Michael Clarke makes progress in World Cup warm-up match

Michael Clarke

Brisbane, Feb 5 - Australian captain Michael Clarke took a sharp catch in the slips, fielded on the boundary and sent down two overs at the Allan Border Field here on Thursday as he ticked off another important milestone on the road to leading his country at the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Clarke had been expected to play a "limited" role in the field for this unofficial match between a Cricket Australia XI - made up of Clarke and some youngsters - and a touring Bangladesh outfit, but his bowling was a welcome bonus for the few hundred who turned up to watch.

The Australian skipper was on the field for a little more than two hours - 32 overs were bowled - before he departed.

Clarke had earlier moved forward and to his left well to take a sharp catch to dismiss the tourists' skipper Shakib Al Hasan off the bowling of spinner Ashton Turner.

Clarke spent much of his time in the slips cordon and wasn't required to stretch his hamstrings too much, but did also spend some time on the boundary line at deep cover, taking 'selfies' with fans and signing autographs for the youngsters.