• Captain 'doing everything he can' to beat back problem • Clarke's injury gives rest of team chance 'to step up' Michael Clarke is desperate to play in the Champions Trophy but his fitness for the Ashes is paramount. Photograph: Hamish Blair/Getty Images Australia insist that the withdrawal of their captain and batting mainstay Michael Clarke from their Champions Trophy opener against England at Edgbaston should be seen as a precaution for the Ashes rather than a threat to his participation in them. But they concede that the 32-year-old's long history of back problems make the latest recurrence a short-term blow and a longer-term concern. The chances of Clarke's lumbar region surviving the...
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