednesday, a day after his mentor quit the post. The 29-year-old will also take charge of the one-day side, which plays three matches in Bangladesh next month. All-rounder Shane Watson was appointed the new vice captain of the Test and one-day teams. “I just want to say what a honor it is to be named captain of Australia and a huge surprise to see Ricky stand down,” Clarke told a news conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Clarke, who turns 30 this weekend, begins the job with Australian cricket at its lowest ebb since the mid-1980s, ranked fifth in the world in tests and still smarting from a home Ashes drubbing and a quarterfinal exit at the World Cup. “The key for me is we go back to old-fashioned basics. That's batting, bowling and fielding,” he said. “I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. “We want to become the No. 1 ranked team in all forms and that's going to take a long time,” he added. If newspaper and website polls are to be believed, Clarke's appointment was not welcomed by a lot of fans, many of whom take exception to his transformation from a working class boy from Sydney's western suburbs into a celebrity. The tattoos, top of the range BMW, glamorus apartment in the beach side Sydney suburb of Bondi and celebrity girlfriends make him a very different captain from his 42 predecessors. Also a keen tweeter, it was via his Twitter page (twitter.com/MClarke23) that Clarke apologized for not walking when given out during the Ashes defeat in Adelaide in December. Nicknamed Pup, Clarke burst onto world cricket's stage with 151 on his Test debut in Bangalore in 2004 and another century on his home debut against New Zealand. He averages 46.49 in 69 tests and 44.32 in 195 ODIs. Clarke faces a baptism of fire over the next 12 months as Australia follow its trip to Bangladesh with Test tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa before hosting New Zealand and India in the next southern hemisphere summer. Ponting, who wants to continue playing in both one day and Test matches, was included in the squad for Bangladesh, which was also announced Wednesday. Clarke said he would welcome advice from the man he once said would always be his leader. “I think Bangladesh will be a great Test for that to see how it all unfolds,” Clarke said. “I'm confident that if he can continue to play for as long as he has done I'm sure it will work.” Cameron White will retain the captaincy of Australia's Twenty20 team, which Clarke relinquished after losing the fifth Ashes Test to England as stand-in captain for the injured Ponting in January. Watson is also vice captain of the Twenty20 team. Fast bowler James Pattinson looks set to make his international debut after being included in the Australia squad. The 20-year-old, whose older brother Darren played one Test for England in 2008, was brought in as a replacement for Shaun Tait. Vettori retires from T20 New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori has announced his retirement from Twenty20 Internationals and says he is considering his future in ODIs. The 32-year-old Vettori confirmed after New Zealand's World Cup semifinal defeat by Sri Lanka on Tuesday that he will stand down as captain in all forms of the game. He said he will continue as a Test player but has not yet decided whether the five-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo would be his last ODI. Vettori said with New Zealand not scheduled to play again until it tours Zimbabwe in October he will take time to consider his one-day international future. “I've played my last Twenty20 match ... (but) it's about six months to the next one-dayer so I have a lot of time to sit down and think about it and talk to my family,” he said. “Tests are a big part of why I play the game, for team and myself, because there is no better feeling than winning a Test.”
