Clarke to use Ponting's pointers

Reacting to a poll conducted by The Age, Clarke said: “I think it’s part and parcel of what we do now, as a professional cricketer these days you’re spending a lot of the time in the media. I’ve copped a lot of criticism throughout my whole career, it’s no different now.”

On his elevation as the captain for the fifth and the final Ashes Test, Clarke said: “I probably see it as temporary, I’ve been vice-captain for a while now… no doubt I’m grateful and honoured for this opportunit, and it’s about doing whatever I can to help this team have success in this Test match.”

Clarke said he has learnt a lot from Ricky Ponting, who will be missing the Test match with a finger injury.

“I’ll take a lot of what I’ve learnt from Ricky as a leader onto the field. His leadership has been outstanding. We haven’t got the results that we’ve wanted throughout this series, but I think the way we’ve gone about everything has been spot on, we just haven’t been able to get over the line,” he said.

“I’ll definitely take a lot of his leadership qualities that I’ve learned, I’ve played nearly 70 Test matches with him now. But again I’ll be my own person, as I have been when I’ve captained the Twenty20 and one-day teams,” he added.

Coach Tim Nielsen also showed his faith on Clarke’s leadership abilities.“We understand the character that Michael has and the leadership ability Michael has. His opportunity now is not necessarily to prove people wrong but to show how he can take on the role,” Nielsen said.