New Test and one-day captain Michael Clarke is very keen to deliver his views to the coming review of Australian cricket before embarking on a first full campaign in charge.
Clarke returned to Sydney on Friday evening after leading his to a 3-0 one-day whitewash of Bangladesh, his first assignment since taking over from Ricky Ponting.
Clarke said he enjoyed 100 per cent support from his team-mates, who now acknowledged it was his team rather than that of his predecessor, who was also part of the squad.
While looking forward to a break, Clarke said he would also contribute to the review following Australia's disastrous Ashes campaign.
"This is probably the important time for me to spend as much time as I can with the people who make a lot of decisions about our game and make sure we are on the same page and wit the same goals and we are heading in the same direction," he said at Sydney Airport.
"I'm excited to be home and have a bit of time off, but I'm very keen to get to Melbourne and spend some time with Cricket Australia and the selectors as well."
Clarke acknowledged he would face a testing first full season in charge with challenges against strong opposition in Sri Lanka, South Africa and India looming over the next year.
"We have some pretty tough cricket ahead of us, the next 12 months are going to be really full on, both Test and one-day cricket and leading up to a Twenty20 World Cup," Clarke said.
The clean sweep of Bangladesh consolidated Australia's position at the top of the ODI rankings and Clarke insisted the side deserved to remain top despite failing to make the semi-finals of the recent World Cup.
"The statistics say we are number one for good reason, we've won a lot of one-day games for a long period of time," he said.
"I certainly think we've earned the right to be the number one one-day team in the world.
"In saying that, I certainly think there's a lot of work to be done on our game to improve and keep getting better."
After being told in-form Shane Watson was number one all-rounder and number four in the ODI batting rankings, Clarke joked "he's got three more placings to climb, hasn't he?"
"He's a wonderful player no doubt. His form over the last 12 to 18 months has been as good as anybody in the world, he's definitely a big part of our team in all forms of the game."
Watson is one of several Australians now playing in the Indian Premier League and Clarke said he would certainly consider participating in that competition in the future.
"If my body is up to it and I feel like I'm really keen to play some cricket, I'd love to take part in the IPL," he said.
- AAP
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