EXCLUSIVE
Michael Clarke has pulled out of his contract with Big Bash League team Melbourne Stars, deciding to take time away from the game after his international retirement.
The 34-year-old was to captain the BBL franchise and feature alongside maverick England outcast Kevin Pietersen this summer in the domestic Twenty20 competition, having signed a two-year deal that was announced in April.
However, it emerged on Tuesday that Clarke would not be honouring that arrangement with the Stars, whose president is Eddie McGuire and whose original marquee player was Shane Warne. He has withdrawn due to a desire to have some time away from the game.
Currently holidaying in Europe with his pregnant wife Kyly, who is due in the first half of January, he retired from Test cricket at the conclusion of Australia's surrendering of the Ashes in England last month, having lost his mojo with the bat since returning from hamstring surgery in the summer.
Clarke's immediate plans in international cricket retirement are unclear – he said at the end of the series against England that he would take time out while on vacation to determine his next move.
Now that he has withdrawn from the Stars, it appears Australian spectators are unlikely to see him in action again.
He has made it clear he intends to retain a stake in the game, hoping to join the Channel Nine commentary team which is made up largely of ex-Australian Test cricketers.
It's also expected that he will go into business with close friend and high-profile accountant, Anthony Bell, with whom a company called Michael J Clarke Investments Pty Ltd was set up in May. A priority will also be his academy, with Clarke planning to take a very hands-on role.
Clarke, whose Test career lasted 11 years and 115 matches despite a constant battle with a degenerative back problem, said a week ago that he also had to weigh up whether to put his name forward again for the Indian Premier League next year.
"That's probably one of the things I've got to think about over the next week or so," he told Triple M. "What I'm going to do there, am I going to look at that as an option?
"Kyly and I are going to go away for a week or so before I fly back home. And that's just going to give me some time to have a think about what I'm going to do when I get home.
"I haven't had a chance to press stop and have a think about things. Now I've finally got that opportunity I just want to make the most of that and spend some time with her and have a really good think."
