Michael Clarke Announces Comeback to Grade Cricket: Latest Details, Reaction

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has officially announced he will return to cricket, and he intends to start at the grade level.

Fox Sports News confirmed the report and shared this quote from the 34-year-old, explaining why he's coming back:

Clarke retired from cricket in 2015 after Australia's loss against England in the Ashes.  

As Veeran Rajendiran of CricTracker reported, Clarke was approached by his hometown club, Western Suburbs, to play against Randwick-Petersham on February 20-21.

As it turns out, the veteran had continued training even after announcing his retirement, and he missed the game badly. He plans to use the opportunity of playing grade cricket to see whether it could lead to bigger things, like the Big Bash League, county cricket or even a return to Test cricket:

"

To step away from cricket for four months has been great, I have found my body has enjoyed it and my mind has really enjoyed it too.

At the same time I’ve ­realised the game of cricket is in my blood. I’ve been looking for an outlet to replace what I’ve chosen to walk away from.

So I’ll start with playing this grade game for Western Suburbs and see if I miss it as much as I feel like I’m going to.

If I do, the option is there to train the entire winter and then we’ll see what happens.

"

Clarke retired from One Day cricket after the 2015 World Cup and built a legacy as a top Test player, appearing in 115 matches and averaging 49.10, per ESPN Cricinfo. He led the Aussies to the No. 1 Test ranking and was the top-ranked Test batsman in the world at his peak.

In 2012, he became the first man to score four Test double-centuries in a calendar year, per BBC Sport, and he guided the Baggy Green to a famous whitewash win in the 2013-14 Ashes series. 

But chronic back issues started to take their toll on Clarke, and while the 2015 World Cup win was undoubtedly one of the highlights of his career, Australia's defeat in the 2015 Ashes marked the end of a difficult couple of years for the team and Clarke himself, per ESPN Cricinfo.

Pup will turn 35 in April, which is still relatively young for a middle-order batsman, and perhaps some time away from the game was all he needed. We'll find out whether he's still the same old prolific hitter in February and whether his return to grade cricket will lead to a full-time return to the sport.

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