Lehmann gave his skipper his full backing ahead of the World Cup.
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Australia coach Darren Lehmann says he is “sick” of rumours surrounding Michael Clarke’s captaincy.
Clarke is set to play for a Cricket Australia XI against Bangladesh on Thursday, but will be restricted only to batting and light fielding.
There have been reports that Clarke’s teammates have turned their backs on him in favour of Steve Smith, however Lehmann gave the 33-year-old his full backing ahead of the World Cup.
“I’m looking forward to him coming back. He played grade cricket on the weekend which is great, he’s playing up here on Thursday so I’ll get to have a look at him,” Lehmann told FiveAA Radio.
“I had a good chat to him and he pulled up really well from the grade game.
“He’s ahead of schedule and I think he’s said that in the press as well. Fingers crossed he might be.
“Now when he gets back we’ve got to make sure he’s right to go. We can’t afford it to keep going on us in important stages.
“He knows that, he’s diligent, he’s good to go and really confident he’ll be right to lead us hopefully before Bangladesh, but definitely by Bangladesh.”
Clarke notched up a half-century on his return to Sydney grade cricket with Western Suburbs on the weekend and is expected to play in Australia’s second pool game against Bangladesh at the World Cup.
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