SYDNEY // The Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke has declared himself unavailable to play for New South Wales at the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India next month. The stylish right-hander cited his playing workload with the national team for opting out of the lucrative two-week tournament starting on October 8. But the Blues will be taking the likes of captain Simon Katich, Nathan Bracken, Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.
New South Wales represent Australia in the tournament of 12 teams along with Victoria. The teams are divided into four groups of three with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals. New South have been grouped with English T20 champions Sussex and South African runners-up the Diamond Eagles. Marcus Trescothick will return to India, the country where he announced his retirement from international cricket citing a stress-related illness.
The former England international has been included in the 15-man Somerset squad who qualified along with Sussex. If Trescothick opts to join his teammates, it would be the first time the opening batsman has travelled to Asia since pulling out of England's tour in 2006 as a result of his mysterious illness, which reports had him linked with marital problems. The club included him with the hope that Trescothick has recovered from his problems after he was able to travel to Australia as part of the 2007-08 Ashes tour.
However, he dropped out at the last moment at London's Heathrow airport early last year when he was scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi for his club's pre-season trip to play in the ProArch Trophy. "Marcus Trescothick is in the squad as ways are sought to enable him to overcome the problems with travelling abroad to play cricket he has experienced as a result of his stress-related illness," a statement said.
* Agencies